What’s the difference between health anxiety and being anxious about your health?

[Weebo]

So I have anxiety and OCD tendencies. I also have some health problems. Particularly with my eyes at the moment. I spend a lot of time being anxious about it. But a lot of people with health problems are rightfully anxious about it. Particularly if doctors are being unhelpful. I think it would be unhealthy for cancer patients to NOT have anxiety about it. I’m far more anxious about doctors not taking me seriously, neglecting me or not finding any helpful results than having actual health problems. I get really pissed off when doctors say I have nothing wrong and offer me no solutions. I’m not worried about getting cancer or anything. I’m just annoyed at symptoms I have at this moment. I do know I obsess too much about my health. Is it possible to obsess too much about your health, but not really have health anxiety?

I’m far more worried about people thinking my issues are all in my head than my issues themselves. I have anxiety about seeming crazy or not being taken seriously in general. I used to have this fear that if I told psychologists I believe in psychics and ghosts I’d be diagnosed with schizophrenia and sent straight to the mental hospital. I also had a huge spike of anxiety when I was on reddit asking for some good optometrists and someone accused me of doctor shopping.

[tryingtosurvive1]

I think it's a spectrum.

[cattia]

I think health anxiety is defined as either worrying obsessively that you have an illness despite medical reassurance or worries about an existing illness that are disproportionate to the seriousness of the problem. I can't remember the exact wording but I think the DSM says something like that in the UK at least.

[Weebo]

I think health anxiety is defined as either worrying obsessively that you have an illness despite medical reassurance or worries about an existing illness that are disproportionate to the seriousness of the problem. I can't remember the exact wording but I think the DSM says something like that in the UK at least.

How do I know if it’s disproportionate to the problem? That’s the real question. I think it’s a bit disproportionate for me, but I think it also has to do with other stress in my life as well. I’m also dealing with this stalker and right after that I got a bad glasses prescription. Of course my mental health will go down the toilet.

[axolotl]

Think of it this way:

Normal anxiety is being scared because you've gone to the zoo and heard over the tannoy that one of the lions has escaped.

An anxiety disorder is quaking in fear as you walk round a zoo because you're scared of the lions escaping, even though nothing really suggests they will.

[worrywart29]

Think of it this way:

Normal anxiety is being scared because you've gone to the zoo and heard over the tannoy that one of the lions has escaped.

An anxiety disorder is quaking in fear as you walk round a zoo because you're scared of the lions escaping, even though nothing really suggests they will.

This is a great analogy

[WiredIncorrectly]

Think of it this way:

Normal anxiety is being scared because you've gone to the zoo and heard over the tannoy that one of the lions has escaped.

An anxiety disorder is quaking in fear as you walk round a zoo because you're scared of the lions escaping, even though nothing really suggests they will.

:yesyes:

[katielovespizza]

Think of it this way:

Normal anxiety is being scared because you've gone to the zoo and heard over the tannoy that one of the lions has escaped.

An anxiety disorder is quaking in fear as you walk round a zoo because you're scared of the lions escaping, even though nothing really suggests they will.

I'd add to this wonderful analogy that anxiety disorder consumes you. The fears about your health aren't a mere passing thought, but a constant fear that interrupts your life. A lot of my friends/family members have normal anxiety about their health. My sister-in-law was concerned about a mole on her foot a few months ago, but it didn't consume her. She asked me about it, showed it to me and her father, we both said it looked fine, and she moved on. That's a healthy level of anxiety in my opinion, noticing if something seems off (and going to the doctor if need be), but not letting it disrupt your life.

[Weebo]

I'd add to this wonderful analogy that anxiety disorder consumes you. The fears about your health aren't a mere passing thought, but a constant fear that interrupts your life. A lot of my friends/family members have normal anxiety about their health. My sister-in-law was concerned about a mole on her foot a few months ago, but it didn't consume her. She asked me about it, showed it to me and her father, we both said it looked fine, and she moved on. That's a healthy level of anxiety in my opinion, noticing if something seems off (and going to the doctor if need be), but not letting it disrupt your life.

I have had a lot of situations where the lion escaped, lol. I’ve also had a bunch of situations where the lion escaped and no one believed me. Then I end up thinking I’m imagining the lion or not tell anyone out of fear of being told I’m imagining it. I do however get consumed by health worries. It’s just usually about symptoms that already exist and cause issues functioning rather than future symptoms.

[Catherine S]

It's usually classed as health anxiety when you've had all the tests, then had them all again, and refusing to believe the results are negative. Also, always thinking that you're part of the 1% of cases the doctors get wrong, instead of believing that you're lucky enough to be part of the 99% of cases they get right. That's hypochondria, also known as health anxiety.

So being anxious about your health is what you feel before you see the doctor, having health anxiety is not believing them when they say you're fine.

But I also love the lion analogy !

Cath S

[Weebo]

It's usually classed as health anxiety when you've had all the tests, then had them all again, and refusing to believe the results are negative. Also, always thinking that you're part of the 1% of cases the doctors get wrong, instead of believing that you're lucky enough to be part of the 99% of cases they get right. That's hypochondria, also known as health anxiety.

So being anxious about your health is what you feel before you see the doctor, having health anxiety is not believing them when they say you're fine.

But I also love the lion analogy !

Cath S

I often don’t believe doctors if I’m dealing with bad symptoms and they say I’m fine. They often have been wrong. At least about my eyes. I once thought my eyesight was off. My dad agreed. I got my eyes tested and they said my eyes were fine. That made me panic because I thought I was going crazy. Two years later they discovered I actually did need glasses and it wasn’t in my head. My vision problems are issues you’re born with, so I know my eyes didn’t just change. If I suspect something, but the symptoms don’t bother me yet I’ll believe the doctor when he or she says I’m fine. I just get mad and anxious when I’m dealing with symptoms and people offer no solutions and make me feel crazy.