Health anxiety. Help me!

[kotm]

hey so basically im pretty young and am a complete hypochondriac, i worry about every single ache and pain in my body and always believe it is something terrible. Is there anybody who feels like this constantly?? lately ive been having strange feelins in my throat and as you can imagine it has been driving me crazy making me think i have a terrible illness. i hate having this constant feeling of anxiety and always thinking the worse of every situation. If there is anyone who also feels like this it would be really appreciated and comforting if you would let me know how you guys cope. Thank you

[Shellz__22]

Hi Kotm

Thanks for reaching out for help!

I have a condition where my body reacts to being overwhelmed by feelings (especially anxiety) by releasing those feeling as neurological symptoms. This was a very hard diagnosis to accept that the reason that I had a tremor, wasn't that I had a brain tumor or MS it was that I was anxious. I felt like people thought it meant that I was just making it up, but they didn't.
This didn't mean that it was easy to accept but I also did not start seeing improvements until I started to accept it. Because it is okay to be anxious about your health but we cannot let it impact our lives.

I recommend writing down your thoughts and feelings for the day and seeing if you can find a pattern. For example, you were really anxious about your health the week your boss was riding you at work. This is then where you can deploy coping strategies such as acknowledging that you have had a stressful week and so chalk it up to that but it is still there in a month you will have it checked out.

Also, seeing a psychiatrist once a month has really helped me, but each to their own.

Just because you have anxiety related to your health does not mean you cant get sick, so if there is something that is really bothering you or out of the pattern, you should get it checked out by a doctor.

S.

[Scotty2013]

Hello kotm,

Yes i can relate, headache, brain tumor, pains in arm heart attack, list goes on :(. Your in the right place, Just don't Dr Google , it makes it worse, and so many other ailments are similar. Treatment I find mindfulness helpful, and Relaxation distraction etc. I'm not completely cured of it either tbo, so like you working on it it's exhausting. Best of Luck.