chunky1
12-11-16, 20:36
I have had mild health anxiety & panic attacks in the past.
Im here to ask you guys for advice.
In our shared house there are 8 people. One of them has health anxiety. The people are not friends but lodgers who are sharing a kitchen so they are making friends.
The lady with health anxiety has lived here 4 years. Everyone has given her info about health anxiety but she still keeps insisting she has a huge range of physical problems. When she gets a racing heart she wants to go to the heart specialist not the anxiety specialist. (She will get a physical problem from time to time...we are recognising the physical trigger and the huge range of bodily sensations of anxiety)
When we tell her about our ailments she then says she has them. She wants to talk about ailments all day every sentence. Her food her dressing her washing everything revolves around ailments & fear of getting ill.
Imagine you meet someone with a fear of spiders. 1st you try to comfort & help...but then if every day they have talked about spiders for 4 years ...people are losing their cool...they are telling her she has the 'spider phobia' and to stop focusing on spiders (I noticed people on youtube who have health anxiety advise to reduce ailment related activities). She is saying that she doesnt have a spider phobia but there are spiders everywhere and they are causing physical sensation.
Our frustration is she is not focusing on resolving health anxiety but her main focus is on proving that her racing heart faintness sweating adrenaline...all the sensations of the anxiety ....are a huge range of physical illnesses-cancer motorneuron disease etc etc.
Even with the health anxiety information she still doesnt tell the people at A&E or anywhere else about the anxiety. Everyone tries to help for as while then gives up...and then gets irritated.
My question is this:
If I say to her that I am making a friendship boundary so then I dont end up walking away...the boundary being just as in the example that I am not willing to talk about spiders (ailments & alternative medicine & conventional medicine) for more than 5 minutes per day but I am willing to talk about health anxiety and support that....can she take that & would you be able to take that to keep the friendship from falling apart?
I want to stop the friendship breaking down but I cant talk about ailments any more. Im happy to talk about combating anxiety
Im here to ask you guys for advice.
In our shared house there are 8 people. One of them has health anxiety. The people are not friends but lodgers who are sharing a kitchen so they are making friends.
The lady with health anxiety has lived here 4 years. Everyone has given her info about health anxiety but she still keeps insisting she has a huge range of physical problems. When she gets a racing heart she wants to go to the heart specialist not the anxiety specialist. (She will get a physical problem from time to time...we are recognising the physical trigger and the huge range of bodily sensations of anxiety)
When we tell her about our ailments she then says she has them. She wants to talk about ailments all day every sentence. Her food her dressing her washing everything revolves around ailments & fear of getting ill.
Imagine you meet someone with a fear of spiders. 1st you try to comfort & help...but then if every day they have talked about spiders for 4 years ...people are losing their cool...they are telling her she has the 'spider phobia' and to stop focusing on spiders (I noticed people on youtube who have health anxiety advise to reduce ailment related activities). She is saying that she doesnt have a spider phobia but there are spiders everywhere and they are causing physical sensation.
Our frustration is she is not focusing on resolving health anxiety but her main focus is on proving that her racing heart faintness sweating adrenaline...all the sensations of the anxiety ....are a huge range of physical illnesses-cancer motorneuron disease etc etc.
Even with the health anxiety information she still doesnt tell the people at A&E or anywhere else about the anxiety. Everyone tries to help for as while then gives up...and then gets irritated.
My question is this:
If I say to her that I am making a friendship boundary so then I dont end up walking away...the boundary being just as in the example that I am not willing to talk about spiders (ailments & alternative medicine & conventional medicine) for more than 5 minutes per day but I am willing to talk about health anxiety and support that....can she take that & would you be able to take that to keep the friendship from falling apart?
I want to stop the friendship breaking down but I cant talk about ailments any more. Im happy to talk about combating anxiety