anyone know how to ease and deal with health anxiety?? anytime i have a minor pain like headache or my boob hurts i’m convinced i’m dying and it’s so frustrating because the more i think about it the worst it feels and then my chest hurts from being so anxious

Is therapy an option?

@bluerose9 (sorry didn’t mean to dislike your comment) no i don’t think so

Try avoid Google as much as you can, one thing I learned was that if you keep overthinking pain or sensations in a specific area, try focusing on a completely different part of your body (eg big toe) for 2 minutes and eventually you’ll notice all different sensations etc, that don’t bother you, this can help you understand that sometimes it’s just the way the human body is. Another thing is that pain like headaches, can be caused and worsened by stress, so if you get a headache, take some painkillers, drink some water and stay off the internet for a bit. Most headaches are caused by dehydration. Health anxiety can be super tricky, but you must try and challenge your thoughts, ask yourself ; what evidence do you have that disproves this?. When we hyper focus on one condition or illness, it’s easy to find lots of evidence to support it, despite it being a false thought. There’s LOADS of self-help guides and information online for health anxiety, using cbt techniques, definitely worth checking out xx

Fellow hypochondriac here so boy do I get this post! The best thing that’s helped me with general anxiety over the years is morning yoga (which sounds like some hippy non sense but for me it really did work.) there’s a lot of time spend focusing on your breathing in yoga which I’ve found has helped me feel less anxious when I get nervous about my health. It might be something you can try to incorporate at home before work? Other than that, something I do when I start to spiral is remind myself that our bodies are stronger than we think. If something really is wrong (and 99.9% of the time it’s not, but our brains won’t believe it lol) you will know when you need to seek medical help, and you will absolutely be fine in the meantime. So if you get a headache and it makes you start to panic, try to remind yourself that it’s normal for our bodies to have aches and pains, and trust that if things feel worse you’ll act and be able to handle it. That always helps me feel like I have some more control over the situation. So I plan to make a plan, and in the meantime, the pain eventually passes, along with the anxiety. Hope that helps 🌷

thank you so much everyone i appreciate it so much and i will try the yoga, i’ve been trying to start pilates do you think that would help as well? i’ll try to drink more water and get more rest as it keeps me up sometimes but thank you so much guys i appreciate it and love you all 🩷🩷

also my chest hurts a lot when i’m like stretching to reach something or if i sit up too quick, could this be something serious?? i went to the doctors the other day for something else and i meant to ask her but forgot

@bluey1234 I think Pilates could be a good start! From my understanding it’s definitely more of a workout, so I don’t think you’ll get an many of the zen-breath work benefits you do in yoga, but moving your body and working out is always good for you. And if that’s something you wanted input on from your doctor, I think you should call the office and say you just came in the other day and wanted to run something by the doctor but forgot to mention it during your appointment. They might let you speak to them on the phone and give you an answer on what’s the best move. Can never hurt to call and ask!

@birthpatrol1 me and my grandma used to do yoga together so maybe i will do yoga as well, i always used to feel so calm when we did it! i’m not sure if it’s anything i think i might’ve pulled a muscle or if it’s just my anxiety, it’s so annoying being so anxious!! 😫 thank you so much though you’re so sweet 🥹

@bluey1234 you got this!