View Full Version : Posting patterns
Sorry, this isn't a health related post, but just wanted to put an idea out there. I was thinking about this forum, and because I work in marketing, I often have to research patterns and behaviours of customers/clients.
Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but HA worries almost seem contagious. I've been on this forum for nearly a year now, and noticed a few trends. Back in December - Jan, we had quite a few people posting about MS/ALS related worries. February - April, I could see a trend with bowel worries and more recently there seems to be quite a few posters (myself included) with lymph node worries!
I don't know if anyone else has noticed patterns, but maybe health anxiety can be contagious. Obviously there are lots of triggers on here, which may explain it all.
Well I can’t speak for anyone else but I often find myself coming here and reading something and then worrying about the same thing, or getting triggered by something.
Definitely a pattern. You should have seen the boards during the ebola scare! And the post patterns are definitely related to news. When a disease makes the headlines for most any reason, you're bound to see threads pop up.
Positive thoughts
You should have seen the boards during the ebola scare!
I was not, and did not have HA over it. Nonetheless, it scared the shit out of me when my son had Ebola training and got the big white suit. 😟
gailveronica
08-10-19, 15:44
How interesting! I do know that worry is "contagious" - my husband and I have been watching Breaking Bad again (before the movie comes out) and I have to stop the binge sometimes because the illness in it is too real for me and I start poking and prodding...
I also wonder if, lymph-wise, because it's this time of year, where we're all fighting little germies and bugs, our lymph nodes are up and active, and being HA sufferers, we take notice at even the smallest lump/bump! Man, living inside our heads.... lol
Yourboymj99
08-10-19, 16:46
Mr L you bring up an excellent point. An anxious mind is certainly susceptible to latch on to outside influence and information. You should have seen the office after the ice bucket challenge...
MJunderway
09-10-19, 16:06
I love this post! I also have to look for patterns and connections in my professional life and as a result do the same in my personal life. Honestly, I just enjoy patterns in general. I would be curious to see if there's anything to these patterns outside of triggered thoughts.
Take the MS/ALS pattern during Dec-Jan. Does the change in daylight have anything to do with this? Researchers are beginning to look at the effects that daylight savings has on physical health through health issues like heart attacks and strokes. I just did a quick search and found that lower levels of Vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) can cause muscle cramps and aching.
In addition to daylight savings, Dec-Jan winds up being a month of reduced workloads for many countries due to the winter holidays. I know that I wind up not working much at all throughout Dec and as a result am relaxed on a level that I am not for other parts of the year. People who are always anxious may experience a ratcheting down process when relaxing which could manifest as weakness, exhaustion, or spasms.
I wish that there could be some large scale research on this but I'm not holding my breath. Doesn't seem like you could easily capitalize this data. But it could be really helpful for an individual to use in their own healing. Thank you again for sharing the idea!
Sometimes I think it depends on what’s big in the news too.
It's not just the subject matter that runs in cycles and patterns, it's also responses. Reassurance seeking and the inevitable "Yeah but" and it's variants run rampant here.
Positive thoughts
I’ve seen rabies, ALS, brain eating amoeba, schizophrenia, various cancers (especially pancreas), fatal insomnia, mad cow disease and MS all run their courses on here.
Personally, I’m waiting for spontaneous human combustion now.
I'm sure the Daily Mail will run a feature on SHC soon..Mind blowing journalism!:D
Malignant fatal insomnia is the weirdest trend I have seen on here.
it is definitely a thing and very interesting.
It’s like a competition.:Dand follow the leader
I'm probably horrible for even having these thoughts...
But often I've wanted to do a social experiment on here where I invent a disease...and see if anyone else would claim to have it as well.
The other funny thing is that I've used this forum for general medical advice (as I'm not a hypochondriac), and it's amazing how well people with HA can give advice, but not take it. It's also astonishing just how much genuine medical knowledge they have.
