What is health anxiety?
Some people may say that worrying about your health is just a natural part of being alive. And in a sense it is, to some extent. Health anxiety is when it becomes a problem. You spend most of your time worrying about how you have a serious illness (even when there isn't enough evidence to go on). It also used to be called hypochondria for many years. There was a bad stigma about it where people with this condition got called paranoid and apparently annoyed everyone around them with their excessive worrying. But it is something that cannot be controlled. It starts by worrying over a small symptom such as a headache or an aching arm for example, and it gets worse over time to the point where you become obsessed with this idea of being seriously unwell. Some even convince themselves that they are dying and nobody can convince them otherwise.
Symptoms of health anxiety:
Being preoccupied with having or getting a serious disease or health condition
Worrying that minor symptoms or body sensations mean you have a serious illness
Being easily alarmed about your health status
Finding little or no reassurance from doctor visits or negative test results
Worrying excessively about a specific medical condition or your risk of developing a medical condition because it runs in your family
Having so much distress about possible illnesses that it's hard for you to function
Repeatedly checking your body for signs of illness or disease
Frequently making medical appointments for reassurance — or avoiding medical care for fear of being diagnosed with a serious illness
Avoiding people, places or activities for fear of health risks
Constantly talking about your health and possible illnesses
Frequently searching the internet for causes of symptoms or possible illnesses
You can have all of some of these symptoms with health anxiety.
How my health anxiety started:
I have always worried about my health, but at one point I worried at a normal healthy rate. I have had some physical and mental illnesses for some time but just recently (the past few years) I have always assumed the worst. In April 2020 during the first Covid lockdown, I began to get severe migraines where the sight in one of my eyes would go almost completely. When I tried to research what it could be and how to prevent them from happening, I was terrified with the results that came up on Google. I knew rationally that it was very unlikely that I would have something really bad like a brain tumour or a brain aneurysm over a headache but there was a little voice in my had that kept telling me it was all possible so I needed to be sure.
Most of the time, I was okay. But every time I got a new symptom such as a new type of head pain, tingling in my hands and feet or any type of new pain, I used to panic that much about what I thought was wrong with me that I had severe panic attacks everyday. Sometimes 3 times a day. It became an endless cycle of me panicking about one type of pain and it would lead to a panic attack which would cause chest pain, head pain and shortness of breath which made me panic even more and convinced me further that I was dying there and then. Once I got into that mindset, it was a big struggle to get out of it. The health anxiety just got worse over time. I convinced myself that even leaving the house was a danger to my health in case anything happened that threatened my health.
Why am I writing this?
I know a lot of people will wonder whilst reading this, why exactly am I writing this? The truth is I feel very alone with health anxiety. I barely know anyone that has it and I know that there is still stigma around it that makes people unwilling to share their experiences and struggles. When I try talking about my health anxiety, people look at me as though I am weak or a coward for constantly worrying about death when I should be living. I can see the judgement in their eyes when I say that I worry about 10 times a day about all the illnesses I could have without knowing. Even when I get a clean bill of health, I still do nothing but worry. Its not as simple as people think. You cannot just go to the doctors and tell them about your worries, they reassure you that you are fine so then you are cured and you recover. You will convince yourself that you have a certain illness, then when they say you haven't, you'll be okay for about a week before finding some new illness to worry about. It is endless.
Some people still think that writing about mental health on a blog or even on social media is wrong. It has been said that telling your mental health story on social media is distasteful and is only used for attention seeking. Wrong. If people didn't open up about their mental health struggles on social media then where would we be today? We definitely wouldn't have a mental health awareness to the extent that we have it today. It may even be still wrong to even mention your feelings in person as it was against society norms. You were seen as 'weak' for having bad mental health but all that is beginning to change just because some brave people opened up about their mental illnesses on social media. I am telling my personal mental health story in the hope that people will be inspired to tell their own. Maybe I will even help people to be more open and give them good tips on how to cope better. None of this is for my own gain. Contrary to what some people may think. I am an author and a freelance writer and I am not getting paid to write this blog, it is for others to benefit from.
Tips on coping with health anxiety:
You will find many tips on the internet about how to cope with certain mental health illnesses. But here, I want to share with you how I personally cope with health anxiety. It may seem more trustworthy if someone with health anxiety has given you these tips and not health care professionals who have never been through it themselves. (Not that there is anything wrong with their advice, just sometimes it is better coming from someone who really knows!)
Some of these may sound ridiculous and who knows, they may not work for you. But I have a wide range of suggestions that could help anyone. These don't always work for me but some relief is better than none. Bare in mind that most of these suggestions work for all types of anxiety/panic disorders not just health anxiety.
Diamond art/gem art (the concentration needed creates a calming atmosphere. It is also satisfying to watch the picture transform!)
Colour therapy (this one is not specific to health anxiety but colouring in occupies the mind and adds a dash of colour to your life! It also completely distracts you from anything as you are busy concentrating on not colouring outside the lines)
Music (I write this one hesitantly. I am not a big music fan myself. But I have heard that putting upbeat uplifting songs on when you are beginning to panic really calms you down and distracts you.)
Use your senses. (This doesn't always work for me. But it has sometimes. It is used by mental health workers to make you distract yourself from your own mind. You look around and think of/say out loud 5 things you can see, hear, taste *if possible* and touch. It is known as grounding and it is supposed to make you more in the moment.)
Do something you are passionate about. (for me, it is definitely writing. I love the creativity and the escape it provides. But for you, it could be reading, gaming walking etc whatever helps to clear your mind and distract you at the same time.)
Use the mirror. (Even if it feels silly, go in front of a mirror and tell yourself that you are not dying during a bad panic episode. I never thought this would work for me, but once I thought I was having a heart attack because I had pain in my left arm and chest. But I looked in the mirror and said 'no you are not dying. You are having a panic attack. Snap out of it you can do this'. Any words of encouragement may help you to come back to reality and help you to realise that you are not in immediate danger.)
I hope these suggestions help someone out there! They may seem obvious to some people, but most of the time when they are on a health website, some people think they don't work. But take it from someone who has health anxiety, these suggestions do work. If they don't for you then I am sorry but at least you tried! I am sure you will find something else that helps! Please get in touch or comment with any questions of requests about this blog post. Thank you for reading!
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