Power of negative thinking

[racechick79 2]

I do not have health anxiety, but I am pretty sure my niece does. She is in to the doctor at least a few times a month. The thing is, it seems like there usually is validly something wrong with her. Wondering what your thougths are on the power of negative thinking. Is it possible for people to actually think themselves sick? I know the obvious that you can have stomach problems, etc from your anxiety symptoms, but she will end up with such odd things that it seems against natural law that she would actually have them - but often times the doctor will confirm that something is indeed wrong. Your thoughts?

[Gilly 1086]

I've thought long and hard about this, and I don't believe so. I know the mind is a powerful thing but to cause an organic condition? Mimic yes, most definitely. But stress and trauma I do believe can trigger a disease or condition 100% My mum almost drowning triggered my Crohns when I was 12

[racechick79 2]

I am wondering if that is part of it. Some of the problems she has do seem like they could be stress related and I never thought of it that way. Maybe it isn't so much the power of her anxiety causing it, but rather the side effects of the stress that she has in her lilfe. I think maybe some of it is just plain bad luck. Her mom came over today and told us that she thinks she has Lyme disease now because they found a tick on her a few days ago. If there is anything that can go wrong it seems to with the poor girl!

[panicstricken 4]

The closest thing I can think of that resembles those traits is a hypochondriac. They honestly believe they're sick, when there's nothing wrong with them. I'm not sure if you can actually make symptoms appear from a mere thought. Maybe doctors can find the reason she thinks this way because it could become a problem in the future if it's not treated.

[b00ts 16]

I don't think it'd be considered true health anxious or hypochondriac if there is something proven to be wrong...especially with her track record :/

The power of fearful and anxious thinking can cause symptoms, can make you think you're feeling symptoms, and can make you feel physically ill. But there is no identifiable caused organically for them. But the person believes there is something malicious going on and refuses to believe the test results, thus becoming more and more obsessed with the symptoms and illness/condition feared.

Of course now that I read that she feels like she might have Lyme's because she found a tick is indicative of health anxiety and maybe she just has really bad luck...

[arctic 0]

Feeling that you are ill would make you feel ill. The brain is so powerful that it can tell your body to function and malfunction. Maybe this is the reason why some faith healing works. Although I have faith in divine healing. It is just that most if not all are hoax but they get healed, This is what their brain told them. They are healed and so they were. The more positive thoughts we have the positive results that we get. I guess its more beneficial to develop having positive thoughts than negative ones.

[shaun 6]

I am sure negative thinking can manifest into physical health problems. There is still a lot to learn on the connection between mental and physical health. A read a recent study which claimed loneliness actually changes our cells and causes our cells to be 'unhappy'. Negative thinking will make you feel depressed and stress, which will inevitably depress he immune system etc.

[racechick79 2]

I am sure negative thinking can manifest into physical health problems. There is still a lot to learn on the connection between mental and physical health. A read a recent study which claimed loneliness actually changes our cells and causes our cells to be 'unhappy'. Negative thinking will make you feel depressed and stress, which will inevitably depress he immune system etc.

It is interesting that you say that about the immune system. The last doctor she saw said that he is amazed at how bad her immune system seems to be. A connection between negative thinking and the immune system would definitely explain that. She does have a surgery coming up for a hip problem she has had since birth. I am beginning to see a pattern as well that when a surgery is coming up she tends to have more "wrong" with her. I am wondering if she gets anxiety about the surgery and thus comes up with other things that are wrong with her leading up to it.

[b00ts 16]

It is interesting that you say that about the immune system. The last doctor she saw said that he is amazed at how bad her immune system seems to be. A connection between negative thinking and the immune system would definitely explain that. She does have a surgery coming up for a hip problem she has had since birth. I am beginning to see a pattern as well that when a surgery is coming up she tends to have more "wrong" with her. I am wondering if she gets anxiety about the surgery and thus comes up with other things that are wrong with her leading up to it.

That does make sense. Anxiety over the surgery would produce anxiety symptoms, in an anxious person they would interpret it as dangerous, thereby getting more anxious and the circle continues.

[mrsalphabet 4]

The mind is a powerful thing, and I do believe that anxiety can cause other illness. I don't believe it can cause things like diseases, but it can most certainly cause stomach issues, lower your immunity so you seem to catch virus' easier etc.....

