signs everywhere

[John_Daryl]

Does anybody else feel as though when you're worrying about something it seems to be occurring in conversation/Facebook/twitter etc.? I'm worrying about skin cancer and for whatever reason I seem to be hearing of it more often.

[Liv7117]

Yes, this happens to me all the time. I was worried about cancer, and I felt like I was seeing it EVERYWHERE. I think the anxiety and worrying about it makes you hyper-aware so you start zoning in on it and noticing it more.

[lyndau63]

Yes, me too.

[swajj]

Yes I can totally relate. I was worried about ALS had been experiencing tingling and pins and needles in my legs for days. A documentary came on about a young girl suffering with ALS. Before I had time to change the channel they showed a shot of her walking and dragging her foot. Of course for days after I was convinced that my foot was dragging slightly when I walked. There have been many other times when similar things have happened.

[VickyC]

Yes I can relate to this too. I found that each time I read about a symptom within a couple of days I would start getting that symptom, even if I didn't consciously think about it. I kept seeing this as another 'sign' that I had cancer.

[dittarco]

LOL Yes, for sure! And then of course, I think it's an OMEN LOL

Sigh..I'm with ya buddy

[JustJoe25]

Yes. Social media can be a huge anxiety trigger. I use to just be able to scroll over those posts but once my HA started now I have a hard time doing so. I usually have to read it even though I know it's not good for me to read.

[ktdid2000]

YES!

Being that I'm a psychologist (imagine that, a psychologist with terrible HA!) - I have to get all psychological for a minute. :) This is a well-known phenomenon in psychology called "confirmation bias". Basically, as your mind becomes consumed with thoughts of an illness (or something else) it picks up more easily on things that confirm those thoughts or align with them. Think of the pregnant lady who suddenly notices pregnant people everywhere where before it seemed like no one was pregnant.

So this one you can actually blame on your brain. I have not figured out how to turn this one off yet until you remove the focus on the original stimulus that triggered it in the first place (illness/concern/belief etc.).