The power of the mind

[kendo59]

When is a headache, just a headache?

Part of our 'condition' of Anxiety, especially Health Anxiety, is that every twinge and ache, every pain and pimple, that 'ordinary' people shrug off with barely a second thought, for us becomes a major worry, often taking over our whole lives. Every headache becomes (in our minds) a brain tumour, every twinge makes us believe we have cancer, every pimple becomes a life-threatening blood clot or as-yet un-named fatal disease.
All the reassurances from the doctor that there is nothing wrong, make us believe the doctor is wrong (and sure it happens - but how realistically)?

"I'm convinced I have a brain tumour/heart murmur/ulcer/cancer (delete as applicable) but I've been to the doctor 15 times in the past month, and he keeps telling me there is nothing wrong with me. I went to A+E the other night and they took X-Rays and blood tests, but nothing showed up. I must have a very rare unidentified type of cancer if none of their tests pick it up. What should I do?"

Duh, Helloooo???

How much of this is self-perpetuating paranoia, or old-fashioned hypochondria?
I have a curry, and next day a bit of indigestion. Or is it? Maybe it's an ulcer? Maybe it's stomach cancer? I overdo the housework or gardening, and next day feel a twinge in my leg or back, and for a fleeting moment imagine the worst. It can't just be a simple harmless twinge. It must be DVT, or cancer. Then we start to obsess. The minor twinge becomes a constant ache, and we obsess over it all the more, the ache becomes (in our heads) bone cancer. The more we worry, the more we obsess, the greater the disease becomes, the more we get stressed and tense. Oh no, I've got cancer of the spine! Then I get a headache from the worry. Not just any old headache, oh no. It has to be a brain tumour - Oh my god - the cancer (from the twinge) has spread into my brain, I've got brain tumours the size of golf balls!!! Meanwhile the indigestion has become a fear of being sick. Best not go out in case I throw up. The headache has become a fatal brain tumour (in our imagination).

And it doesn't just affect the individual. Oh no. You make a post, detailing all your symptoms & fears, and within a couple of days, other people also start identifying and making posts with the same problems. It starts with one person posting about their condition with the illness, and then suddenly there are a dozen other people all making posts having the same trouble.

Has anyone noticed the pattern? Last week it was "Ectopic Heartbeats". First one person posts about it, then suddenly there are a dozen people all posting that they have it too. This weeks ailment is "Emetophobia". One person mentions it, then suddenly other people hop on the bandwagon all claiming to suffer from it too.
It's as if these conditions are contagious and you catch them off t'internet.
I've heard of computer viruses, but really.

Is it a part of General Anxiety/Health Anxiety that we become so paranoid and let our imaginations run away with us, and turn every simple tummy-ache or twinge into a life-threatening cancerous tumour, despite constant reassurances from medical professionals that there is nothing wrong? Or is a big part of it just simple old-fashioned attention-seeking hypochondria?

What is the best way to help someone in that state? Humour them & placate them? Tell them "oh there are some good treatments for cancer these days, have you asked to be referred to a cancer specialist"? Or is it best to just tell them "Stop being such a hypochondriac, you t**t, your stomach cancer is nothing more than a bit of indigestion from the prawn vindaloo & 12 pints of stella you had last night".?


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[marie1974]

hiya kendo what you have wrote is very true i have been there. i cope with this by distraction its the only way for me, i guess thats why i always busy. but i do find that when i am happy and positive i goes away by itself. when i start to feel low, scared or unwell then it creeps back in side my head again.

hugs kendo matey, smile and b strong xxxx
ps thanku for your pm and kind words as usual, still no word

[xxlisaxx08]

When is a headache, just a headache?





This weeks ailment is "Emetophobia".
It starts with one person posting about their condition with the illness, and then suddenly there are a dozen other people all making posts having the same trouble. It's as if these conditions are contagious and you catch them off t'internet. I've heard of computer viruses, but really.




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I think the people (well majority) who reply to the post have experienced the symptoms in the past and it obviously worried them and they find it reassuring to read that other people have also experienced these symptoms so they post their own experiences.

[kendo59]

I'm not dismissing anybody's genuine fears, and who is to judge what is irrational for another person or not? I have only started having Anxiety/Stress/Panic Attacks, in the last year. Sometimes I can 'control' them. Other times I really feel as if my head is going to explode and I literally want to rip someones head off from sheer rage. You may think that is irrational. I may feel my anger is completely justified. But the point is, how much is "in ones imagination" and what is the best way to deal with somebody's fears/rages.

