HA as a distraction

[westofengland]

After having had the mother of all HA relapses this week (lung cancer panic even though my lungs seem fine) I wonder if anyone else has noticed that HA stops us dealing with other areas of our life that are causing problem

When I am obsessing, I forget about my demanding job, the fact that I am a widower with three kids, my relationship difficulties at the moment, long commute, my difficult 16 year old etc... HA is a distraction and takes my attention away from all this other s*it

It's not a healthy distraction though as it's wasting a lot of my time. But I wonder if on some level I feel I derive some 'benefit' from it

Anyone else feel the same way? I also realise I need CERTAINTY, the kind of certainty NOBODY CAN GIVE ME. Not you guys, not the GP, and certainly not the internet. Nobody knows what the future holds, but there's no reason to think it's going to be all bad, all one way

Geoff

[jazz25]

Hi there, just reading your post and i agree that having the HA is a major distraction from everything around you, and your right its not a healthy distraction, but the benefit you feel is being able to escape and release the problems surrounding you. and this is a way that enables you to do so, which can encourage it to continue if you believe it is beneficial. i also seek constant reassurance but i never find it either, the only person who can reassure you is you. Its such a vicious circle and i am battling it myself, just keep trying to focus on any positive thoughts you may have and try to find something else that distracts you from the health worries.:)

[Gareth]

Hi Geoff,

I've had what you might call HA for about a year now, but a lot of the reason for me is because I feel so bl00dy ill all the time ;)

But yes I totally agree with your sentiments. There are always things going on in my life that I try to bury, and the anxiety, and development into HA is probably a way of not having to face things.

Also, a lot of us with anxiety have had traumas in our lives, as children or adults. It is almost certain that these come out as "symptoms" in later life, that kind of distress can't stay bottled up forever without having an impact.

Gareth

[itoldyouiwasill]

This is really the paradox of health anxiety, we are totally consumed and paranoid about our health and the belief that we have X or Y illness or disease when the reality of the situation is that health anxiety is actually nothing at all to do with our health.

Health anxiety gives us the best and greatest excuse to step back from our normal day to day lives and divorce ourselves from the reality of our situations...why worry about our marriage, job, car payments, self esteem or sexuality when we are dying anyway...heck, everything pales into insignificance when we are ill and it becomes totally meaningless when we are dying.

I am totally convinced that health anxiety is a form of narcissistic nihilism that we believe we are allowed to adopt due to the severity of our health i.e physical situation...in essence we are transferring our mental and emotional frailties and foibles into a culturally acceptable physical framework.

I am actually in the process of writing a book about health anxiety and this is the central tenant of the book. If people are interested in this it is also worth checking out the work of people like Dr John Sarno and his theory known as TMS which I believe is closely linked to health anxiety.