Health anxiety

[Yessiflower]

I'm Yessi and I'm 18 years old , back in 2012 I had a benign breast lump that got removed I believe I was 15 at the time, this changed me completely ... I've ended up in the ER over anxiety attacks many things scare me for example car rides because I think of car accidents, theme parks because I think of the worst case scenarios , I'm afraid to be happy because I'm afraid the world will come down on my shoulders and my happiness won't last. My doctor told me a while back that my breasts problems come from hormonal imbalance so I was put in birth control and it worked perfectly it got rid of two other breast lumps I had. My senior year of high school was probably the best year I've had since then because I didn't visit my doctor in that entire year because i felt so good , so strong and healthy and I think that being in the marching band distracted me from my anxiety. I graduated high school this summer and I haven't been very occupied so I have been so anxious thinking of breast cancer , thinking of the worst. I spend day and night checking my breasts everyday, literally. I'm back to being afraid of enjoying life, car rides, everything. This is driving me crazy and I'm afraid to fall into depression.

[Goldfish_]

Certainly this seems like health anxiety and it is aggravated by looking on google, writing on blogs like this and spending time thinking about it. Unfortunately it's very common in people of your age. Hopefully distractions, time and avoiding reinforcing your behaviour are ways forward. There are lots of resources on the internet.

[lynne33]

Hi it does sound like health anxiety. ivery suffered badly with this. constant checking of your breasts, googling, etc will only make your anxiety worse. I've had lots of talking therapy and the best advice they taught me was to break the cycle of anxiety. don't Google, don't check or 'scan' your, don't seek reassurance from family or friends. it was hard but I got through it. Distract yourself when you get a worrying thought and tell yourself it's only anxiety and it can do what it wants to u you won't let it win you x

[Yessiflower in reply to lynne33]

Did a health problem trigger your health anxiety or was it the anxiety that made you think about your health so much? I don't know how to stop checking under my shirt constantly everyday to check my breasts its so annoying