Hypochondria Support Group
Hypochondria refers to excessive worry about having a serious illness. Hypochondria is often characterized by fears that minor bodily symptoms may indicate a serious illness, constant self-examination and self-diagnosis, and a preoccupation with one's body. Many individuals with hypochondriasis express doubt and disbelief in the doctors' diagnosis.
The best way I've been able to explain my hypochondria to my friends and family is that I have no idea how to differentiate between what sensations are real and what is fake. I feel like I'm going crazy sometimes because I swear I'm having palpatations and have a heart condition and the I see a cardiologist and I'm fine. I feel like this is the root of my issue because if I knew what I was feeling wasn't real, I could eventually calm down. The only problem is that I'm "the girl who cried wolf" in my family, so when I actually did need serious medical attention, no one believed me. Eventually though, both conditions became so undeniable (a high fever isn't something you can fake) that I went to the doctor and was treated. But it's so draining to have to pause every day and think "wait is this actually a heart attack or not?" My only technique right now is to set a timer on my phone for like 45 minutes, and if the "symptoms" havn't gotten worse in that time I leave it alone. Does anyone else have this issue? It makes me feel so mentally unstable. Does anyone have any methods they use to tell the difference between imaginary and real symptoms?
Thanks!
Your narrative is similar to mine and assuredly many other members on this site. What's real? What isn't? It's impossible to tell and even if you aren't the boy who cried wolf to others, it is easy to become that to yourself. I have numerous phobias and health concerns that have at times been so bad as to reduce me to a demented paralytic state, sometimes for hours on end. I have believed myself to have experienced water poisoning or carbon monoxide poisoning on a constant basis when this hasn’t been the case. Anyway, with each one of those concerns I can simply take preventative measures to have less moments of terror. Tragically and inevitably though I find myself in “risky” situations and despite all facts and logic pointing towards good health, I still experience the symptoms associated with said illness. Drinking 12 ounces of water today within 20 minutes made me nauseous, light-headed, and a sufferer of a sinister headache. That’s not really possible, but I still felt that way.
Now what to do? Well the priority should be to live a healthy lifestyle and deal with the underlying causes of health anxiety, but that’s not something you have time to do when you believe death to be imminent. Initially I tried to resist my worries, but that proved emotionally exhausting and made me question my sanity. “What’s real and what isn’t,” is something horrible to have to ask yourself and does take a toll. Believe me, I was once bedridden for days I was so exhausted from attempting to determine the truth all the time. My advice is to not resist your anxious thoughts and go along with them. If you think you are having a heart attack tell someone (your family may not be a good idea, unless you don’t mind annoying them) and explain what you feel. Then try to get some concrete evidence, like a pulse or your blood pressure. Call a nurse helpline and tell them what’s up (or poison control if relevant). At first this will be excruciating as you may actually end up embarressing yourself at best or at worst in the ER with an enormous unnecessary bill and, well, you did think you were dying which is very stressful. But, hopefully, like me, you become somewhat desensitized to the scares. Basically with enough incidents you’ll grow to accept that you probably aren’t dying and regain a more balanced approach to your health. I’m still not there, but with the above method I’ve trained myself to be apathetic when death seems near. This is not ideal, but I am calmer lately and better functioning.
This is what I do and it may not work for you. I didn’t develop this strategy consciously, it developed on its own due to countless health phone calls and doctor visits. My bank account took a large hit with all the ER visits and I don’t wish that upon you, but that’s my story.
Another thing to note is that something odd happened to me yesterday that relates to lifestyle. My work performance has been abysmal for a while due to all the health stress, but I suddenly began screenwriting again. Why? Well I went out of my aged suburban community and ventured off to more youthful areas. As I was out, well, let’s just say women younger than my old parents were looking at me and I felt wanted again. For some reason this provoked a sincere desire to live and want my old ambitions in life. I’ve neglected that side of my life for a while and that’s likely one of the causes of my anxiety. So look for things missing in your life that you want and go after them. Perhaps this will put you back on an even keel. I mean let’s not kid ourselves. Everyone on this website has some degree of mental health problems that affect their lifestyle (or the reverse) . Now there are obviously biological or hereditary causes for mental ailments, but our lifestyles play a huge role in our mental health. Look into that. Perhaps what seems normal to you isn’t and you need something else out of life.
Good Luck
Firespark