MyNameIsTerry
12-10-19, 03:20
I think The Danger Triangle was the one for me. We see more SFI and brain eating amoeba threads than that. And it was all caused by irresponsible media reporting that implied you would kill yourself by popping pimples. I remember looking into it as it sounded ridiculous given the teenage population worldwide would been experiencing yearly epidemics to find it was nothing of the sort and about boils! It was so rare it was barely documented as it's an old world problem that modern medicine easily copes with except in some very rare cases.
Terry, do you have HA or another type of OCD?
MyNameIsTerry
12-10-19, 05:39
Terry, do you have HA or another type of OCD?I've never had HA themes within my OCD. It was all a mixture of intrusive thoughts, compulsive touching/counting/checking, obsessive control of routine, etc. Much of It falls under tic related OCD as a theme. Plenty of Magical Thinking too! But GAD is my primary disorder which is still ongoing compared to my OCD which I've mostly eliminated now.
Ah, okay. I couldn’t remember. GAD and OCD can have a very fine line between them. Many of us with GAD will engage in magical thinking and rituals to calm us down at times.
MyNameIsTerry
13-10-19, 02:24
Ah, okay. I couldn’t remember. GAD and OCD can have a very fine line between them. Many of us with GAD will engage in magical thinking and rituals to calm us down at times.
Very true, many elements of OCD are just found in human beings and only become OCD when they reach the point of impacting on your life. GAD has it's tentacles into other disorders as you were saying about agoraphobia on another thread (I went through that for months too, retreating from the world and then finding it hard to escape a bubble that had shrunk further), it can be a symptom of GAD when it gets more severe.
In my case it was GAD from the breakdown and still is now but OCD came from a massive ramping up of anxiety due to a med. Like many people I can see some OCD traits throughout my past that never were a problem and this ramping up brought it all out and much more. I suddenly found myself with intrusive thoughts and needing to touch objects hundreds of times a day in multiples and walking on the bits on the pavement, checking all the road signs and number plates over & over, etc. It all traced back to starting the med. It took a few years to get rid of all the compulsions (the first 2 years were lost to a daily grind of it) and the only stuff left in there now are obsession based and because they are tied in with my GAD.
I know others on here who have suddenly found themselves with OCD issues due to a med.
I have definitely worried about a few things that I never even thought about until I saw them here. On the whole though, being here has been a positive for me. I usually gain far more wisdom than worries.
I think some demographics on HA would also be interesting. I've noticed that young adults with HA are at the stage of life where they are first going off to college or getting their first full time job, and I wonder if their circumstances affect their HA. They are away from home for an extended period for the first time, in an unfamiliar environment without their old friends and family members, experiencing greater workloads and stress than they had in high school, etc, and I wonder if this comes out as HA.
Very true, many elements of OCD are just found in human beings and only become OCD when they reach the point of impacting on your life. GAD has it's tentacles into other disorders as you were saying about agoraphobia on another thread (I went through that for months too, retreating from the world and then finding it hard to escape a bubble that had shrunk further), it can be a symptom of GAD when it gets more severe.
In my case it was GAD from the breakdown and still is now but OCD came from a massive ramping up of anxiety due to a med. Like many people I can see some OCD traits throughout my past that never were a problem and this ramping up brought it all out and much more. I suddenly found myself with intrusive thoughts and needing to touch objects hundreds of times a day in multiples and walking on the bits on the pavement, checking all the road signs and number plates over & over, etc. It all traced back to starting the med. It took a few years to get rid of all the compulsions (the first 2 years were lost to a daily grind of it) and the only stuff left in there now are obsession based and because they are tied in with my GAD.
I know others on here who have suddenly found themselves with OCD issues due to a med.
That's interesting... For me, it was the opposite. I had much more OCD traits and rituals when I was a kid. I remember in kinder, I would have to walk five times in a circle on the living room floor before I picked up my backpack and I went to school or I would have bad luck that day. But I seemed to grow out of it as I got older. The anxiety remained though. Later on, when I got into middle school, depression entered into the mix, and it's been off and on with that ever since.
