25andScared 3 Posted August 2, 2019 I was wondering if anyone could help or maybe had a similar situation. Since I hit my 20s I've had terrible health anxiety....I've thought I had breast cancer, brain tumors, als, melanoma, nail melanoma, lung cancer, appendicitis, ovarian cancer, mouth throat cancer, hpv and so on. What I've started to notice lately is that every time I calm down I'll hear something in the news, on tv or see a post on facebook about someone having a certian type of cancer and itll set off all these alarms. I've recently been struggling with this breaSt cancer scare again my fears were calming until I saw an article about some 26 yr old tennis player and oral cancer SOMEHOW I felt that was the universe confirming my breast cancer. Can anyone tell me why I do this ? If this is logical and has anyone struggled with the same ? Or feel like everywhere they look its cancer and sickness. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BejeweledMexican 32 Posted August 2, 2019 11 minutes ago, 25andScared said: I was wondering if anyone could help or maybe had a similar situation. Since I hit my 20s I've had terrible health anxiety....I've thought I had breast cancer, brain tumors, als, melanoma, nail melanoma, lung cancer, appendicitis, ovarian cancer, mouth throat cancer, hpv and so on. What I've started to notice lately is that every time I calm down I'll hear something in the news, on tv or see a post on facebook about someone having a certian type of cancer and itll set off all these alarms. I've recently been struggling with this breaSt cancer scare again my fears were calming until I saw an article about some 26 yr old tennis player and oral cancer SOMEHOW I felt that was the universe confirming my breast cancer. Can anyone tell me why I do this ? If this is logical and has anyone struggled with the same ? Or feel like everywhere they look its cancer and sickness. I struggle with the EXACT same thing! It’s not even media though. My aunt has breast cancer and it hit stage 4 and so does my friend who’s only 30. It’s all around us. Media only helps remind us of it. I am trying to limit my media consumption. I am hopefully finding a way to do my part time job (which is on Facebook) on another platform. I don’t want to shut the world out and hide in a hole...that won’t help! But i think that media (tv, social media, etc.) can really make anxiety worse. If we really want to get better it may be best to just cut it out for a while. I know I go through boughts of anxiety where O’m fine! I’ll watch a tv show where someone has HIV and I wom’t Freak out one bit but then other times it sends me down a spiral. Trying to figure these things out with my therapist, maybe you and your therapist can help work out a plan! The one thing I always try and remind myself though is that if it’s on the news it’s probably because it’s not very common. That helps ease my mind a little. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ms.Honey 12 Posted August 5, 2019 I struggle with exactly this too. Every time I see an illness on social media I think it’s a sign I have it too. I don’t have any good advice, I deal with this almost daily. I try really hard not to click on the links. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan123 2368 Posted August 5, 2019 Both the last posts use the word 'struggle'. Now there lies most of the problem. Fighting and struggling with 'IT' has not got you far has it? The first thing to realise is that with HA you are so very vulnerable to suggestion. Seeing all the medical stuff that is put out by the media, usually to sell some remedy, can be frightening. Being frightened brings fear, obviously, and fear perpetuates fear. It's like a mouse in a maze, looking for ways out and finding none. In the UK there is no profit in medicine or treatment, but it doesn't stop doctors putting posters all over surgery walls asking do you have this or that and giving the symptoms. No wonder there's an upsurge in HA. TV and the rest of the media can't leave it alone. Let me ask a question. If you had never read anything about any disease would you worry about it? Our ancestors had diseases, but they took it as part of life. Suppose I tell you the symptoms of 'Mongolian Lurgy'. (Don't look it up, it's not there!!!!). But I bet you would have looked it up. There is a theory that Googling can become obsessive. Or even worse, an addictive. Why do we Google? Reassurance. We need to be told our symptoms are nothing to worry about. But what do we get? Negative stuff that we have no means of verifying because we are not doctors. Does your doctor look up Google for advice? You don't have to shut the world out and hide in a hole. Would you eat something that you knew disagreed with you? Or take some action that you knew would harm you? Then why allow poison into your mind? We need to exercise mental as well as physical hygiene. Be discerning in what you read, what you listen to and who you talk to who may be negative in outlook. Another thing to guard against is constant analysing. Why! Why! There is not always an answer to everything and we need accept that. I have a good doctor. I'm lucky. So I go there for a diagnosis not Google. And I believe her when she tells me something!! 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mollyfin 366 Posted August 5, 2019 Logical, no, but understandable and to be expected for those of us with HA, heck yeah. Mostly I just try to force myself to ignore it but to say it doesn't always work is an understatement. