Another irrational belief about my heart rate

[TaleOn11]

So I mentioned in my previous that a new fear triggered me. Well I'm here to talk about it now.

Okay technically its not "new". Its do with my heart rate again and it going up and up til I get a heart attack is my number 1 health anxiety fear. And I've developed a lot of irrational beliefs on how it could do that, particularly this one.

I'm afraid of doing "bad things" or having negative feelings like getting angry because I believe my anxiety will punish me by making my heart rate go up. It also makes me look at criminals in jail and make me think how they don't have this kind of fear. Obviously they don't have anxiety like me but it freaks me out!

Sorry if this made zero sense but I tried to explain the best I could.

[Dissension]

I'm glad you recognize this is an irrational worry!

I hope you'll find it reassuring to consider the heart is a marvelous organ that speeds up and slows down constantly. We tend to think of, and talk about, it going at a steady pace more or less all the time, but it's really not quite like that. It can be uncomfortable, and anxiety-inducing, when your heart's racing, but your risk of heart attack generally isn't affected by the heart beating faster. I don't know your medical history, and I'm not a medical professional, so I can't (and wouldn't try to) diagnose you. But I believe I read the human heart can beat at 240bpm for two weeks straight before the average person's heart attack risk increases appreciably!

As a wise doctor once told me, "the symptoms you're feeling are real, but they can't harm you. they're only anxiety." I hope this concern's long since alleviated.