I have definitely worried about a few things that I never even thought about until I saw them here. On the whole though, being here has been a positive for me. I usually gain far more wisdom than worries.
I think some demographics on HA would also be interesting. I've noticed that young adults with HA are at the stage of life where they are first going off to college or getting their first full time job, and I wonder if their circumstances affect their HA. They are away from home for an extended period for the first time, in an unfamiliar environment without their old friends and family members, experiencing greater workloads and stress than they had in high school, etc, and I wonder if this comes out as HA.
I've also seen the same thing and wondered this as well. I think HA really comes out as people get to new life stages, like college, becoming a parent or having grandkids.
Life circumstances as well.Being responsible for others, being constantly reminded of it and not being in a position to be ill.
Life circumstances as well.Being responsible for others, being constantly reminded of it and not being in a position to be ill.
Being responsible for others and what life has dealt you,is so true.
MyNameIsTerry
15-10-19, 02:12
That's interesting... For me, it was the opposite. I had much more OCD traits and rituals when I was a kid. I remember in kinder, I would have to walk five times in a circle on the living room floor before I picked up my backpack and I went to school or I would have bad luck that day. But I seemed to grow out of it as I got older. The anxiety remained though. Later on, when I got into middle school, depression entered into the mix, and it's been off and on with that ever since.
I can remember a few I did as a kid such as having to remove & replace pen tops over & over until "just right", always turning in a circle one way and not the other and switching light switches on & off. They all went though and it's interesting that it's said kids do this and grow out of it in most cases.
It's also interesting in that there are studies of kids who suffer strep throat and suddenly develop OCD symptoms and it goes once the condition is resolved. And the more recent complicated stuff about things like PANDAS, adult PANDAS and immunoinflammatory links to OCD.
I can remember a few I did as a kid such as having to remove & replace pen tops over & over until "just right", always turning in a circle one way and not the other and switching light switches on & off. They all went though and it's interesting that it's said kids do this and grow out of it in most cases.
It's also interesting in that there are studies if kids who suffer strep throat or suddenly develop OCD symptoms and it goes once the condition is resolved. And the more recent complicated stuff about things like PANDAS, adult PANDAS and immunoinflammatory links to OCD.
Well, on my mother’s side, there is a long family history of mental illness, so personally I chalk mine up to genetics and a terrible childhood environment.
I can remember a few I did as a kid such as having to remove & replace pen tops over & over until "just right", always turning in a circle one way and not the other and switching light switches on & off. They all went though and it's interesting that it's said kids do this and grow out of it in most cases.
It's also interesting in that there are studies of kids who suffer strep throat and suddenly develop OCD symptoms and it goes once the condition is resolved. And the more recent complicated stuff about things like PANDAS, adult PANDAS and immunoinflammatory links to OCD.
That sounds like myself Terry,with a lot more added in the mix,unfortunately it carried through into adult life. I have had very extensive therapy and now am living a somewhat “normal” life.:D
My daughter was diagnosed with OCD at the Maudsley and the link to strep throat had just been "discovered". This was over 15 years ago though. They were really keen for her to be another example.
MyNameIsTerry
16-10-19, 01:37
My daughter was diagnosed with OCD at the Maudsley and the link to strep throat had just been "discovered". This was over 15 years ago though. They were really keen for her to be another example.
They sometimes forget what is exciting for them is excruciating for the patient.
MyNameIsTerry
16-10-19, 01:41
That sounds like myself Terry,with a lot more added in the mix,unfortunately it carried through into adult life. I have had very extensive therapy and now am living a somewhat “normal” life.:D
Quinn, I found sometimes those things would appear in adult life but then disappear again anyway. It was only my relapse, years after the initial breakdown, that the OCD side exploded and without that severe spike of anxiety I doubt it would have ever developed much. Just like I never experienced mood swings or symptoms of depression...until I started on meds.
I'm glad you have found your way through it. Like you've said to others it's about putting in the hard yards, the professionals guide & support but in the end it always comes down to you doing the hard work.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.