Health anxiety turning into OCD
Has anyone suffering from health anxiety noticed obsessive-compulsive tendancies too? Such as the need to repeatedly check things, or perform rituals?
My wife recently said she felt her anxiety levels were under some form of control these days, after several years on tablets from the doctor. It is still a daily struggle, but the anxiety is not wild and out of control. However, the next sentence was not so good: "I feel that 'it' is being suppressed by the medication, but not gone, and I feel 'it' is going to burst out of me in a new way, instead."
She noticed a sudden increase in wanting to do certain actions over and over, like checking if windows were shut. Now she did this sort of repeated checking a lot, for several months about 20 years ago, so it seems she already had these tendencies inside her, but they have increased significantly, suddenly.
When her health anxiety was at its height 6 years ago, there were many rituals that had to be observed. For example, cleaning the teeth in a certain way would ensure the safety of a family member in another town. Books describe this as "magic thinker" behaviour and it is not uncommon with anxiety.
Has anyone else felt that a suppressed anxiety will burst out of their brain in a new way, rather like OCD or related disorders?
I want to be really careful about asking these questions. I think Citaopram is absolutely the best thing for my wife, and it has made her anxiety bearable instead of ruining her every waking moment. I would suggest that everybody gives medication a serious thought; do not dismiss it just because of one side-effect.
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I do not suffer from Health Anxiety, but I have supported my wife through 12 years of battling with it.