Health Anxiety

[GramsGirl]

Hello everyone,

My name is Stephanie and I am a 51 year old female living in South Australia. I have major depression, OCD and health anxiety which is related to the OCD. I am wondering if there are any others out there that have the health anxiety? I have just started a new medication and the going is pretty slow. I was on another antidepressant for seven years and that worked very well until recently when I started to deteriorate again. I find the health anxiety pretty hard to deal with at times.

I have had OCD off and on since childhood but the health anxiety was triggered, I think, by my mother passing away from Cancer when I was a young teen. I am just looking to connect with others who have or have had health anxiety. Any advice on coping techniques  would be most appreciated. Thank you

[JessF]

Hello GramsGirl, that must have been hard for you losing your mum so young and to cancer as well, which is horrible. You feel so powerless when you lose a loved one like that.  I notice that you talk a bit about medication but you don't mentuion seeing a counsellor or a psychologist.  The best thing for me in learning to live with anxiety has been seeing someone and learning coping techniques and understanding the way my mind works in throwing up what I call false fears about dreadful things happening. When you can learn to distance yourself from your thoughts and see them as just that, like those news tickers that go across the bottom of the screen on tv, it helps take the sting out of them and you can start to react more rationally to your anxiety rather than letting it take over.

[GramsGirl]

Thanks Jess. I am actually seeing a mental health nurse who has been trained in counselling over at my local community health centre. I have seen various counsellors over the years as this is not a new problem for me.

I will certainly try to distance myself from the bad thoughts. I do try to keep myself busy but the depression is making me feel so tired. I do hope this new medication kicks in for me soon. It has only been a couple of weeks so I will give it more time before I go back and see the doctor again. I have just started taking an antidepressant by the way.

Thanks again for your kindness and I hope you are keeping well.

[pete62]

Hang in there GramsGirl, your not alone and I know sometimes those words seem hollow but I hope you are moving forward