Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
Quote:
Originally Posted by
helenhoo
That's a good point. So I'm so used to feeling anxious, my body is on autopilot?
Pretty much, and it's ok to recognise this.
Your panic response is complete autopilot, there's nothing you can do to prevent that happening. What you can do it control the 5-10 seconds of immediate reaction that happens after a trigger, and re-learn how to not overreact. You're currently still in the stages where your automatic learned response to any perceived negative sensation is to catastrophise. Therapy, and practice will help you deal with that reaction to sensation and eventually you will either give it a mental 'so what' or even further down the line you won't even consciously acknowledge the sensation any more.
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
I appreciate your replies, thank you.
What to do I do about the urges to check? I just had urge to feel my leg and see I could find bumps and noticed a difference. Why am I like this?
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
It's not really that complicated, when you get an urge...just don't do it. Yes it's hard, but you have to keep not doing it. You have to practice not following the checking urge for months on end.
The reason you're like this (and anybody with HA) is because you spent so long doing the wrong things. We all did. But as I said before, the good news is that it's really just a habit, and habits can be broken, you just need to be determined to break the habit.
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
Wow. I almost shit a brick when I saw this post, Becca. I think this is the most rational I've ever heard you. Keep it up.
What did you ever decide about medication?
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
Think of the urges as any other addiction or habit. When you're on a diet there are so many times you want to break it and eat cookies or drink soda. When you're trying to quit smoking there are so many times you feel the urge to have a cigarette. It's all about making a commitment and accepting that there will be a lot of times you feel uncomfortable. You need to accept that feeling with the understanding that it will pass and you will be better off in the end and that giving in to the urge right now will be only a temporary relief.
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
When you feel the urge to check you go and do something else. You insert waiting time so that you are exposed to the feelings waiting creates. You keep doing this. Often 15 mins of an activity is advised but it's not always possible so do the best you can. You get up and get on with something so your mind isn't sitting dragging your vision to the spot to check on.
Learning to sit with it takes time so it's often best to use techniques that fill your mind initially so you are too busy. Then you start learning to just sit and say no.
There are other ways such as taking control of a check and doing it in a more mindful way and telling yourself you are doing it because you want to and not because you have too. My advice would be to try the filling your time first so you are getting used to steering your mind away from obsession. Try a method like taking control if you can't get another method to work.
Read about breaking compulsions. There are various methods and I found I needed several to deal with mine. Mine are long gone and it took me a good 12-18 months of hard work.
And you may not feel any relief from performing a compulsion any way. There is this simplistic view of OCD that compulsion = a big sigh of relief. Many OCDers don't get this at all and checking forms like Googling/testing are more aimed at cycle start/re-starting anyway so don't fit the classic model often perpetuated on OCD sites.
Plan. Don't try to everything at once in a Cold Turkey fashion. It's not as effective as a graduated approach as seen in ERP. List your compulsions. Now pick some to work on. You may find some are too hard to eliminate so try others. Sometimes I found easier ones could be resolved to give me the extra resilience to work on harder ones.
And underlying levels of anxiety prop up obsessive-compulsion cycle disorders. Put someone under stress and they struggle more with OCD themes. Therefore look to indirect treatment in the form of healthier living, calming techniques, nurturing activities and cut out more negative aspects of life where you can.
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AntsyVee
Wow. I almost shit a brick when I saw this post, Becca. I think this is the most rational I've ever heard you. Keep it up.
What did you ever decide about medication?
I mentioned it to my GP who suggested the CBT High Intense course first. I did say I'd be struggling for five years but she said to do the course then discuss after I still feel I need it. My therapist said the stats are similar, assuming she can't say meds are better.
Re: Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
Okay, I was just wondering, as meds help me to put into effect all the things I learned in therapy. But you do need the CBT High Intense course. The meds DO NOT replace therapy; they only help some of us put it to use. Sounds like you have a good GP.