Anxiety

[mommyof316]

Has anyone ever have feelings like if you pull a muscle in your arm or if you get a symptom such as a headache etc .. do you automatically think of pending doom and think something bad is gonna happen? I get these feelings all the time. Every symptom i get I think something is wrong with me and that I need to go to the hospital asap. Anxiety is very exhausting and non stop it seems. Takes so much energy out of you because all you can do is stress and worry 24/7

[nativeblood]

Honestly I never experienced this, still seek therapy as regular as you can, source allies as soon as possible, thanks for sharing on this site others may have other methods than I suggest as well.

[Chasbearcat999]

I think that ultimately that is the essence of anxirty. The "what if". What if it is a heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc. It sounds like your focus is health related. Other people have irrational fears about other things; kids, money.

CBT and journaling really helped me. Pain in your arm? Write it down. Write your fears and basically do your own "trial". Weigh the evidence for a heart attack and against it.

This allows you to look back on these events and see where your thought were a bit distorted and see the patterns.

I'm older now and I have learned that when really medical issues arise, you generally know it.

If you don't have a therapist, I would get one and look into CBT. If you can't get a therapist look for resources online. It was very helpful for me.

[Mamamichl]

I got an injury 18 months ago and felt that way. It seems my work injury helped me find out I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Basically it’s hypermobility and as you get older you get dislocations more. Just laying on my side at night makes my shoulders hurt the next day.

[designguy]

It could be that you have some degree of OCD which is common with those that have health anxiety. One of the things that really helped me was learning to never believe my anxious thoughts no matter how scary or weird they were and knowing that the thoughts original purpose was to keep me safe but they are no longer beneficial and i'm safe just as I am.

You might check out the youtube channels of Paige Pradko and also Mathew Codde at Restored minds, they are both therapists that had OCD and health anxiety who have healed themselves and now help others.