How to ease imagined symptoms? (Health anxiety)

[44Max44]

So a bit of backstory is a few months ago I had my first run-in with health anxiety, I pretty much tricked myself into thinking I had this or that and visited the GP like 10 times in a month for various random things...

What I've noticed is that when I'm occupied or busy doing something else (have my mind focusing on something else), I have no symptoms whatsoever, but the second I 'check' myself to see if I'm feeling those symptoms still, they magically re-appear. This is exactly what I was doing a few months ago too and it was miserable. I believe this type of thinking is called 'self-destructive' thinking, basically me assuming the worst when I feel any sort of sensation I don't recognize. My rational thinking says I'm completely fine and it's just placebo, but there's always that thought in the back of my head saying 'what if it isn't?'.
This time around it's nowhere as severe as the first time I had it, but I'm worried that if it continues I might spiral again and that's the last thing I want as the last time I had it was the most miserable I've been in a very long time.

So my question is, what are some good techniques to stop yourself from thinking that way and tricking yourself into feeling these symptoms?

Any and all tips and help is very appreciated.

Thank you guys 🙂

[44Max44]

I'm not going to lie, I'm feeling really lost and miserable right now. The past couple of days have felt really strange, almost like a dream. All today I've just been pacing around thinking and having no idea what to do just feeling super anxious and depressed.

I don't want to go down the same path I went down a few months ago, that was a living hell and I don't think I can handle that again. I'm probably going to go down to my GP and book a mental healthcare plan instead of just putting it off again and again.

[44Max44]

Quick update; I ended up going over to my friend's house and hanging out with him and his 6-week old puppy for a while, and that cheered me up a lot. It broke me out of that negative self-destructive thinking and made me think rationally, so I'm feeling alright now. I'm just hoping I can keep the good vibes up especially now that it's night. 🙂

[geoff]

Hello Max, and welcome to the forums.

Can I firstly say that I'm not a doctor and can't diagnose you, however, if you have similar concerns that I/we also have, then we can suggest what we are also suffering from.

You have posted three comments and from what you have told us maybe caused by anxiety and these could be indicative of 'intrusive thoughts' which I also have, but you need your doctor to diagnose you first of all.

Playing with a puppy is always great fun and a distraction from what we are worrying but I'd like to know how you get on with your doctor.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[44Max44]

Hi Geoff,

I've never actually gone to the GP about my mental health, I've gone there several times about the 'physical' symptoms I thought I was experiencing, but never the mental.

I think this is because I'm just very anxious about doing so, talking to people isn't exactly my forte so even if I did start talking to a psychiatrist I feel like I wouldn't be able to open up completely, and honestly, talking about my problems is really hard to do.

The past couple of days I've felt absolutely miserable for the first few hours after waking up, and usually go back to 'neutral' during the day, and then back to miserable at night. This is exactly the type of rhythm I was in a few months ago when I had my first run-in with health anxiety.

Whilst I don't think I've had any particularly traumatizing event in the past that I think could be the origin of my depression of anxiety, I do think it's just a mish-mash of a really bad sleeping pattern (waking up at 1-3pm, going to bed at 3am+ every night), really bad diet (most takeaway, don't have the time or money to cook myself most of the time), being on the computer every day for a long time, and just being lonely.

I'm going to go down sometime during this week and book a mental healthcare plan, I'm sick and tired of putting off and ignoring my problems instead of facing them head-on. I'm not sure I want to go on any medications, but I'm not opposed to trying them. Maybe they'd actually help me out a lot, who knows.

[44Max44]

And yes, after googling 'intrusive thoughts' this sounds exactly like what I've been experienced.
The SECOND I wake up in the morning, the first thought in my head is an unwanted one. I remember how miserable I was the day before and just assume or expect that my day is going to be just like the previous one, so I start off the day miserable right off the bat.

Then throughout the day I could be completely happy playing a game or something, then all of a sudden I'll get a thought I don't like, and I'll expand on that thought, and before you know it that thought is all I can think about and I can't enjoy my game or anything anymore.

My mood has felt very bipolar the past few days, I've gone from happy to sad within a matter of seconds. If my mood throughout the day was a graph it'd just be a zig-zagging line...
This particularly concerns me because my Mum has bipolar, and whilst I know it isn't hereditary it still bothers me.


On almost every single one of my posts I've made on these forums, the thing suggested to me the most is going to see a GP, but I still haven't. It's obvious to me now that I'm just shelving my problems instead of actually dealing with them, so I will change that.