Health anxiety 17 male........ desperate

Teenageanxietyguy · ‎07-02-2018

So , just like that a panic attack from literally just a day of being really stressed out about something so small had changed my life . 9-10 months fee I like with health anxiety and every day I could swear will be my last . I cannot help but think I will have a heart attack from this shortness of breath or mild chest pain , or that I have meningitis or I'm going to faint . LIFE IS SO HARD . I'm healthy, I train I'm fit I try having a good education but why are these thoughts lingering . I feel so alone ? This is extremely petrifying and I can't live with every minute not being able to simply just

breate.

and of course the derealisation hits and I feel numb at times all of my relationships fall , because of this , social life falls because of this work and school life falling . I just find it so difficult . To deal and I just need to reach out

smallwolf · ‎07-02-2018

Welcome. I can understand what you are saying. Are you still living with your parents? Do they know? Have you told them? As good as it is to reach out here, you will tell someone close to you. While I am 3 times your age my first conversation was with my mother (this was end of last year) and I then saw a doctor and now have a mental health plan.

Some things you could try now are... Apps like relax melodies. There are some other apps recommended to me for meditation.

Something that you don't have to download or install or run are... When you have an anxious thought say thank you to your mind. Also deep breathing - do it slowly, in through the nose and out the mouth. And do 10 deep breaths. Multiple times per day.

None of this will be easy and will take time. Baby steps, but the folk here will support you.

romantic_thi3f · ‎09-02-2018

Hey Teenageanxietyguy,

Thanks for your post.

Health anxiety is hard, and I'm sorry that you're dealing with it.

Smallwolf gave some good advice here so I won't repeat it and just add my own thing 🙂

Heart attack, meningitis - where is this all coming from do you think? Health anxiety is a bit weird - it's kind of a broken record that repeats all day everyday. When it's not one thing it's another but it's usually the same. Somehow you believe that this is going to happen - but why?

You may not know why, and that's okay. Sometimes there's a trigger for it and sometimes it's random - but one of the things that helps the most is always challenging it. So as an example if our brains are like "you're having chest pain it's a heart attack!" you've got to step in and say "chest pain is a symptom of anxiety! Why else could I be having a heart attack?" Chances are it may not have a comeback for you, because it's so used to you believing it.

When the chest pain and shortness of breath do start to come in - that's when these apps and things can help. Being able to recognise that it is anxiety (and nothing deadly) and know that you can deal with it. It is a practice.

The other thing that might be helpful is to see a therapist - sometimes they can give you a lot of techniques and help speed things up a little compared to us talking on here.

Hope this helps 🙂