Escaping the Endless Cycle of Health Anxiety

Anxiety about your health has the tendency to invade every aspect of your life. It can often show up in unexpected ways and once the “what if” thoughts start, it can feel impossible to escape. When you struggle in this area, you’re one bad headache away from a medical emergency. The difficult thing is no matter what reassurances you receive from your doctor you’re fine, your mind seems to find new and tricky ways to convince you you’re not.

Your worries may also extend to loved ones and family members. You may find yourself excessively concerned about any possible signs or perceived signs of illness in your children, partner, or parents. 

Common Struggles You May Be Experiencing

Fixation

It’s important to have a certain level of awareness about your health and be attuned to signs and symptoms you might be experiencing which may be a cause for concern. However, when you become overly pre-occupied or fixated with your symptoms and spend inordinate amounts of time checking and re-checking your body for things that look or feel wrong, this may be a signal you are struggling with health anxiety.

Googling

The easy accessibility of Google and AI tools such as ChatGPT has made it easy to turn to as a source of information about every topic under the sun including medical questions. For some, due to the interactive nature of AI, it can be seductive to engage in lengthy “discussions” about all of your health concerns. The problem becomes when you are consuming too much information and content and thereby leaving you feeling more confused, anxious, and stressed. 

Doctor’s appointments

Another sign to watch out for is if you’re spending an inordinate amount of time scheduling appointments to see the doctor, getting tests run, and worrying about potential results. There’s also the time leading up to a doctor’s appointment which has you running through worst case scenarios including fears of a protracted or fatal illness. Seeking out multiple medical opinions is also typical. Conversely, you may avoid going to the doctor for fear of getting a diagnosis you’re convinced you may have.

Avoidance

When you’re living with chronic fear and anxiety about your health, you may begin to limit yourself from going to places and engaging in activities you would attend under normal circumstances because you’re afraid of catching something. You may pass on invitations for family or friend gatherings, avoid flying, or even going to the store ultimately leading you to feel somewhat isolated.

What Causes Health Anxiety?

There are a number of possible explanations for why you may be chronically anxious about your health. Some you may be familiar with. Consider your experiences as a child. Did you have a loved one or family member get suddenly sick and die or did you observe someone going through a terrible illness and suffer terribly?

 Perhaps you yourself had an early or past difficult experience with illness.

 Also, look for any experiences you’ve had where a medical diagnosis or condition was unexpected or shocking to you.

 You or a family member may currently struggle with a health condition and you’re constantly worried it may get worse.

 Anxiety is often passed down from parents or caregivers. Reflect on messages, implicit or explicit, you received about health from your family. As a child, when anyone in your family got sick, how would your parents respond? 

Moving Past Health Anxiety

Once you have a general understanding about what may be driving your fears about your health, you can begin to see a path forward where you are not getting so swept up in the constant waves. There a number of things you can do to manage your health anxiety including:

· Self-compassion and mindfulness practices.

There are numerous studies and research about the effectiveness of practicing self-compassion and mindfulness as a tool for decreasing

anxiety.

· Writing out your story.

Writing down your health anxiety story can be a way to release the grip it has on you. Often when we put things into words and down on

paper, it diminishes their power over us.

· Change your focus.

Instead of constantly focusing on what’s wrong, turn your attention to what feels good in your body and orienting to all the ways you are

healthy right now. Additionally, engage in regular activities which promote health and confidence in your body like exercise, yoga, dance, and

play.

· Google Cleanse.

Limit your time Googling your symptoms and researching possible health conditions. If you can, commit to a Google cleanse where you don’t

engage in Googling health related content at all for a set amount of time.

· Seek professional help.

There are a number of reasons to seek out the help of a mental health professional but one of the main reasons is a desire to get beyond just

managing your symptoms and arrive at a place where you can find freedom from it. If you’d like to learn more about anxiety therapy, please

reach out to schedule a consultation.