skippy66
02-12-13, 12:44
Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. But when I had health anxiety I found that Christmas was a tough time for me. It may be the same for you. Why? Several reasons:
- Christmas is a time of reflection and family time. You're free of life's distractions for a few days, which is a great thing when you don't have health anxiety but when you do it can lead to the classic obsessing over your health again, just because you don't have enough going on to fully distract your mind. That board game just isn't enough...
- You will doubtless have loved ones you have lost, or family members who know people who have passed away through the year. At Christmas we remember those people and it's easy to become melancholy because they're no longer around. It's human nature. They may have died of illness or disease and all that experience of caring for them throughout the bad times comes flooding back.
- Christmas tends to bring a flood of programmes about ill people. They are great and worthy causes, but for the health anxiety sufferer a charity programme filmed from a children's ward or stroke rehabilitation centre is only going to lead to one thing - more health anxiety. In addition to this, if you watch 'soaps' (thankfully I don't), they are looking for big ratings at Christmas so they go for the most shocking stories possible (which usually involve people dying either from illness or accident). Cue loads of hospital scenes, ambulance sirens and wailing of loved ones.
- Finally the most important reason. You think that over Christmas hospitals are understaffed and overworked, and due to this you won't be able to get good enough medical care if (or when, which is the HA attitude) you need it. You may have read stories in the paper, or seen on the news how strained the hospitals are just because of all the self-inflicted alcohol-related admissions. You think that the 'best' doctors would never work on Christmas day, it's guaranteed to be a student doctor or understudy lumped with the Christmas shift.
So this is why Christmas is tough for the health anxiety sufferer. But how can we make things better for ourselves?
I found that the best way to approach this is through total acceptance and facing the fear. If you read my posts you know that I bang on about this time and time again - you may even be getting really sick of me by now (oh the irony - excuse the pun)! But please believe me when I say that I have had more than several Christmases ruined by ridiculous obsession over my symptoms, and I have used the acceptance technique to cure this. I now enjoy Christmas more than ever, thanks to my new attitude and my 2 young children.
So at Christmas instead of reaching for your phone or laptop to google symptoms I want you to stop and think to yourself that Christmas is truly a wonderful time. Nobody knows how many more Christmases they are going to enjoy, it's probably loads but nobody knows for sure. Nobody.
Then you must accept that hospitals may be under a little more strain than normal at Christmas. Don't go looking for evidence either way. Just accept it. Life is unpredictable, life is short, life is there to be enjoyed. Ask yourself what you can physically do about the situation? Absolutely NOTHING. When you're flying in a plane and turbulence kicks in, can you do anything about it? NO. You trust the pilot. The best thing you can do is accept it, only then can you sit back and enjoy the ride. Enjoy Christmas for what it is.
Try and immerse yourself in all things Christmassy - this is vital for distraction. Board games may not work but other things will. If you have kids make it your SOLE MISSION to give them the very best Christmas they've ever had. If you don't make it YOUR MISSION to ensure that everyone you're with has the very best Christmas they've ever had. Get fully immersed.
If you don't want to watch the uncomfortable TV shows, don't. There's no pressure, but I would actually advise that you think 'to hell with it - they can't hurt me in any way' and force yourself to watch them. Go out of your way to watch the sad bits. Rewind them, watch again, watch over and over until you lose the fear of them and your brain gets rewired. Losing the fear of health stuff is the key to your long term recovery, but don't feel like you have to at Christmas - it's ok to take break.
Give Dr Google the holiday season off. Don't go googling symptoms because it can't make any difference whatsoever to your particular symptoms and situation. How many people has Dr Google ever cured? NONE. How many people has he worried shitless? Millions. Don't become another one of these at Christmas.
Whatever you're doing, make this Christmas one to remember for all the right reasons. If you go into it with this attitude you're bound to succeed. Positive mental attitude is the key.
