Health Anxiety

[celestw]

Hi, i’m 18 years old and i’ve been struggling with health anxiety. I am constantly worried about my health and it’s eating me away to the point where i feel like i can’t be happy anymore, every day i’m doing constant self check ups and constant google searches and i think i’ve cried every day so far due to stress and anxiety, i feel depressed because i think i have every disease on the planet, and i’m starting to annoy all the people around me bc of it, even my own mother.

i’ve seen my doctor probably 10 times in the span of 4 months because i’m so scared and constantly want tests done, for example i’m currently terrified because i have lost 30 pounds since June of 2019 and i’m scared i have cancer or some other horrible disease because i lost weight. My doctors have even praised me for loosing weight but i still feel uneasy, i’ve stopped eating school food and fast food and i only drink water every day since last year, but i’m not sure if that’s enough to loose 30 pounds,,i got my blood work done they said i was fine, i got a urine sample taken they said i was fine, i got an echocardiogram they said i was fine, but i still feel like there’s something wrong with me even though i’m not experiencing any physical symptoms, and the feeling eats me away.

I take Cognitive Behavioral Therapy but that’s not helping at all tbh

i feel stuck and i don’t know what to do, does anyone have any tips or share a similar story?

[celestw]

this is exactly how i feel, thank you! i talked to my GP about my anxiety but since i have high BP i have to see a nephrologist just to make sure everything is finalized and okay before they can put me on anxiety meds. thank you for sharing your story!

[Jeff1943]

Think about this carefully: no matter how hard you try, you can't cure yourself of an illness you don't have. And you are thoroughly healthy, dozens of doctors and tests have confirmed it.

If you're still not convinced and you believe in the old cliché "they must have missed something" then I remind you that all those doctors and specialists who have seen you went to medical school for 5 years. Following that they spend 5 days a week dealing with sick people so they've added experience to learning. Now I ask YOU: how many years have you been to medical school?

Health anxiety is a symptom of anxiety disorder. To free yourself from the health anxiety you have to resolve the anxiety disorder. When eventually you crack the anxiety disorder the health anxiety (and all other symptoms) will resolve.

For reasons known only to you, too much stress has caused your nervous system to become over sensitised. This may be due to over work, worry, toxic relationships, grief, guilt, disappointment, you name it. Happy people don't get anxiety disorder.

When your nerves become over sensitised your mind starts to exaggerate everything by a factor of ten. The worst cast scenario becomes the default option. A headache must be a tumour. A tummy upset must be cancer. Muscular tension in the chest must be a heart attack on the way.

Small concerns we all have, like not wanting to die prematurely, become exaggerated into a fear of impending doom. A new boss means we're bound to lose our job. A journey by air means the plane is bound to crash. You see what I mean by always the worst case scenario.

If you want to recover you need to do two things. You have to resolve the stress that has made your nerves throw a wobbly. This may involve a major change in your life. You may have to be ruthless in removing the cause of your nervous sensitivity but do it you must.

Second, you must redirect your attention away from the symptoms and towards the cause: anxiety disorder. As explained once you overcome that you overcome all. To do that you have to desensitise your nervous system.

Anxiety disorder thrives on fear. The hormones of fear such as adrenalin and cortisol are the culprits. Something happens to cause you a flash of first fear. You must stop following it with second fear.

You've been fighting your problem on a daily basis. But fighting will not bring you success: fighting brings stress and tension which are the last thing that sensitised nervous systems need.

Fear causes symptoms which cause more fear causing more symptoms causing more fear. You're locked in a vicious and never ending circle.

The way to deal with your health anxiety is to simply accept all the symptoms your jangled nerves throw at you. Accept them completely and without reservation for the time being. You know in your heart they are fake so what's the worry?

If you can frame your mind to accept and co-exist with your symptoms for the time being you stop flooding your nerves with fear hormones. Do that long enough and your nervous system loses its over sensitivity and returns to normal. No more worries about fictional health issues.

That's the story. That's what you have to do to recover your quiet mind. I wish you an early recovery from your health anxiety.

[celestw in reply to Jeff1943]

thank you so much!

[FearIsALiar]

I’ve lost a lot of weight too due to stress. I’ve lost my appetite from my anxiety. I also have health anxiety and freaked myself out a lot over things. My doctor put me on anxiety medication and it’s helped me a fair bit. Nothing is wrong with you I’m sure! Your doctor wouldn’t just send you home if he thought you wouldn’t be okay. You just have an overactive nervous system.