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BeautifulDisaster 68 Posted August 5, 2019 1 hour ago, jonathan123 said: Both the last posts use the word 'struggle'. Now there lies most of the problem. Fighting and struggling with 'IT' has not got you far has it? The first thing to realise is that with HA you are so very vulnerable to suggestion. Seeing all the medical stuff that is put out by the media, usually to sell some remedy, can be frightening. Being frightened brings fear, obviously, and fear perpetuates fear. It's like a mouse in a maze, looking for ways out and finding none. In the UK there is no profit in medicine or treatment, but it doesn't stop doctors putting posters all over surgery walls asking do you have this or that and giving the symptoms. No wonder there's an upsurge in HA. TV and the rest of the media can't leave it alone. Let me ask a question. If you had never read anything about any disease would you worry about it? Our ancestors had diseases, but they took it as part of life. Suppose I tell you the symptoms of 'Mongolian Lurgy'. (Don't look it up, it's not there!!!!). But I bet you would have looked it up. There is a theory that Googling can become obsessive. Or even worse, an addictive. Why do we Google? Reassurance. We need to be told our symptoms are nothing to worry about. But what do we get? Negative stuff that we have no means of verifying because we are not doctors. Does your doctor look up Google for advice? You don't have to shut the world out and hide in a hole. Would you eat something that you knew disagreed with you? Or take some action that you knew would harm you? Then why allow poison into your mind? We need to exercise mental as well as physical hygiene. Be discerning in what you read, what you listen to and who you talk to who may be negative in outlook. Another thing to guard against is constant analysing. Why! Why! There is not always an answer to everything and we need accept that. I have a good doctor. I'm lucky. So I go there for a diagnosis not Google. And I believe her when she tells me something!! I just love this. This is so spot on. We are just scaring ourselves when we are believing what's being shared in tv. The media is always going to look for "the story" - whatever is most dramatic to draw in the viewers or the sales. And we scare ourselves by falling into the trap. And we don't have to shut the world out or live in a hole, as you say, but we have to step back and say - it's a story for sales, not our story, and we don't even know the whole entire story. It's the separation that needs practiced. And it is a practice. It took me a long while to get good enough to be able to say that I can separate myself from the media stories. And also - so so true about not having an answer for everything. The drs don't even have answers for everything - i.e. "What's this redness?" "It's a rash." "What kind?" "Not sure but put cortisone on it and give it 2 weeks." End of story. Not needing an answer for everything takes so much practice too, but so well worth it. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonathan123 2368 Posted August 5, 2019 There are words that come up that really say it all and what causes so many problems. 'Fight'. 'Struggle'. And as Molly has said 'force myself'. Now to fight means 'To enter into combat with'. Right? So we turn our minds into battle grounds. If you look under 'Articles' on the site there are some messages from 'lonesailor' that are relevant. She talks about giving in to the feelings and emotions. NOT giving up, oh no! Let it all happen. Give in and stop trying to 'control' it all. Buddhists talk about 'action in non action'. The best action in anxiety is no action. Whatever you do won't stop emotions and feelings, so give them permission to come. But when they do examine them. See them for what they are. Thoughts in a tired mind. Acceptance is still the key. Whatever happens we need face our feelings and not run away or seek diversions. Meet them head on. Remember the man and the Tiger? He ran and ran to get away from the Tiger which was gaining on him. He stopped from sheer exhaustion and turned and faced the Tiger, which began to diminish in size and became a mouse and scuttled into a corner. All that pain and effort when he could have done it in the beginning. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bin_tenn 1252 Posted August 5, 2019 10 minutes ago, jonathan123 said: There are words that come up that really say it all and what causes so many problems. 'Fight'. 'Struggle'. And as Molly has said 'force myself'. Now to fight means 'To enter into combat with'. Right? So we turn our minds into battle grounds. If you look under 'Articles' on the site there are some messages from 'lonesailor' that are relevant. She talks about giving in to the feelings and emotions. NOT giving up, oh no! Let it all happen. Give in and stop trying to 'control' it all. Buddhists talk about 'action in non action'. The best action in anxiety is no action. Whatever you do won't stop emotions and feelings, so give them permission to come. But when they do examine them. See them for what they are. Thoughts in a tired mind. Acceptance is still the key. Whatever happens we need face our feelings and not run away or seek diversions. Meet them head on. Remember the man and the Tiger? He ran and ran to get away from the Tiger which was gaining on him. He stopped from sheer exhaustion and turned and faced the Tiger, which began to diminish in size and became a mouse and scuttled into a corner. All that pain and effort when he could have done it in the beginning. This is a common technique, and one my therapist and I have talked about. It's been difficult to remember it and practice it, but I'm still working on it. Rather than trying to stop the thoughts or the panic attacks or whatever else, let them come. Let them be. Accept them. Embrace them. They will pass. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites