Way to recognize leukemia...or not

[Hypo84]

It's quite easy really...you should sit in a park, glance at your legs and notice a bruise on your leg...did you hit yourself? of course not since you don't remember... so, unexplained bruise, what it could be? RIGHT...leukemia and off to Google to reassure yourself how good doctor you actually are.

Well, at least this is how my brain processed it an hour ago, but then I thought, what would I say, or write to someone who would post the same symptom on forum. I would say that it is possible to hit yourself and doesn't remember, and that ppl often get bruises and don't remember how they got them, and that you would have much more symptoms like tiredness, feeling generally ill and weak and not only freaking bruise.

Did it calm me down? Not really when I was talking in my head, but, when I sat down and wrote the same thing I wrote above it did calm me down.

So, I guess what I am trying to say is that you should try answering yourself in writing the same way you would answer to some stranger who would write the exact same symptoms on forum. It can't hurt for sure, and I believe it will help.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's a shame your thread is destined to be buried in days under the sheer volume of problem threads because it shows a good technique. Why not add a thread in Top Tips too?

I have found the same, in your head you "think" you are processing it but when you put it to paper it feels more like its now out of your mind and into the physical world. You also can find you are more problem-solving orientated with it as opposed to emotional. Did you find this?

Rataionalising is easier I think until you have gained enough control of your mind to do it without.

Since you respond well to this you will likely find CBT's Thought Records worthwhile and other activities such as journalling.

Do you think you can add to the power of it by writing it as another person? Add a different name to the top or bottom, maybe even your username in here?

[Fishmanpa]

It is a good tip. Interestingly enough, many times I read a post and the poster, seeking reassurance, writes out the symptoms along with reasons and explanations.

I have replied "you've just reassured yourself" many times. Keeping a journal is a good thing. Writing out your thoughts and feelings helps to dispel worry. There's a CBT exercise that's similar in that you write out your fears in one column and the logical reasons in the other. Most often the logic far outweighs the fear. Also, reading your thoughts back later often times shows you how irrational you were being.

I agree.... put this in the top tips forum. Hopefully some will find it beneficial.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

It is a good tip. Interestingly enough, many times I read a post and the poster, seeking reassurance, writes out the symptoms along with reasons and explanations.

I have replied "you've just reassured yourself" many times. Keeping a journal is a good thing. Writing out your thoughts and feelings helps to dispel worry. There's a CBT exercise that's similar in that you write out your fears in one column and the logical reasons in the other. Most often the logic far outweighs the fear. Also, reading your thoughts back later often times shows you how irrational you were being.

I agree.... put this in the top tips forum. Hopefully some will find it beneficial.

Positive thoughts

Yes, the CBT technique is a Thought Record. On the website I post free downloads from there is even for specifically for HA.

I think its a good idea to reda back thoughts and maybe keep the TR's too so that they can be used each time the thought re-occurs.

I've seen you give advice plenty of times about reading old posts to see how far you have come and how a poster answers their own question, and I agree, I think its very good. A couple of members who have been on here over a year were having a bad blip and I recommended what you said about reading old posts. In their case it was a long support thread but in both cases they ended up quite surprised at how far they had come.

[Hypo84]

Thank you guys!

@mynameisterry
I have found that if I write to myself like I am writing to another person it is much more beneficial. So, if we use example from first post it would be " ppl get bruises old the time and YOU could have hit yourself and not even notice it" instead of I...

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's a bit like "chair work" seen in some approaches (not CBT) where you one chair is you and then you use the other to counsel.

The way you are doing it sounds a bit like a combination of a journalling exercise but with the counter arguments & resulting conclusion of a Thought Record.

Do you record your level of anxiety or rate it e.g. 1-100 for before & after? That might be useful for later too since you can see that the tools are working and may be able to see reductions in your ratings over time. I've seen this done in Thought Records, Behavioural Experiments, etc.

Good work! :yesyes: