Coronation Street [Archive]

ballerina

27-12-13, 21:12

Any health anxiety sufferers finding it hard to watch Hayley's cancer storyline? I had a bit of an anxiety attack watching tonights episode where she got told she only has weeks to live, because I'm convinced I'm terminally ill and that I'll have to deal with hearing that, it was really scary to watch. :(

Luckily my doctor said she's going to prescribe me something for my anxiety and my cbt starts in a few weeks, hopefully I can overcome this fear. A few months ago I was an 'invincible, I'm not going to die for decades' 19 year old, and now I'm convinced I've got every disease out there. ugh.

Worriedwellornot

27-12-13, 21:36

Hi I had to watch with my husband but couldn't bear to as my recent HA coincided with this particular storyline and it really scares me. I had no symptoms until this started and now convinced that it have it. Went and had some blood tests 2 weeks ago which were clear but ruined Xmas worrying about it. Unfortunately I bought the Daily Mail this morning and one of the stories was about this type of cancer so set me off again. These types of stories are really bad news for HA sufferers.

ballerina

27-12-13, 21:46

The Daily Mail is a HA sufferer's nightmare, according to them you can get cancer from anything, using your phone, watching tv, eating vegetables, not eating vegetables it's so inconsistant, they make their money from scare mongering headlines! It was before I suffered from HA but I remember their headline from the Swine Flu pandemic and they were claiming half of Britain would be wiped out or something

*Fallen Angel*

27-12-13, 22:04

I watched it, against my better judgement. I cannot imagine how I would cope in that situation even though I imagine it a lot.

Fishmanpa

27-12-13, 22:08

you can get cancer from anything, using your phone, watching tv, eating vegetables, not eating vegetables....

Having had cancer, I can actually get cancer from my cancer! (recurrence)...And that's not from the daily mail ;)

Essentially, it's true... cancer can be caused by so many different factors and there's no real rhyme or reason to it. I smoked and drank and got oral cancer but mine was caused by HPV... go figure. The best thing you can do is eat right, DON'T SMOKE or drink and exercise.

Positive thooughts

CeeCeeCee

28-12-13, 00:28

"Any health anxiety sufferers finding it hard to watch Hayley's cancer storyline?"

Yes, it makes me feel very maudlin and aware of the disease.

"Unfortunately I bought the Daily Mail.."

Yes, this is very unfortunate. It's a poison paper and should be boycotted for many reasons.

"The Daily Mail is a HA sufferer's nightmare ..... they make their money from scare mongering headlines!"
Never a truer word said!

Hypo

28-12-13, 10:26

Well I have just been through this in real life with my ex husband, father of my three young children.

I remember the day he told me he had weeks to live, two weeks ago he died. Funeral on Monday.

I was with him two days before he died, I viewed his body twice. I am supporting our three children and his widow through it.

My worst fear is dying and leaving my kids behind and I am now seeing it in play. I have watched a person die and touched his dead body and watched my children sob over it. Monday I have to watch my children speak about him at the funeral.

Corrie doesn't bother me in that sense.

And you know what? while it has set my anxiety off it also taught me one thing.. death does happen, it is sad and it sucks but avoidance of the issue isn't helpful for us in the long run. It also taught me that while death is devastating for the people left behind, the person who is actually dying do make their peace with it.

unsure_about_this

28-12-13, 11:35

I don't watch the soaps. If the story line in Coronation Street makes people more aware about pancreatic cancer.

As for Daily Mail I trying very not to read the daily mail online health section, those articles about people being misdiagnosis, symptoms miss etc. the rare cancer which is rare for certain age groups, which is more common is other age groups etc.

rebeccad

28-12-13, 14:03

Yep count me in I watch it like a sick addiction then it disturbs me all night imagining and having thoughts in my head what I would do , even replay it in my mind what
I'd do if I got told that x

Fishmanpa

28-12-13, 14:12

And you know what? while it has set my anxiety off it also taught me one thing.. death does happen, it is sad and it sucks but avoidance of the issue isn't helpful for us in the long run. It also taught me that while death is devastating for the people left behind, the person who is actually dying do make their peace with it.

This experience has changed you profoundly Hypo. There is a total new feel to your posts and in many ways, as awful as this was, it has helped you come to terms with your anxiety in a way that no other method could do.

You're right in what you said. While I've been able to recover from my experiences, there were times when my life was in the balance and the possibility of death was clearly evident. You do come to terms with death. After my experiences I don't fear it. Don't get me wrong, I want to live and I have reasons to do so, but I don't fear dying anymore. It's as I've said many times. Living in fear, regardless of what fear it is, is not living. You've seen that first hand and it's been the catalyst for hopefully a permanent change in you.

