Health Anxiety Relapse

[crazygal]

For the past 3 months I've doing extremely well with my health anxiety. I had stopped obsessively checking google and my body for symptoms. But now I've gone into a full relapse.

My friend's son died from bone cancer two days ago and now I'm checking for cancer symptoms again. I am now starting to obsess about dying and getting cancer again.

How do you all deal with the death of someone around and how to avoid health anxiety relapse when it someone around you dies or gets a serious illness.

[lucyellis14]

Hi,
I just came across this forum after searching for some advice as I felt like I had my HA under control until a couple of months ago too, which I think was triggered by a death also. I thought it would be easier to give someone else advice than to try to rationalise my own thoughts but I am struggling to type any useful information. Just know that I understand and you are not alone right now.

[Hancock]

You have to detach yourself from that person and understand that their situation is not your situation. I did very poorly with that concept after watching my grandmother battle stage four pancreatic cancer and sitting by her bedside a year later when she passed. I didn't cope well with her death at all and that's what triggered my huge bout of hypochondria in the past year and some change.

You can't own someone else's illness or death. You have to separate yourself from that or you'll drive yourself insane, especially as you get older and more people around you get sick and pass away. It's not easy but it's the only way.