How to deal with triggers?

[UnhappyWorrier]

I posted a thread here recently about anxiety producing physical symptoms. My GP looked at my blood work and a few things I was also worried about and told me I'm fine. I feel a bit better now and have scheduled an appointment with a therapist.

Meanwhile I found a new problem - every time I see or read something about cancer or other illnesses I start to worry again. Today I read a story about someone's friend who had cancer and died at 23. That prompted me to think about "what if" scenarios. Also, I don't seek these things out - this stuff pops up on reddit and other sites.

Do you guys experience this and do you have a way to deal with things that trigger your anxiety?

[helenhoo]

All the time! I was once obsessed with aneurysm simply from a conversation I overheard 'someone's dads mothers postman' I found when I was worried about melanoma a lot more posts were on the Internet. I read about John Newmans brain tumour and that triggered me. So yes, totally understand.

[axolotl]

I force myself to confront probability - scary things are very rare and as hard as it is to fix on that sometimes (anxiety isn't rational, that's the point), you need to constantly remind yourself of that.

Even if you have a few symptoms of something, then there are hundreds of very minor things (not least of all physical symptoms of anxiety itself) to rule out before getting to anything rare and nasty. And the chances of getting something just as you're starting to worry about something is very remote indeed - you're not psychic!

Also, if you check medical websites, stop. We've all made this mistake, and we all still do it. But we're not qualified to understand what we're reading and misunderstand what terms mean and misinterpret how we're feeling. In the last few years I've "had" MS, leukaemia, bowel cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, motor neuron disease, strokes, kidney cancer, brain tumour, lupus, angina, heart disease and probably others I've missed - all from getting into a spiral of anxiety from reading medical websites when I feel a bit weird. Some of these fears have lasted hours, others for weeks, and every time I've been checked out for anything it's been nothing worse than (in one case) a B12 deficiency, and in every single other anxiety.

And so when I start again I remember that list and ask myself which is more likely:

1) I have a rare illness.
2) I've just got another fear to add to the list above, because I've been here many times before.

It's infinitely, astronomically number 2.

[Kuatir]

The therapist should help you with ways of dealing with these thoughts so that when they happen you can counter them. Over time you reduce these thoughts becuase you've trained yourself to disregard them.

[Leslie735]

Yes, all the time. I was watching tv the other night and a BC commercial came on, which is my current fear. Totally triggered me and haven't stopped thinking about it. :(

[UnhappyWorrier]

It's just so weird that hearing about horrible car crashes all the time (and apparently dying in a car crash is more likely at my age than getting a bad illness) doesn't bother me at all, but if I hear even one case of someone getting sick while young I freak out.

Is there any rationale behind this?

[KeeKee]

It's just so weird that hearing about horrible car crashes all the time (and apparently dying in a car crash is more likely at my age than getting a bad illness) doesn't bother me at all, but if I hear even one case of someone getting sick while young I freak out.

Is there any rationale behind this?

I'm the same. I wonder if it's because to a certain extent we can control some things. We pretty much can't control whether we'll get cancer or anything like that.

[ktdid2000]

You can't control accidents either! It's so weird how this only happens with health topics. I've never worried about being hit by lightning or getting in a fire or whatnot. I think this is just the form my anxiety takes for some reason.

I get triggered by stuff I see/read all the time, especially the more the person is like me (young mother, pregnant woman, etc.). Then I think, "Oh my god, if it could happen to her it could happen to me!" and off we go. There is no rationality past that point. Never mind the fact that almost all the cases I read about are extremely rare or atypical for the majority, so its really not likely to happen to me anyway. But again, rationality does not work after jumping off the deep end. :weep:

I try to stay away from as much stuff as I can, but sometimes I find myself seeking it out. Almost like rubbernecking a car accident. Then I wonder, what in the world would make me do that?!?