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For the past year my anxiety is slowly turning into hypochondria. Every single day I am worried about my health, I constantly Google symptoms or things that could be wrong with me, I always feel I am sick in some way or another and it's starting to take over my life as it's making me stressed and scared. I'm at the doctors at least once a month with new symptoms that I am scared will mean something. I don't know what to do. It's even getting in the way of my relationships with people. Is there a way I can control this or stop my fear all together?
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sally62433 chloe_2000
Posted
ginger31734 chloe_2000
Posted
Google is not our friend !!! I am the worlds worst about looking up every symptom 😔 I have anxiety/panic disorder with a very strong health anxiety mind.
I literally have to ban myself from the Internet! Ask yourself "how likely is this to happen" and tell yourself it's possible BUT not likely . Also when googling I was told to skip the first page that comes up as it usually shows the worst and go to the next page for more reasonable explanations
jmcg2014 chloe_2000
Posted
That's how it is with health anxiety I'm afraid. The best way is not to think of the health obsessions as a separate issue, rather see it as general anxiety - just a different presentation of it. See a Dr and ask for a referral to Psychotherapy,they can help you resolve the underlying anxiety
helen20833 chloe_2000
Posted
You obviously recognize the hypochondria. Did you speak of this to your GP or did you just use the appointment time to relate the symptoms? Perhaps if you spoke to your GP again he could arrange for you to see a therapist.
Having said that much of the answer lies with you. You understand, it appears, that you are suffering from hypochondria as opposed to a physical illness. You have to make a determined effort here. It begins with not "listening " to your body, not "watching" it constantly for signs that you are about to become struck down with some scary illness or other.
But more importantly you have to stop googling symptoms. You have no medical training. It takes someone with medical qualifications to make a diagnosis. All you are doing is firing up your imagination, frightening yourself by "recognizing" symptoms.
People with anxiety disorder sometimes feel they have no choice, so to speak. To a certain extent that is true. One cannot help being struck with AD. But it is not the whole truth. One can help how one deals with it. Recognizing it is the first step. Implementing self-help remedies. The Forum abounds with suggestions put forward by AD sufferers, all reaching out to assist and encourage each other. If you trawl through the site it's all there for you. On this site you will find the answers you seek. All you will find googling symptoms is a world of fear and a means of adding to your anxiety
borderriever chloe_2000
Posted
You need to  tallk with yourGP about these concerns your GP can arrange some  CBT to help you understand you are being oversensitive and over anxious. about health issues. The problem in its own right is a illness that can generally be cured.
If you are having problems with relationships you need to understand the reasons you are acting in that way. Most people are like you with their fears and concerns and not to be hurt for their fears. To know why you are the way you are is a good place to start from, this will give you a good place to start your understanding of what is wrong with you
BOB
With regard relationships, do you feel that you are unable to trust them, are you frightened they will hurt you mentally or physicaly. Have you bad feelings from the past that is causing your health and life problems.
lisalisa67 chloe_2000
Posted
Has googling honestly ever calmed you down or even been useful with all this? You say you cant help it but can i tell you i do have ailments and have googled them like a fool and aside from it making me want to leave this Earth asap i have no clue what the heck it's for. Either some incurable disease pops up or this magical cure with testomonies that NO DOCTOR has ever heard of or cost an imaginable amount of money and would require travelling to some crevice of the Earth you never heard of. So really its a trap either eay. But you know what it does do it brainwashes you well to limit yourself, to limit or sabatoge your healing and pulls away useful time from being productive. If you never googles anything you wouldn't have half the new fears you now have and who knows maybe recovery would have come faster. Google forgets the body knows how to heal. It does. But ince reading places new layers and walls to stop it. I have done the same thing, its some form of self preservation instinct but its sabatoge. It truely is.
helen20833 lisalisa67
Posted
jack57270 chloe_2000
Posted
Hi Chloe. I too suffer from health anxiety. I have learned from experience NEVER to Google your symptoms. It just makes your symptoms worse and you worry even more. The best thing to do is just go to your doctor. Google only shows the extremely rare diseases and conditions, and never say so. My anxiety is over thinking I have a brain tumour!! I too am at my doctor every month. What I have noticed is: since telling someone I trust, what I'm going through, and COMPLETELY STOPPING Googling my symptoms, my symptoms have improved massively! I know this seems hard, and it is. But keep yourself preoccupied by doing fun things you enjoy. I found joining the gym helped me ( my doc also recommended). I do every now and again Google my symptoms, but now I see how stupid the results are. As I said before, just tell someone you trust what your going through, holding these things in just makes it worse. Also, keep posting here, its a good way of getting things out of your system and the people here are so helpful!!
Hopefully this helps, Jack
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