Health anxiety

[notnervous]

Do your symptoms cause the anxiety or does the anxiety cause your symptoms? What are your symptoms?

[Hidden]

I think my anxiety causes my symptoms. Every time I have to do ultrasound for a surgery I get scared, sweaty, feel faint. It's so hard because I have to do it but it's been a year doing this and it's no better.

[Jeff1943]

It's a vicious circle: anxiety causes symptoms which cause anxiety which causes symptoms which causes anxiety which causes symptoms etc. Recovery from anxiety disorder depends on breaking the vicious circle by not responding to symptoms with more anxiety and thus breaking the chain reaction.

[notnervous in reply to Jeff1943]

It really is a vicious cycle. I try my hardest not to panic whenever I feel symptoms but it’s a battle that’s over in seconds. But what I wanna know is if anyone else could just be sitting or doing whatever it is their doing with no anxiety present and then feel symptoms and then have anxiety or the other way around?

[Jeff1943 in reply to notnervous]

You say 'no anxiety present' and then feel symptoms, many experience this because when we think we have 'no anxiety present' our nervous system is still over sensitised and waiting to do its worst at the most unexpected moments.