Positive thoughts

almamatters

28-12-13, 15:27

There is no way I could watch Coronation Street, the only reason I know about the story line is people talking about it at work. Pancreatic cancer is one of my worst HA fears.

Tim89

28-12-13, 15:52

Ugh, the Daily Mail makes for painful reading! I try not to but something attracts me to the mail online. Their paranoid and sensational reporting is really just the ticket to set off HA! they seem to have a thing for covering sudden adult deaths like young footballers with heart rhythm problems. makes me very, very, anxious if I see those articles.

almatters, I can understand a Pancreatic Ca fear - it's the ones with the most terrible prognosis that anxiety likes to play on isn't it .

almamatters

28-12-13, 16:13

You are right Tim I am terrified to watch anything about this illness, like you say it is the bad prognosis part of it that freaks me out. My friend at work insists on talking about Hayley in Coronation Street and I just can't handle it.
I also find the Daily Mail an anwful paper and I will not read it. It seems to enjoy scaremongering.

Magic

28-12-13, 18:11

I am a fan of Coronation Street and am watching it. I turn off the sound in certain scenes at the moment though.
I don't read newspapers, only our local sentinel so have not read anything about
pancreatic cancer. Now I have the urge to look it up.

Andy699

28-12-13, 22:33

Yep, same here. I wasn't too bad watching it but when she broke down at the theatre I honestly thought I was about to have a panic attack... It really freaked me out :(

Hypo

29-12-13, 10:21

This experience has changed you profoundly Hypo. There is a total new feel to your posts and in many ways, as awful as this was, it has helped you come to terms with your anxiety in a way that no other method could do.

You're right in what you said. While I've been able to recover from my experiences, there were times when my life was in the balance and the possibility of death was clearly evident. You do come to terms with death. After my experiences I don't fear it. Don't get me wrong, I want to live and I have reasons to do so, but I don't fear dying anymore. It's as I've said many times. Living in fear, regardless of what fear it is, is not living. You've seen that first hand and it's been the catalyst for hopefully a permanent change in you.

Positive thoughts

Thank you :)

I really think that people are doing themselves a great disservice with their recovery when we avoid things like this.

BTDT and there are times where exposing yourself isn't recommended but IMO there does become a point in recovery where we can't try to hide from this stuff and doing so is harmful to our recovery.

I admit that in my current angry state this thread did make me slightly mad for a while.. NOTHING against anyone here, but in the sense that I thought they are lucky that they get the choice to avoid this programme when I have awful HA and have had to live this out in real life. I don't get the choice not to see this, I have no choice but to support three kids through the loss of their parent and I had no choice to watch a loved one die and sit with their dead body.

I want to run away from the scary things in the world too.

And you know what? fish is right, this HAS changed me. Cancer exists, people die from cancer every day, people recover from cancer every day too. Somewhere we need to accept that and not hide from that fact.

I don't suggest that people stop avoiding things like Corrie because of me, I suggest it because exposure therapy in the form of a TV programme could be beneficial to your recovery. Acceptance is where it is at. I am far from being recovered, very far, but I have learnt that acceptance is the key to healing.

We can't heal while running away from our fears. It's like expecting someone to get over social anxiety by never leaving the house.

Jojomarymoo

29-12-13, 18:05

Hi, I have just joined and I am so glad there is a forum for this. I am suffering from severe anxiety at the moment about my health, I have had a bad kidney infection which has totally knocked me out and hope to god I don't get one again. There have been serious health issues in my family this year, my dad was seriously ill in hospital, my grandma in and out of hospital and passed away and my boyfriend's dad is very ill with brain tumour. Other people I have known have passed away over the last 18 months. I think this has totally got on top of me and all of a sudden I am convinced I have cancer as I have still have symptoms. There is no reason why I should have this, my urine tests are now clear and blood test came back normal. However, I have become severely anxious and depressed, this has ruined Xmas. I am going to ban google!! I can see there have been triggers for my anxiety and depression. I will be going back to the docs as i have been changed to sertraline (from paroxetine as felt my depression was not lifting) but think this has made my anxiety worse. It is nothing to be ashamed of, it is an awful feeling. Mental illness is debilitating and I am so glad I have found this forum. I know when it comes to your own inner thoughts there is no reasoning! I have stopped watching soap operas, the news and reading papers as these can be triggers for anxiety and depression. At the moment I do not feel I can face lots of bad news and illness.

Andrash

13-01-14, 10:29