Health fears are taking over

@Tanwiiii

🥺

I can see how tiring this has been on you.

It's so scary when we just never know what's around the corner.

We can take our health for granted.

I guess, I would take most comfort 

in the answers and the support of doctors.

It's not easy to just click your fingers and stop worrying but it's important to ground yourself in those moments, know they will pass and see that you are safe!

💕💜

@Tanwiiii hiii, health OCD here. I have multiple strategies that work, but keep in mind we are all unique. What works for me may not work for you, so take my advice with grain of salt.

- go to regular checkups to all the doctors you need - this will ensure any actual problem is caught in time and you are not left to wonder 

- if you tend to ask your loved ones for reassurance that you are okay, it reinforces the urge-compulsion cycle. That's why I trained my boyfriend to reply with a gentle but firm "no OCD" or "we are not going there" and redirecting the conversation, unless I'm in a too distressed state, in which case calm first, then redirect. It's absolutely not fun at the moment, and will cause a spike of anxiety, but long-term, it will break the reinforcement and the frequency of asking if you are dying of X will decrease.

- a slightly more messed up variation to this is when I have no option to ask and am spiraling, worried about my health. Then, bear with me, this will sound *** up. I outdo my brain in drama - Yes. What I'm fearing is happening. I'm going to kick the bucket, a death so bad even the ambulance medical crew will have nightmares from it for years. - why this works - panic disables the logical thinking in your brain, and the second you kick it up a notch, mocking your brain by an absurdly dramatic outcome, it will go hold up. What are you talking about? Why would I... Successfully popping the logic back up and brain going hold up come on. That's a little dramatic.

- I don't Google my symptoms, but I do ask chat gpt if I'm okay ocassionally. Disclaimer: DO NOT USE CHAT GPT FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. If you have any actual medical questions or concerns, ask them on your closest doc visit. I simply use chat gpt to decide if what I'm experiencing is a medical emergency and needs medical attention or if I'm just being dramatic. This is a tool that should really only be used in a short time, when you have a higher anxiety, but then decrease the frequency or at least prolong the time before you panic ask

- put yourself through the phone test - my favourite way to determine medical emergency or pure medical anxiety. It's simply asking yourself "would I be feeling this bad if I was in my bed, playing on my phone? Most of the time, you are completely fine, or just having mild problems. If it was something truly serious, phone use would not help or even make it worse. If you are at home, you can even pop on your phone for a while to distract yourself. If you can focus on it without the problem getting too much in the way, congratulations, no immediate problem is happening. 

- logically walk yourself through the actual process - what we tend to forget is that dying from something isn't as simple as our brain makes it out to be. There are multiple large steps involved between having a first symptom of something and actually dying from it or actual harm happening. Like having worsening symptoms, having a medical emergency you can't actually ignore etc, and each stage has it's own steps and process, each of which is gradually more severe and each of which makes it more likely you recieve immediate medical help. So while our brains love to be dramatic and jump the shark, the reality is not that simple. Also, if you are for example having a panic at work or school, thinking you are experiencing a medical emergency over something you don't even know if it's real, think twice about your odds of recieving help. Most of us are actually way more likely to get medical assistance outside than at home. Because often, you or your family aren't really keen on calling the ambulance unless the thing is genuinely bad, since we all tend to lean towards I will just sleep this off. But try sitting down for a few minutes at work with a head spin, or going to the teacher with it and you immediately will have someone asking if they should call an ambulance for you (source: got emergency service called over a shock I got from a paper cut on my wrist. They spoke to us on phone before getting to the conclusion of me just being in a shock from it being on a bad place 😭). So well. If you think you may have a problem but it isn't the clear cut headache/flu/belly problem, more like dizzy, nausea without a known reason, suspicious unknown pain that makes you panic etc, stay put until it passes or gets better. Don't give in to the go home panic if you don't know the reason. (If you do need to go home and feel bad, have someone come with you) but in most cases, it's simply a panic over something that will get better.

And last but not least:

- repeat affirmations like I'm safe. My body knows how to handle this. It's just a small scratch. My body knows how to deal with it. I trust my body and I will be okay.

Hope this helps 😊

Ive had a lot of health scares.

Most were false.

What has helped is:

1. More research into medical things. Taking to people. Social media search. Connecting with people. Knowledge is enlightenment. Once you understand how the body works, you will understand whether your fears are rational or exaggerated by your mind due to the survival anxiety kicking in.

2. Faith. Knowing that whatever happens is will of god and Im courageous to face the challenge. And that mortality is a fact. Why fear it? Isn't life about fulfilling the purpose of values? Accepting uncertainty is part of faith.

3. Distraction. Engage yourself in activities that get your mind off these topics. Worries can have an endless loop. There is no point in it. Do something that makes you happy. Whatever you like to do - books music art etc.

@Tanwiiii

What if a cat slying under a Tree looks up and started dreaming a bird fall down and she grabbed it for dinner.

But while opening eyes she realize it was Dream.

Please realize and be strong nothing will happen as long as you enjoy dreaming without any reality

@TanwiiiiHi i just made my account and u legit described my situation.im still struggling on the calming techniques part.i get panic attacks and breathing difficulties and get scared all of a sudden.

I can understand your position.

Don’t loose your hopes, try to move slowly slowly.

One step at a time. Definitely, you will be out soon.

Deep breathing, Grounding exercise and destructing

Hello. I am currently struggling with the same issues. I can’t stop obsessing. But I do find it helpful to message my doctor. She is very open and tries to be available. Sometimes I schedule appointments with her just for piece of mind and she understands. 

What I need to do is stop googling everything because I feel like that adds to my panic. 

I do t have a solution for you but I am here to talk if you ever need to. 

@MeadowLight