Hi,
I used to come on these forums almost every day for support with my anxiety and mainly my health anxiety, but haven't posted in quite a few months. This is because I've actually improved quite a lot, and I'd like to share my progress with all of you to show you that you can overcome your anxiety with time and patience.
I used to suffer from Health Anxiety pretty bad, I was in constant worry over my health, I'd be hyper-focusing on symptoms which amplified them and made them seem much worse than they actually were, and any time I felt any sort of sensation I'd overanalyze it and instantly assume the worse. I was very miserable and couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel, it really was the most miserable I've ever been in my entire life and I hated it.
I established myself on the forums and made it my mission to not only find ways to help myself but to use all my knowledge I accumulated over my time on the forums and through my own experiences to help other people. By far the thing that helped me the most was CBT or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. To majorly oversimplify it, I pretty much taught myself not to freak out and instantly assume the worst every time I experienced an unusual sensation or symptom, and taught myself to think logically during these high-stress situations. Another huge help was 'The Anxiety Guy' on YouTube, he may not be for everyone, but his videos helped me out a tonne when I was super stressed and freaking out about my health.
It took me quite a few months of practicing CBT techniques to see improvements, but I eventually got there. It was almost as if one day I just stopped checking for symptoms, and then didn't check them the next day, or the next, or the next, and then before I knew it I had gone a week without checking for symptoms or worrying about my health, and could finally go on with my life.
I still struggle with health worries from time to time, but I don't let those worries spiral out of control and overcome me anymore.
In a way, health anxiety actually helped me. It prompted me to ditch a bunch of unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking soda every day, eating a whole lot of junk food, among other things. If it wasn't for my run-in with health anxiety, I'm confident that I'd still have those bad habits and would actually be a whole lot less healthy than I am now.
Anyways, I just wanted to make this post to show people that you can beat health anxiety.
If I could, you can too.
All the best,
Max
