Podcast about health anxiety I found interesting

BEFORE you listen to the podcast I am giving a link to please understand that some of what is discussed COULD be triggers for some who suffer from HA.

You may be asking yourself why then would I post it.

I believe that the more we arm ourselves with information, the more empowered we are to find a solution that works for us.

In this podcast sufferers as well as members of the medical profession discuss:
When are health worries normal and how to recognize when they are encroaching on one's life.
Obsessive thoughts about one's health
Googling symptoms
Individual stories of health fears from sufferers
and
CBT

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rbkyk

Basically getting HA under control, from the perspective of the doc on the podcast, is changing thought patterns.

The part I found most interesting and that struck me as the most true statement that I relate to is that HA turns into a vicious circle.
Negative thoughts equal negative reactions which in turn reinforce the negative thinking.

So if someone I know has a heart attack and I start to think "I could have one too" then my anxiety level increases which in turn causes my heart rate to increase. I may sweat and feel light-headed from the anxiety. This then reinforces the heart attack fear.

We have to learn to recognize this and change our thinking. For example, every headache IS NOT a brain tumor, every chest pain IS NOT a heart attack...etc.

Thank you to happycamper who originally posted this on the useful links section of the forum.
xxx
Sandy

Frightening how much I could relate to this! So true all of it. How do you find the balance if you have a HA? My latest is eye aching and I know its probably stress, but it sure is playing on my mind. :(

Thanks for Sharing:)

Thx for sharing. It was helpful.

Thoughts do not become things
..

"Thoughts do not become things." I love that. :yesyes:

Great information. Thanks.

"Health Anxiety" is Hypochondria. I prefer something like "Health Dissatisfaction or Dysphoria"

Another great series of podcasts is The Anxiety Coaches Podcast. It's so informative and very comforting. When I was really in a bad place, I put it on before bed and listened to it while working out. They're great!

Wow so glad I found this! I know it's been a while since the last post, but I wanted to say thank you anyway....

Listening to anxiety coaches podcast right now...

This is awesome :)

thanks for the links to these podcasts - i look forward to listening to them

okay, listening to this podcast now.

The Health Anxiety Show with Dennis Simsek is one that I've found helpful lately.