Tips for overcoming your health worries!

[Fazzz]

Hello all. I am pretty new here, and im sure this isnt the first post of this kind. However, I wish to share my struggle with health anxiety and what helped me become the much less anxious person I am today!

1. The big choice - Now, for some people this may not be an option. And for others this may have to be done. But speaking from my experience, i was given a choice of taking medication for my anxiety. Now, im not saying to take/not take meds. Every person is different. But in my case i said no to them. Many people were angry and upset that i did this. Including family, but from my point of view this was something i wanted to do by myself without medication doing it for me. Its hard to explain, i just didnt like the thought of medication changing the way my brain works.

2. Support from others - Again, every person is different. Dont make choices based on what I say here. Support comes from others in many ways. This could be talking to friends/family/support workers or by therapy sessions and such. The big key for me was finding what helped and what didnt. And for me, support sessions didnt. Going made me feel odd, strange and stupid. Talking to my support worker just didnt help, so I said enough was enough and stopped going. I replaced the sessions just by doing every day things. It made me feel normal, a thing which a hadnt in a long time.

3. Hobbies and distractions - For me this was the most important thing, the key factor that got me out of the constant health worries. I am a huge gamer, i play PC allot of the time, and you will find hundreds of people that say being in a room, alone is the worse thing you could possibly do. Boy were those people wrong. I sat, playing with friends laughing more than I ever did when i was not doing anything with my time. Again this made me feel normal, happy and most of all ALIVE. Now of course, not everyone is a gamer. So find a distraction that works for you. It could be anything, but stick at it and im sure you will start to feel better.

Now, it would be impossible for me to list everything here. But just keep in mind. You are not alone, you are not a freak and it WILL get better.

If you have any questions or worries, feel free to reply and i will take a look.

This whole thing was done on my phone so sorry for any typos.

Good luck!

[gabester76]

I feel that when I am at home at times...I tend to focus on my perceived health issues. However, when i am out driving around running errands or working...I am not bothered by perceived health issues.

[Fazzz]

I feel that when I am at home at times...I tend to focus on my perceived health issues. However, when i am out driving around running errands or working...I am not bothered by perceived health issues.

Yea, as i say in the post. Its when you are doing nothing that you will worry. If doing things as you listed works for you, why not go for drives when you have time free?

Once again, good luck!

[Fishmanpa]

Excellent post! Congratulations of taking action and treating the cause as opposed to feeding the beast.

One of the things I took from your post was acceptance and recognition of your anxiety and a real desire to get better. If one becomes complacent or feeds their anxiety, even unintentionally, they just prolong their suffering. While a forum like this is wonderful in helping one realize they're not alone on their struggle, one can run the risk of using it as a support for their anxiety as opposed to a solution.

Everyone is different. What works for one may not work for another but the underlying factor is the desire to change. I'm a firm believer that people can change if they truly want to. In my journey with cancer and heart disease, my choice was fight or die. When you stare down the enemy whatever it is and fight back, you get stronger and fear less as time goes on. I believe it's the same with anxiety. The more you fight back, the stronger you get and eventually, with help when needed, you defeat the enemy and take back your life.

Continued progress, health and success in your journey.