Will reading about a disease manifest symptoms?

[matt1990]

With health anxiety is it possible for your mind to make you have symptoms of a disease after reading about it?

[venusbluejeans]

If you read about it enough and become obsessed about that thought you have that particular disease then probably...... I don't have health Anx but from reading threads from people who have then almost certainly yes.

[Fishmanpa]

All one need do is read a few threads to answer that question. One feels something weird, consults Dr. Google and they have the disease they read about. Furthermore, after reading the other symptoms, they begin to manifest themselves.

Good Luck!

[debs71]

Yes.

I suppose that is the anxiety part of health anxiety. You can hear, read, be around or any other exposure to a condition/illness, and find its symptoms in yourself, when in actuality the only place they probably exist is your mind, or else you have something entirely trivial.

If you tell yourself you have a symptom of an illness long enough, invariably you can create it, or be convinced you have it.

If you look for something hard enough, you find it. (even if it's not there):shrug:

[matt1990]

Thanks for the replies, I didnt know anxiety could manifest symptoms so this helps explain my recent panic episode.

Recently I inadvertantly read about a disease and it terrified me to death. I became obsessed and could not stop thinking about or googling it even though I had no symptoms of it then. Even though I was perfectly fine before, the more I read about it the more I began to feel vague symptoms come on and it sent me into an anxiety attack for days.

[HMM]

Matt, i just posted this a minute ago re: panic attacks, try it the next time it hapeens

Classic symptoms of a panic attack, here is a tip that does ease the symptoms slightly, when you reach full blown panic (you know when that happens when you feel faint) lie down flat with your eyes closed and grasp a pillow or anything else soft (this part is a personal thing i did by accident during a panic attack and strangely it worked, if you treat it like a stress ball by gripping and then letting go over and over) . While doing this say out loud - stop stop stop, over and over until the panic subsides. I got this tip one day by researching online when i had none stop panic attacks every ten minutes for six hours. I had reached the end of my tether and was about to phone an ambulance, but this really worked for me and i hope it helps you.

The science behind it is that your brain will only focus on the panic if you let it. By repeating this over and over your brain gets confused and needs to stop putting all of it's energy into the panic attack and will start to focus on you speaking. Remember panic attacks are purely mental due to heightened anxiety (only the symptoms feel physical, very rarely are you in any real danger).

Good luck xx