skippy66
17-02-14, 14:51
Getting rid of health anxiety is not an easy task, it's made so much worse by the fact that when you're having scary symptoms (which can be 24/7) you simply do not have any motivation to do anything to help yourself out of this black hole. For instance, if you have chest tightness, you're not going to want to exercise in case you have a heart attack. When HA is really bad, and believe me I've been there (it's hell on earth), just reading 'heart attack' can send you into a dizzy panic with feelings of impending doom.
Anyway, I want to help more people get out of this vicious cycle, so here are 5 ways that can work to lessen your health anxiety:
1) Stop Googling
One of the most important elements to a recovery from health anxiety is to initially stop googling symptoms. Note how I said 'initially' - I'll come back to that. Dr Google is NOT a good Doctor - you may get fleeting reassurance that you crave, but it doesn't last, which leads to more googling, which leads to you finding scary stories, which leads to panic and a worsening of your HA. You need to STOP GOOGLING YOUR SYMPTOMS.
I know how difficult the above instruction can be, so I would suggest that you do this in increasingly longer time periods. Have an 'anti-Google hour'. Increase this to 2 hours the next day, then 3, until you can go a full day without googling your symptoms. The problem is when a symptom crops up that you are '100% sure is the thing which will kill me'. The urge to Google can be overwhelming. I suggest that in this instance you immediately take yourself off for a walk or some other distracting occupation.
Back to where I said 'initially'. Long term recovery from Health Anxiety requires exposure. This means googling the scariest stories you can find and reading them until you're no longer scared of them and it becomes apparent that they don't relate in any way to your particular situation. Only then can you be truly free of health anxiety.
2) Surround yourself with good people
If you're anything like I was, you will want to lock yourself away in your room when you're suffering from bad health anxiety. You don't want anyone else to see you suffer. I actually felt like I didn't want to experience heart palpitations in a public place in case my reaction was embarrassing. So I avoided public places. I became agoraphobic. It's so easy to do this with HA but you must nip this in the bud right now.
Speaking to people provides you with the distraction you need to stop obsessing over your health. Surround yourself with positive, caring & successful people. Someone said that you are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with. If you surround yourself with people who have health anxiety it's likely you'll have it yourself and only get worse. Get some positive people in your life and this will rub off on you, improving you as a person.
3) Get a check up if needed
We all know that the difficulty with health anxiety is that it can seem so real. What if my symptoms ARE heart disease or cancer? Well you should book an appointment with your GP to discuss any worries you have, but before you go, resolve that once the GP has told you that you are fine (after any reasonable tests necessary), you MUST ACCEPT THEIR DIAGNOSIS. Ask them to write a letter explaining why you are fine, and pin this on your fridge or somewhere to remind yourself that you're ok, and that you need to get on with your life.
4) Accept that there is risk in life
Life is uncertain. We are all pretty sure that a meteor won't hit tomorrow, but nobody really knows and however remote the possibility, it could happen. Same with health. Yes the worst can happen and maybe it has to someone you know (which is why you're here in the first place). But you need to change your attitude. Instead of being scared of this, you need to think: 'Ok, life is uncertain so I'll just enjoy the time I have, whatever that may be'. The longer you spend worrying about symptoms, the less enjoyment you will experience in your life. You will never get today back, and today is the first day of the rest of your life. It's the oldest you've ever been.
5) Buy my book
Just kidding... :)
5) Exercise
Exercise is healthy, so you should be doing it. You should also be eating right. But exercise to someone with health anxiety is especially important. It has a few benefits:
a) It helps you get fit - your body will become fitter, stronger, leaner, and more able to cope with illness.
b) It releases good mood chemicals - endorphins really help you to feel better.
c) It provides an excuse for your symptoms - if I've been for a swim, and the next day my chest feels tight, I'll say 'my chest muscles are tight because I went swimming yesterday'. If I hadn't been swimming, and my chest became tight, I would say 'oh, I wonder why my chest is tight'. The old me would have said 'Oh sh*t I'm having a heart attack. I'm going to google 'random chest tightness', and probably be panicked into booking an urgent doctor's appointment when Google tells me I'm experiencing unstable angina.' You get the point...