Merry Christmas - enjoy it, and see you in the new year! :)
If you would like to leave any comments they are all welcome...
- Christmas is a time of reflection and family time. You're free of life's distractions for a few days, which is a great thing when you don't have health anxiety but when you do it can lead to the classic obsessing over your health again, just because you don't have enough going on to fully distract your mind. That board game just isn't enough...
- You will doubtless have loved ones you have lost, or family members who know people who have passed away through the year. At Christmas we remember those people and it's easy to become melancholy because they're no longer around. It's human nature. They may have died of illness or disease and all that experience of caring for them throughout the bad times comes flooding back.
- Christmas tends to bring a flood of programmes about ill people. They are great and worthy causes, but for the health anxiety sufferer a charity programme filmed from a children's ward or stroke rehabilitation centre is only going to lead to one thing - more health anxiety. In addition to this, if you watch 'soaps' (thankfully I don't), they are looking for big ratings at Christmas so they go for the most shocking stories possible (which usually involve people dying either from illness or accident). Cue loads of hospital scenes, ambulance sirens and wailing of loved ones.
- Finally the most important reason. You think that over Christmas hospitals are understaffed and overworked, and due to this you won't be able to get good enough medical care if (or when, which is the HA attitude) you need it. You may have read stories in the paper, or seen on the news how strained the hospitals are just because of all the self-inflicted alcohol-related admissions. You think that the 'best' doctors would never work on Christmas day, it's guaranteed to be a student doctor or understudy lumped with the Christmas shift.
So this is why Christmas is tough for the health anxiety sufferer. But how can we make things better for ourselves?
I found that the best way to approach this is through total acceptance and facing the fear. If you read my posts you know that I bang on about this time and time again - you may even be getting really sick of me by now (oh the irony - excuse the pun)! But please believe me when I say that I have had more than several Christmases ruined by ridiculous obsession over my symptoms, and I have used the acceptance technique to cure this. I now enjoy Christmas more than ever, thanks to my new attitude and my 2 young children.
So at Christmas instead of reaching for your phone or laptop to google symptoms I want you to stop and think to yourself that Christmas is truly a wonderful time. Nobody knows how many more Christmases they are going to enjoy, it's probably loads but nobody knows for sure. Nobody.
Then you must accept that hospitals may be under a little more strain than normal at Christmas. Don't go looking for evidence either way. Just accept it. Life is unpredictable, life is short, life is there to be enjoyed. Ask yourself what you can physically do about the situation? Absolutely NOTHING. When you're flying in a plane and turbulence kicks in, can you do anything about it? NO. You trust the pilot. The best thing you can do is accept it, only then can you sit back and enjoy the ride. Enjoy Christmas for what it is.
Try and immerse yourself in all things Christmassy - this is vital for distraction. Board games may not work but other things will. If you have kids make it your SOLE MISSION to give them the very best Christmas they've ever had. If you don't make it YOUR MISSION to ensure that everyone you're with has the very best Christmas they've ever had. Get fully immersed.
If you don't want to watch the uncomfortable TV shows, don't. There's no pressure, but I would actually advise that you think 'to hell with it - they can't hurt me in any way' and force yourself to watch them. Go out of your way to watch the sad bits. Rewind them, watch again, watch over and over until you lose the fear of them and your brain gets rewired. Losing the fear of health stuff is the key to your long term recovery, but don't feel like you have to at Christmas - it's ok to take break.
Give Dr Google the holiday season off. Don't go googling symptoms because it can't make any difference whatsoever to your particular symptoms and situation. How many people has Dr Google ever cured? NONE. How many people has he worried shitless? Millions. Don't become another one of these at Christmas.
Whatever you're doing, make this Christmas one to remember for all the right reasons. If you go into it with this attitude you're bound to succeed. Positive mental attitude is the key.
Merry Christmas - enjoy it, and see you in the new year! :)
If you would like to leave any comments they are all welcome...