Quote Originally Posted by pb View Post
Thank you, I know I’m the only one who can get myself out of this. Did you have chest pain with your anxiety. It’s so scary and believing it’s all anxiety is so difficult, but asking for constant reassurance is also training,I’m so tired x
It's only scary because you don't understand the stress response, pb. If a mentally well person has a near miss in the car - the fight or flight response kicks in and for a few seconds they have all the symptoms - racing heart, sweating, dry mouth etc - but then it all calms down. The person with HA is constantly in this mode because they are constantly convincing themselves they are dying of something. I was so convinced I had bowel cancer, I planned my funeral, and when I had the colonoscopy that would surely prove my worst fears to be right, what they actually found was a small pile and an otherwise fabulous colon. The stress response is there to keep us alive in order for us to be able to move really fast, really quickly - which is why we're packed full of cortisol and adrenalin. Constantly looking for reassurance will keep you in this cycle of hopping from one imaginary life-threatening illness to another, and I absolutely know how exhausting that is. Trust me, learn about how the stress response works and you will understand that your body is working overtime to keep you from the danger - which in your case is your own thoughts, not actual danger.