I know I had a few surgeries when I was younger. I was miserable for about a week before the surgery. My anxiety and nervousness about the surgery presented in "bitchiness" for me. When I look back now I was horrible to my mother, because I took it all out on her. She was a saint through it all though!

[racechick79 2]

I just read a Facebook post that she made today that said "my fifth hip surgery is next week and I really didn't want to spend this week sick". I do feel for her, but just don't know how to approach the topic with my sister or my niece that I think it is anxiety related. I am hoping that once this hip surgery is done that she is able to get a little bit more back to normal, since the doctor feels that this should be the last for her hips! Hopefully if she is able to get her life back in terms of that, she won't have to worry about anything upcoming.

I do think that if it continues after that I am going to have to have a serious talk with my sister to see if we can talk her into some kind of therapy because I would hate to see her lose her younger years to this! She is supposed to be enjoying this time.

[wodrock 0]

I have learned that negative thinking has a huge impact on a person's life, whether it causes problems among peers, isolating yourself from the outside etc, thus creating even larger hole of depression for him/her. I believe you can only dig yourself in deeper into the void. That's why I would always recommend pessimistic people to be around positive people rather than people like yourself, because you WILL adapt to the environment you live in. But that's ofcourse only a solution IF you are looking for one.

[4leafclover 1]

I would definitely agree to the Power of the Mind. What our minds constantly think will really manifests itself and most of the time, it will be in a very discreet manner. If we take things positively, show off good aura and attract positive energy. So likewise with our negative thoughts, in one way or another (health condition, role performance, job function) negativism will find its output. That is why placebo effect was born. What our minds often think about will highly likely what we will have and what we will become.

[racechick79 2]

I have talked to my sister about it a little and after the surgery we are going to see how she is doing and see if maybe she needs some additional help. She has her surgery tomorrow and her anxiety is at a high right now. We are all praying that maybe if she isn't experiencing the pain she has with her hip and doesn't have the surgery to worry about that maybe the other symptoms will subside. We shall see. Any prayers for her surgery would be welcomed!

[char2011 1]

I do believe that if you think about something enough you will start to believe it. I believe this because I watch alot of crime shows where a few have had people with mental illnesses kill and lie on a lie director test and pass. This is simply because they have made themself believe they didn't do it. In terms of making yourself believe that your sick I'm not really sure it's just hard to determine.

[shaun 6]

It is interesting that you say that about the immune system. The last doctor she saw said that he is amazed at how bad her immune system seems to be. A connection between negative thinking and the immune system would definitely explain that. She does have a surgery coming up for a hip problem she has had since birth. I am beginning to see a pattern as well that when a surgery is coming up she tends to have more "wrong" with her. I am wondering if she gets anxiety about the surgery and thus comes up with other things that are wrong with her leading up to it.

It is all interconnected. This is the reason people who suffer from a sudden loss are more likely to experience a serious health problem in the coming period. A friend of mine is a living example of this, her mum died and she suffered from severe health problems which resulted in her being hospitalised soon after. Her physical health problems were caused by the extreme stress and sadness. Since coming through the grieving process her health problems have improved.

[racechick79 2]

Thank you again for all of the thoughts on this. She came out of her hip surgery very well. The doctor said it went better than expected. And with the surgery behind her, she has been in much better spirits and not focusing so much on the other things she had been obsessing over that were "wrong" with her. Hopefully this will continue and she will have a new start after this surgery!

[Kellyk 0]

Hi, I am sorry that your niece is going through this. I really do believe that the brain is very powerful and can actually produce symptoms of physical illness. If your niece is usually a negative person, then it probably doesn't help when she is ill. Negative thinking is a really hard thing to overcome. It takes a long time to erase such a long pattern of negative thoughts. I am by no means an expert, I have just experienced. negetaive thinking in my own life a lot. It is a daily struggle, but you have to keep on going. Things will get better. She will have her good and bad days. Some things that might be helpful to her might be listening to positive affrimations on cd's or podcasts. There are a lot of free podcasts and radio shows she can subscribe to. One resource is Blogtalkradio. It has many self help topics and has helped me quite a bit. She could also rent relaxation and stress cd's from the library. Hopefully, some of the ideas I gave you will help her. Take care.