Hi, I have G.A.D. which doesn't normally manifest itself in health anxiety but it did yesterday. I had a really bad nightmare about cancer, and then in the morning, on Radio 4, cancer was also mentioned. Those two facts combined to make me think about the lump in my ear which I've had for three months and not done anything about because I was sure it was a cyst.
I did the worst thing possible and googled it, and came up with all sorts of horrifying results. I began to get really scared and phoned my mum and my husband and rang the GP for an emergency appointment. Then I cried for 2 hours, couldn't eat lunch and generally got very worked up, envisaging all sorts of awful things happening. I was sure I could not cope with cancer.
Then I went to the GP who confirmed it was just a cyst. And also we talked about my anxiety and he recommended 'moodgym' which is an on-line CBT course, and said that if ever I was having a bad week, I could go and talk to him. So if I hadn't been worrying about my ear lump, I suppose I would not have met him (my regular doctor is on holiday). But I am going to write this down in my diary as yet another example of when I have worried and there was nothing wrong.
Of course, there is the thought that he might have been wrong, but he was seemed so confident and the lump just appeared overnight and has not grown or hurt or anything, so I think I will trust him. But one thing I am not going to do is to google it again. It is definitely a mistake! But do google 'moodgym' - it looks quite helpful (although quite basic to start with).
sfee x
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