a way to help keep health anxiety calm

[jimlfc6]

What appears to help for me is numbers and statistics.

I am not going to lie and say my health anxiety is under wraps because it isnt, but this does seem to ease some of the uncertainty around health anxiety.

I was having major problems and came onto this site and got talking to somebody under the name of TIREDOFOCD from america, he recommended having a look into my worst nightmare, which was dying of a horrible illness, I would imagine that is what most people on here worry about the most.

Well i was having counselling and CBT at the time at my local doctors surgery, and he researched it for me.

I have a full list of the actual numbers of my age range 20-29 if anybody wants them. But the interesting fact was that it was only about 950 people in that age group die in the UK per year, of which Cancer was about 65 people per year.

Put it in another way, we can never be assured it wont happen, but how many of you would walk into a betting shop and bet 1000 quid on a horse that has odds that are very very slim. so why do we do it with our health?

The biggest killer in the age group was accidents such as car accidents, but that wouldnt stop me getting in a car or going out of my house, so i sometimes thing why i bother getting so upset about something that has a very slim chance of happening.

As i say i am not cured of health anxiety by any means, but this seemed to work to reduce problems a bit, maybe it could work for you too?

[marley]

I feel the same way about statistics. They're something solid I can grasp onto.

I'd be really interested in a copy?

[rozie]

Great to read your post. It actually reminded me of all sorts of seemingly crazy but none the less true statistics ..For example the number of people dying from things like accidents with ironing or tripping over their slippers or strangling themselves with their neckties! The number of household accidents are really high in comparison to deaths by serious illness. If nothing else , reading these weird statistics can cheer you up and some can make you smile they are so unusual.

Thank you so much for your uplifting message

Rozie

[scorpionwhispers]

I use that a lot, when I went on the pill again a year or so ago I asked for the exact numbers of people who had a blood clot compared to those not on the pill. It helped a lot.

I am in the same category Jimlfc6 - I am 28 so feel free to message me and I would be happy to have the stats to look back to if you could give them to me x

[jimlfc6]

okay no probs, i will dig them out later tonight and will post them in this message.

hope it helps everyone like it does me

[wiskersonkittens]

Anything listed for those of us in the age range of 30 - 39???

[SamanthaAU]

Oh, I would love to see some stats too. Anything is worth a shot at feeling better huh!

[superjonboy]

Hi Jim,

Great post.

I did something similar as my worst fears are brain tumor, MS and then mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar.

Using some statistics I managed to work out that the chances of developing cancer of any type under the age of 65 was less than 1%. Infact I think the actual chance of getting a brain tumor was 0.1 %.

The schizoprenia one did worry me as its something like 1% that gets banded about. So when I got thinking about it there's probably more than 100 people on my street. So i'm thinking then that it's quite common aghhhh!

I'd be interested in seeing the statistics you've got though.

John.

[jimlfc6]

I will put them up tonight, i may even have the website where my counsellor got them from so you can put in your own age group and region of the world.

the figures that i post are for 20-29 age catorgory in great britain and i think it was taken from the year 2008.

for those who were asking about the 30-39 age group i only looked into the cancer one a while ago and it was only very slightly higher if i remember correctly.

[randomworry]

wow wish i had thought of that statistics idea - would have literally saved 4 years of life worrying........lol
unfortunately it wont work with my latest fear!

[jimlfc6]

I still havent had time to get everything sorted, but here is quite an interesting stat about cancer and age in the UK

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/mortality/age/index.htm

[superjonboy]

So I just worked out quickly that the chances of being diagnosed with ANY type of cancer is 0.48% per year.

Less than half a percent.

That is at any age so obviously anyon aged under 65 is even less likely.

As a rough guess I would estimate tha chances of getting ANY type of cancer (including brain tumors e.t.c) at an age of say under 50 is about 0.1%.

My key worry is Brain Tumor (other than mental illness).

Going on these statistics the chance of developing a brain tumor in the UK is unbelievably low. Brain and central nervous systmem cancers such as tumors account for 2% of all cancer diagnosis in the UK. So whats 2% of 0.48%?

If I vastly OVERESTIMATE and say there were 10,000 new cases of brain tumor in the UK each year (the actual figure is less than this)

10,000 divided by 60,000,000(uk population) x 100 gives a percentage of 0.01% chance of getting a brain tumor. They are UNBELIEVABLY RARE.

This doesn't even take into consideration the survival rates e.t.c so even if our worst fear were to happen the chances of survival are getting better every year.

Puts it into perspective.

John.

[jimlfc6]

hi john, i think that they are deaths of cancer, not diagnosis

[superjonboy]

No the part I went to definately stated NEW DIAGNOSIS.

I really need to find some statistics against developing Schizophrenia/Bipolar at the age of 28.

I'm really scared I'm in the early stages of it. Most people say I'm not and that I show no signs but I just feel really weird all the time.

John.

[westofengland]

all very true. The medical stories you read in the press, and the press releases from the health organisations, fail to put things into perspective. For example, I'm not saying go around practising unsafe sex, but only about 1000 men and women a year get HIV from hetereosexual sex in the UK (www.avert.org). Hardly an epidemic when you think of the number of sexually active people here. Of course statistics are no comfort if you get ill, but they do help us to put things into perspective. I worry about all sorts of horrible illnesses but my drive home from work tonight was probably a lot more dangerous!

[jimlfc6]

some good information there john, im not as smart to work it into percentages. ha

[superjonboy]

does lfc stand for Liverpool football club by any chance Jim?

Anyway I do find statistics comforting. It's unbelievably rare to get a brain tumor which was one of my biggest worries.

As I say at the minute my biggest fear is that I have a more severe mental illness than Health Anxiety. So if anyone knows anywhere I can find the statistics around this I would be greatful.

John.

[jimlfc6]

it certainly is for Liverpool Football Club john