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Sia
05-05-21, 07:58
So I have been having HA for years and have posted quite a few posts in the past. I have had some very good results with Bach Flower remedies and I was able to keep my anxiety at manageable level. Even went on to get pregnant and had a baby. But COVID really triggered me very bad. My anxiety and panic attack really got worse since last year and more so in the recent one month since the second strain of virus has crippled my entire country. I hear a death of someone I know or my family or friends know. Its no longer statistics and numbers but people I know.
I had very bad shortness of breath in the past 2/3 months. I finally went back to my trusted Bach Flower remedies and I feel better now. However, my househelper informed last night that her husband tested COVID positive.
Since morning I have an itchy throat and its freaking me out. All of us recovered from COVID this January only but my mind keeps pushing me that its possible to get the virus again as my 90 days immunity period is over.
My question is
When we are not anxious, why does our mind try to push you in that direction?
How do we stop this?

TKL04
22-05-21, 09:37
Hi sia!

I often wonder this! I don’t know about you but I find when I feel better or less worried about an issue, I get a moment of relief and then something else happens that triggers me. It could be totally unrelated as well. It’s like the brain is subconsciously scanning for a problem to feed the anxiety.
I have no clue how to stop. I guess that’s where the therapy comes in.
Regarding covid - I’m a nurse on a covid ward. Have been working with it since it started and touch wood haven’t got it. Even if you did get it again, your body would hopefully have retained some immunity xx

Anxiouscow
11-06-21, 00:26
It is called neuroplasticity. Basically, over time, your brain adapts to its environment and stimuli. If you keep doing something repeatedly or thinking a certain way, your brain changes the way it functions to adapt to the scenario. For example, if you had a cough, and you were 100% sure that you were dying of lung cancer, and you worried a lot about it... then you went to your doctor and found out you didn't have lung cancer and you just had a virus, your brain would interpret that the WORRYING was the thing that kept you safe.
In turn, it creates a cycle. Your brain adapts to its environment. The more you worry about certain illnesses and the more you reinforce those negative thought patterns, the more your brain seeks them out. The cure? Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can really help.

wasdhu
13-06-21, 12:24
For example, if you had a cough, and you were 100% sure that you were dying of lung cancer, and you worried a lot about it... then you went to your doctor and found out you didn't have lung cancer and you just had a virus, your brain would interpret that the WORRYING was the thing that kept you safe.

That explains things for me so much. I noticed a while ago that my HA train of thought is "If you worry you have something bad like cancer, then at least you won't have cancer". It's frustrating because I know that's not how anything works but if I ignore it then I get anxious anyway