I am so anxious about my health

[Ianna]

I have no confident to tell anyone close to me about my situation but I know I have to express my feeling and hopefully can make me feel better. It was exam week for uni student recently and I have been spending my entire week sitting in library studying from 9am to 10pm everyday. I am currently suffering from back pain recently and I know it is probably due to long time sitting previously. But every time I get issues related to my physical health I am scared of it, I will be so worried about myself and I don't want to let my parents to be worried about me as well. Therefore I will choose not to tell anyone and solve it on my own like visiting my GP. However, I can't stop thinking about it and I always relate minor health issue to severe illness, which I have no idea why. I can't control my mind, I just feel so anxious and the feelings often persist, affecting my mood. I have past history of anxiety and still taking regular medications. Every time this feeling come, I will have no idea what to do and feel so lost 😞

Sorry I don't know what am I talking about but my mind is like a mess I just hope to get some comfort and alleviate my anxiety.

[Sophie_M]

Dear Ianna  

We are really sorry to hear that you are having these feelings at the moment however thank you for showing such courage in posting and sharing your experience.  It sounds like you have been under a lot of pressure lately with your studies and it’s only natural for this to sometimes show up in ways where we feel anxious about any other stressors that come our way, it can all feel overwhelming at times.

Given your history of anxiety, your physical health and that you are currently prescribed medication, your GP will always be the first place to start, to alleviate any health concerns that you have and to reassure you that everything is ok.

In addition to posting in the forums, we also invite you to call or chat to one of our trained mental health professionals who will also be able to listen and offer care; it’s completely confidential and available 24/7:   To call us, contact 1300 22 4636
To use webchat, Click Here 

Thank you again for joining this community, we hope that you can join other conversations that resonate with you and read about other users and their journey to better mental health. 

Kind regards,  

Sophie M  

[geoff]

Hello Ianna, we certainly appreciate how you feel and I'm sure this concerns many other people, so you're not alone.

This worry can eventually become an obsession, so what can happen is that we presume the worst is going to happen to us, rather than a simple way to rectify the problem, like sitting in a chair for a long time, then placing a cushion behind your back can make it feel much better.

If you develop a sniffle then we can't automatically believe we have COVID, it could be caused by hayfever or allergic to something else.

Most of us search the net for answers which can only increase the fear we are having and while you wait to see your doctor you can ring 'nurses on call 24/7 1300 60 60 24 and ask for their opinion.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[StevenK]

Our thoughts create our emotions, it is our thinking and self talk that creates what we feel, and so we have to learn to change our thinking, also get help tell people who you can confide in, I am not sure of your relationship with your parents but they are there for you. It can be difficult but do try to speak up, because when you bottle stuff up it creates more pain

A few tips might be to start a pc journal or by hand and write all your thoughts out, this is liberating. And also start learning about emotional intelligence

academics won’t teach you emotional health. Schools don’t teach us how to be free,

so how do you learn? By embarking on a journey of self development. To change your thinking.

here’s some books that will change your life. The power of now by eckhart tolle, and new earth by eckhart. A advanced book is the untethered soul by Michael singer.

We have a soul, we also have the pyche(mind) problems come from the mind.

our thoughts create our emotions and they also create disease in the body, when we worry we attract more of it. When you put our negative karma you get it back.

our thoughts have the power to control our biochemistry. But most of us never learned about how to handle emotions.

Now what other books, the magic of thinking big, think and grow rich, how to win friends and Influence people.

we have to get in touch with our soul(spirit) love joy peace come from within the soul, the psyche isn’t the heart. Majority of humans and society are in pain and are negative. We are taught get a good job work hard and we will be happy

you have to be happy before you get success. We are truly happy when we are at peace. So it’s very important to work on the root causes of your emotions, usually the mind is telling a negative story and we have been carrying it around for decades.

Not that money is everything, reading from wise people is the best way to evolve. You could also see a school councillor or keep a journal and write everything out.

i am proud of you for posting a message, it takes courage to be vulnerable: but it’s very powerful. The books I listed will teach you how to get control of your emotions.

[Bob_22]

Hi lanna,

Sorry to read about your recent bouts of increased anxiety as well as having exams on top of that! I know what you mean when you feel you can't tell your parents about what you're feeling because you don't want to worry them. I used to be the same way especially with my parents and friends. It can be a difficult conversation to have. I was lucky enough that my psychiatrist at the time offered to chat with both myself and my dad to help explain what I was experiencing. Could this be an option with your GP? If interested there are also some resources on this website which nicely cover issues like depression and anxiety and exactly how common they are. And also that it doesn't necessarily have to be a point of concern, especially when everyone is on the same page. But of course it is entirely your decision to share what you're experiences with others outside your GP.

I also have experience with health anxiety and used to get particularly caught up with any breathing issues or muscular pain. I found it with my GP that my anxiety about these issues actually amplified these pains to the point where I was requesting ultrasounds and scans. There is some great information available on health anxiety on thiswayup.org.au. My biggest help was identifying the thinking cycle I was having when experiencing health anxiety and trying to interrupt it e.g. relaxation and 'thought challenging'.

Hope that helps

[jaz28]

Hi lanna,

I am sorry you are experiencing this whilst trying to study. As someone with health issues, I can understand the feeling of worrying if something is wrong. It might be worth visiting your GP to ease your mind about the pain, but also to seek help for your anxiety. My anxiety always amplifies my health issues, and sometimes my symptoms are just anxiety. Your GP can help you with this.

I hope things improve,

jaz xx

[Mark Z.]

Hi Ianna,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry about your suffer from anxiety. You've done the right thing - to see your GP when you feel uncomfortable. As you have given your GP enough information and he or she has done necessary checks and nothing serious was found, you should trust your GP and focus on other things in your daily life.

But as you mentioned, if you can't get rid of those imaginations from your mind, this is mental health challenge. Have you tried to talk to your GP about your mental health challenge? It's good to let him/her have a full picture of your challenges. And he/she will also be able to arrange mental health program for you.

Mark