Self care and hypochondria

[Fielder]

It’s hard to know how to make this reasonably short.

I have rather a lot of anxiety, mostly social, but lately it feels that the hypochondria I have usually been aware of with some sense of humour has been getting worse, and I’m not really sure how to better respond to it.

Specifically, I’m very keen on the idea of self care, attention to your own needs rather than repression, etc. But then what about when your attention to your own needs gets you regularly thinking really silly, paranoid things?

I realise this is vague and to some degree I mean it as a vague question. If you know you have a tendency to blow health concerns out of proportion, what can you do instead! Ignore all fears out of hand? Who is supposed to notice this stuff if not you? Part of the general anxiety question is how do you know, when resisting anxiety, that you’re not being complacent?

[blondguy]

Hi Fielder

Thankyou for the great thread topic

I understand where you are coming from as I used to have chronic anxiety combined with social issues and yes it is a horrible place to be in for sure

Your post is not vague at all. Its an excellent question. Self care is fine depending on the levels of anxiety we are experiencing.

If our anxiety has a detrimental effect on our day to day well being....then self care may not be enough

There are many people on the forums that feel the way you do Fielder....including myself.....Just for me when I start to become 'overwhelmed' with intrusive annoying thoughts I make an appointment with my GP who has a strong focus with anxiety or depressive related conditions...I still have an appointment every six weeks for a 'fine tune'....It works well

It is very common to 'blow health concerns out of proportion'....Sometimes a 'tired' mind will do this automatically. I used to do the same. Having a doc that can help us 'regulate' our thinking is a huge bonus so we dont have to 'self adjust' our fears. Just a note if its okay....resisting or 'fighting' anxiety can sometimes exacerbate our anxiety which we dont want...(just from my own experience)

So...does your anxiety effect your ability to function on a day to day basis? (If you dont mind me asking)

my kind thoughts

Paul

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Fielder,

Thank you for your post and your question. I think it is a big vague so I'm not really sure how to answer it - maybe if you give us some examples it will help! But in the meantime -

Part of self care is intentionally thinking about your own needs, yes - but probably in the sense of thinking about if your own needs are met - like self care could be having a nap when you're tired, or sitting with a hot chocolate because you're cold, or deciding to read instead of work because you need a break. So when thinking about self-care, there's probably a bit of curiosity there - what do I need right now? Are my needs met?

Your second question, which feels quite different to me though is more about anxiety.

Trying to ignore your fears to me seems like trying not to think of a pink elephant. It's there, and the more you try and avoid them the more that you'll think about and have it consume you <- This is what health anxiety looks like. What we can do though is acknowledge those fears without necessarily acting on all of them. As an example, someone with health anxiety might see a rash and immediately go to Google it, or immediately go and see a doctor. Someone without health anxiety might see a rash and still have those worries, but decide to 'wait and watch', deciding to see a doctor if it's been a while and it's still there. Someone who is complacent might see a rash, ignore it completely and not see a doctor at all.

Hope this helps in some way?! If I'm on the wrong track maybe you can give me a little more clarity

RT