Wow this post was longer than I expected! I hope this helps you to reduce your health anxiety. I don't spend much time on here these days with my work & family commitments (distractions!), but I'll try and answer any questions you may have.
Anyway, I want to help more people get out of this vicious cycle, so here are 5 ways that can work to lessen your health anxiety:
1) Stop Googling
One of the most important elements to a recovery from health anxiety is to initially stop googling symptoms. Note how I said 'initially' - I'll come back to that. Dr Google is NOT a good Doctor - you may get fleeting reassurance that you crave, but it doesn't last, which leads to more googling, which leads to you finding scary stories, which leads to panic and a worsening of your HA. You need to STOP GOOGLING YOUR SYMPTOMS.
I know how difficult the above instruction can be, so I would suggest that you do this in increasingly longer time periods. Have an 'anti-Google hour'. Increase this to 2 hours the next day, then 3, until you can go a full day without googling your symptoms. The problem is when a symptom crops up that you are '100% sure is the thing which will kill me'. The urge to Google can be overwhelming. I suggest that in this instance you immediately take yourself off for a walk or some other distracting occupation.
Back to where I said 'initially'. Long term recovery from Health Anxiety requires exposure. This means googling the scariest stories you can find and reading them until you're no longer scared of them and it becomes apparent that they don't relate in any way to your particular situation. Only then can you be truly free of health anxiety.
2) Surround yourself with good people
If you're anything like I was, you will want to lock yourself away in your room when you're suffering from bad health anxiety. You don't want anyone else to see you suffer. I actually felt like I didn't want to experience heart palpitations in a public place in case my reaction was embarrassing. So I avoided public places. I became agoraphobic. It's so easy to do this with HA but you must nip this in the bud right now.
Speaking to people provides you with the distraction you need to stop obsessing over your health. Surround yourself with positive, caring & successful people. Someone said that you are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with. If you surround yourself with people who have health anxiety it's likely you'll have it yourself and only get worse. Get some positive people in your life and this will rub off on you, improving you as a person.
3) Get a check up if needed
We all know that the difficulty with health anxiety is that it can seem so real. What if my symptoms ARE heart disease or cancer? Well you should book an appointment with your GP to discuss any worries you have, but before you go, resolve that once the GP has told you that you are fine (after any reasonable tests necessary), you MUST ACCEPT THEIR DIAGNOSIS. Ask them to write a letter explaining why you are fine, and pin this on your fridge or somewhere to remind yourself that you're ok, and that you need to get on with your life.
4) Accept that there is risk in life
Life is uncertain. We are all pretty sure that a meteor won't hit tomorrow, but nobody really knows and however remote the possibility, it could happen. Same with health. Yes the worst can happen and maybe it has to someone you know (which is why you're here in the first place). But you need to change your attitude. Instead of being scared of this, you need to think: 'Ok, life is uncertain so I'll just enjoy the time I have, whatever that may be'. The longer you spend worrying about symptoms, the less enjoyment you will experience in your life. You will never get today back, and today is the first day of the rest of your life. It's the oldest you've ever been.
5) Buy my book
Just kidding... :)
5) Exercise
Exercise is healthy, so you should be doing it. You should also be eating right. But exercise to someone with health anxiety is especially important. It has a few benefits:
a) It helps you get fit - your body will become fitter, stronger, leaner, and more able to cope with illness.
b) It releases good mood chemicals - endorphins really help you to feel better.
c) It provides an excuse for your symptoms - if I've been for a swim, and the next day my chest feels tight, I'll say 'my chest muscles are tight because I went swimming yesterday'. If I hadn't been swimming, and my chest became tight, I would say 'oh, I wonder why my chest is tight'. The old me would have said 'Oh sh*t I'm having a heart attack. I'm going to google 'random chest tightness', and probably be panicked into booking an urgent doctor's appointment when Google tells me I'm experiencing unstable angina.' You get the point...
Wow this post was longer than I expected! I hope this helps you to reduce your health anxiety. I don't spend much time on here these days with my work & family commitments (distractions!), but I'll try and answer any questions you may have.