For example, I daresay we've all puked up at one time or another in our lives. My point is, it is within the power of our own mind as to whether we 'allow' that to become an irrational fear and diagnose ourselves having emetophobia, or simply shrug it off as a "yeah I've puked up a few times (usually when I've had a skinful of ale & prawn curry), so what?".
Ectopic heartbeats are fairly common and not usually dangerous. Everyone experiences some variation in their heartbeat at certain times and may occasionally feel palpitations as a thumping in the chest and can be quite normal.

It's within our power to control our fears. Do we sometimes misguidedly encourage peoples irrational fears by being too sympathetic, rather than bluntly telling them to stop being a hypochondriac. When is "tough love" the right approach?

[xxlisaxx08]

I'm not a fan of tough love! What a surprise lol but i'm not a fan of sympathy either though. I understand that 99.9% of my thoughts are completely irrational and I know I need to get a grip of myself but i don't believe someone telling you that you're being stupid is going to help you either, it would cause more anxiety (well it would for me anyway) I think the only person who can dish out the tough love is yourself after all you are the one that started your fears and you are the one that will end them nobody else

[worriedGrace]

I have found a lot of help and comfort on this site. I thought that I was the only one with health anxiety and the few people I had confided in were not sympathetic to put it mildly. I never read someone else's problem and think,"That sounds like an interesting worry perhaps I'll add that one to my list." My husband sometimes comments that I spend too much time reading other people's woes and seems to think they are contagious.

I know my mind must be very strong because it has ruled most of my life by frightening me to the point of terror and my fears have held me back from enjoying life to the full. There's no point planning a good career or a happy future when you just 'know' that you will die young of some disease that the doctors didn't spot. If only my strong mind had been more positive and worked for my good. Now I have reached 60, nobody is more surprised than me, and I feel I have wasted my life by always being frightened.

[LeeBee]

This is an interesting debate.

Personally I find the fact that there are so many people experiencing the same fears as me comforting and reassuring. It helps me to rationalise my symptoms and the thoughts that I have about them - it's the anxiety what's doin' it. And it makes me feel less weird and alone.

I also find it helpful to comfort and reassure others - the web equilivalent of whistling a happy tune, I guess :). It makes me feel kind of useful, anyway.

I think there is a danger that some people may become "addicted" to posting and receiving reassurance. They may do it more to keep getting that feeling of relief and comfort.

Obviously there are much worse things to be addicted to. And many posters on the threads and the site adminstrators actively encourage habitual posters to seek professional help for their anxiety as well as trying to get them to focus on the anxiety itself rather than the symptoms. And that's got to be a good thing. I know that I have become much more aware of having thoughts that are the result of anxiety since joining this site. Being able to identify them as such helps me to ease them away rather than get trapped in a thought spiral that can lead to panic attacks.

So, on balance, I think that for most people with anxiety this site is helpful, reassuring and informative rather than exacerbating or encouraging HA. That's my tuppence anyway.

[Nechtan]

I can only speak personally but one of the things that brought me here was for that very reason. Googling symptoms was just worrying me so I thought I would look for an anxiety forum and see if people had the same symptoms for reassurance. It worked. I haven't googled since and when you have some foreign symptoms it is comforting to know other people who suffer from anxiety have the same and therefore there is a good chance it is aniety related rather than worst case scenario.

But I understand the point. I think it is more my personality than the anxiety that makes alot of bad things I read suggestive. For that reason I have to watch what I read. For example I never view any heart related threads because I know if I do I will probably start analysing myself and find I have the same thing.

I think if you find the best way for yourself of viewing threads then it can be really beneficial but if you read everything, if you are suggestive, then it can be a problem and you may find yourself with more symptoms that you started with.

All the best

Nechtan

[keepemlaughing]

Here here and cheers to you for describing this so well. I know people suffer from anxiety related health fears but come on......every ailment is NOT the end of the world. My sympathies to those who have convinced themselves otherwise.
Sheryl

[eljay]

The power of the mind is scary to say the least, ive had a lot of s**te thrown at me lately, added to that I started to worry about my health again, I went on holiday with friends and my family and was fine for a whole 2 weeks, I even spotted a mole with a lump under it whilst rubbing in after sun and I did worry but havnt thought about it again until writing this, I dare say I will start to panic again now. It needs a really big distraction to get yourself away from this I think, at the moment im ok, I dont know for how long though, I have alot going on in my life at the moment, my friend just died, my job is on the line, and my aunt with ms is really ill. yes I feel very stressed but i dont seem to have time to panic about myself.


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