For me, this *is* OCD

[westofengland]

I have a theory why HA is so hard to beat. I believe it is a form of OCD, just as much as checking the door is locked 100 times a day or washing your hands all the time.

There is the same fear of anxiety and 'what ifs,' the same compulsive checking rituals, the same hunger for reassurance and intolerance of ANY uncertainty.

But, we live in a society where we are encouraged to be worried about our health and get stuff checked out...

So guess what, we rationalise our disorder and pretend we aren't like the odd people who wash their hands all the time, when in reality it's coming from the same place.

So I guess it's about finding a balance and recognising obsessional behaviour and a compulsive need for reassurance as opposed to taking sensible health precautions.

I have found a great blog on OCD and the author has written a very good script she uses against HA

//quote//


Health Anxiety Script 5-7-07

I'm not going to listen to your false promises anymore OCD. You tell me I can be absolutely certain what is going on with my body. No risk is acceptable to you, but to be alive is to be at risk. You always promise me that you will make my fears go away, if I listen to you. But whenever I listen I find myself deeper in hell, with you telling me you just want a little bit more. I am not a doctor. I can't definitively diagnose myself. Overcoming health anxiety is a scary process. I feel as though I am risking my life, but this is a chance I have to take to get better from OCD and get my life back. I've lost so much time already in fixating on my body. OCD, you truly torment me, suck up energy. I can't go on like this. I may get cancer and die a painful death, but OCD can't save me from this, only take away whatever enjoyment I have in my life. My rituals are useless anyway. I can't be vigilant about every body symptom. I don't know what is going in inside my body. Medical guidelines are imperfect but that is all humans have to go by. Maybe I'll get cancer, and my doctor will accuse me of being irresponsible, but I will have to learn to live with my regret at my negligence, so I can enjoy whatever time I have left. The alternative is to lose even more time than I already have to OCD.

[Humly]

Hey, excellent post. It is so true. I totally agree that this is a form of OCD, for me anyway. Thoughts go around and around in my head sometimes and I get obsessed with my pain or whatever it is that I am dealing with. And I have little rituals in that I must always take my good luck charm with me whenever going to the docs etc. I am just like the person who checks the door is locked 100 times a day but in a different way. Hope this makes sense.

[countrygirl]

I agree completely with you that health anxiety is just one form of OCD. I find I have slight tendencies of it in other directions - i am super tidy and hate any situation that I can't control now. I realised a long time ago that the feeling I get when I cannot control something that is not health related is exact same feeling I get when I have a health symptom that I am worrying about - I want to know what is causing the symptom right now and I also want it to go away right now!

[shaggyowen]

yeh i agree with that =] lol

[PokerFace]

Love the bottom part! Really good post west, thanks a lot. x

[Primula]

I love your posts West. This morning I woke up feeling crap with my HA, I switched on computer and read this post, and I felt so much better, because I realise that you are spot on about the OCD. Everytime my OCD voice started telling me I'm going to die if I don't make absolutely sure my symptoms are not life threatening, I've been answering it back by telling it "sorry, but it's just not possible to know everything for sure." I've had a much better day and my symptoms are barely registering. Hope I can keep this up.

These are the kind of posts I find really helpful. Not the ones where people are reassurance seeking. Sometimes I desperately want to ask whether anyone else is having the symptoms I'm experiencing, but I resist because this is exactly the same as asking Dr Google. I find they subside much quicker if I don't try to get reassurance.

Things that help me are meditation, yoga and relaxation and I take citalopram, and writing down my thoughts and facing my fears, not trying to block them. When I do these things on a regular basis, I find I'm much calmer, and more able to put things in to perspective. You have to remember that you cannot just switch off your fears, even if you have realised that you have HA, you have to keep chipping away at it over time, then one day you will look back, and see how much you have improved.

Thats not to say you will never suffer with HA again, but hopefully you will
be able to nip it in the bud before it gets out of hand.

Sorry to hijack your post, I'm sure you know all these things already, but hopefully it will help others who read.

Please keep posting your observations, I find them very interesting and helpful.

Good Luck

Primula