View Full Version : So I have health anxiety ...
I had my psyche evaluation today. A lot of talking was done, and of course a lot of things came up. In a nutshell I was told I have GAD and HA (moderate) and depression (also moderate).
I'm fine with the GAD and depression but I disagreed with the HA. I believe (this is my opinion and relates to me) that I have a preoccupation with death, therefore that is the problem, rather than it being HA.
I don't so much worry about illness so much as getting one that will kill me because I'm frightened of dying. Does anyone understand?
I explained (not a lovely example but it is a factual one) that I suffer with hemarroids (sp?) and that they bleed. I had a bleed this morning, and so I used this as the example for my thinking - I know what causes it, I have been to the docs (had the whole rectal exam, blood work, all fine) and yet I don't care. I bleed therefore it's deadly serious and I'm doomed ... because I'm petrified of dying and so this is the manifestation.
Am I right in my thinking? I know my fears, I know how I got to this. I know I have bloody piles (literally) and yet my head persuades me to the negative. I just don't want to talk about HA when I'd rather it was recognised as a death phobia (don't know the name). I'm sure I can conquer the phobia as it is, if you get me?
Hoping someone has a good perspective for me :)
Ditto!! That's exactly what I have " Death phobia" rather than Health anxiety, if I have flu I will die from it, if my head hurts I will have an aneurism and collapse then die, if I have a tummy ache I am having a heart attack ( females apparantly get stomach aches, that's what Dr Google said by the way) oh and the list goes on, so I understand fully what you mean, as I don't really worry that I may have cancer, or MS etc because I know I wouldn't die straight away if that makes sense? But I'm more afraid of suddenly developing an illness that will kill me within an hour and I haven't had time to sort my children's care out and send out my dying love letters!!!����
On the face of it it's quite ridiculous isn't it? I mean - we know what's wrong and yet we seem to flail around in its clutches. I just want to ensure that my therapy is correctly targeted.
I hope you're having a good day earthmum :)
While a fear of death can be and is a phobia, the underlying cause is illness so HA seems perfectly reasonable to me.
You think Fishman? Curious. I generally don't dwell on illness. It's just things like the example that I used. That and the fact that my friend died of bowel cancer and his best friend (who nursed him) told me that it all started with rectal bleeding.
Being of the anti-death brigade I let my mind go a-wandering the first time I had one. I think I almost puked that day (out if fear).
You've gotten me thinking now :)
Well... and it's just my opinion, when you think about it, you may not have anxiety per se' about a particular illness, but when one rears it's head, your anxiety goes into overdrive. A cold isn't just a cold, a hemorrhoid isn't just a hemorrhoid, indigestion is far more etc. So any little niggle becomes deadly and that's more like HA than a run of the mill phobia in my opinion. I would discuss it more with your doc to understand how and why he classified it that way but it makes sense to me.
I have the same fear...but I think that "anxiety" causes my fear....when my GAD is under control my fear of death is under control .....when you think about it it does'nt really matter
what the label is. It's just a name after all. I have been diagnosed PTSD/GAD............with that comes HA and fear of death. I just see them as all interelated.
Sarah
That makes perfect sense to me Fishman, thank you. I wasn't trying to duck out, it's more that I thought about HA as being a death phobia due to the fact that sufferers assume the worst and that they're going to die therefore ... the death part.
I'll have a talk for sure. I'm someone that needs to understand stuff.
---------- Post added at 17:03 ---------- Previous post was at 17:00 ----------
Thank you Sarah. PTSD was mentioned but truth be told today was more the evaluation and she wanted to leave the absolutes to those that will be delivering the service/s. I'm not sure how that (PTSD) can be a factor but maybe it's due to seeing a child killed (road traffic accident) or the violence I suffered until I was almost 30.
Yup! that certainly fits the PTSD symptoms......but like I said it's just a label that comes under the "anxiety" umbrella.........................try not to worry about the evaluation/diagnosis......you are getting help and that is the most important thing and the way forward:)
sophieunderscore
01-11-13, 17:16
My health anxiety is also around death - I was telling my doctor today that I was happy to accept I was "healthy", but I was still worried about blood clots and brain aneurysms - so random occurences which you wouldn't know about beforehand in some cases! I've convinced myself that my period has been me bleeding to death before, and once I had a spot in my ear which popped which was definitely my whole head exploding from a tumour or something. This is something I am going to go through with my therapist in my next session, I will report back xx
Thanks again Sarah. The opinion and experience of others is important to me and it helps me to make sense of my particular 'anxiety' journey.
Sophie I'm usually ok. It's only when something really physical (like the rectal bleeding) that I fret. I suppose that kind of bleeding would wind most people up. That said my daughter pointed out that I've had thyroid disease practically my whole life and it is a chronic condition and yet I never ever worry about it. Maybe because it's almost a life long thing, I don't know.
Anyway - do come back and let me know if anything good came from your therapy, or pm if you prefer.
Andria,
I have had therapy (NHS) on and off since 2001. I think it is brilliant and I have learned alot about the psychology of the mind from it.
I believe that ALL Talk Therapy is good for mental health sufferers.
Sarah
I think both counselling and CBT is the way forward for me. I know they're both very different, though the mechanics escape me, and I'm pretty sure the counselling side is going do be quite tough - but I welcome it, I really do.
I want to be whole. And it'd be real nice not to be assigned a load of acronyms (PTSD, GAD, HA, ETC) ha!!! :roflmao:
Hopefully my future self will become the intended me. I say that meaning the person I could have been, had life not been quite to ... different.
And thank you Sarah. All input is welcome and opinions is/are welcome :D
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