OCD/Health anxiety question

xankab

Member
Are there folks here on reboot who also have/had health anxiety? I have had this off and on,and  just started a reboot (day 3), and wanted to know if there are particular journals that I should follow, or general threads on the intersection of these topics and the reboot.

Peace,
  Xan
 

xankab

Member
Health anxiety sufferers are scared of getting diseases. Their obsession is with the possibility that they suffer from some disease, and compulsions may be frequent doctor visits and checking themselves for symptoms.
 
N

Numez

Guest
@xankab
ok so i had it. as a teenager up to few years ago i used to check my lungs heart and blood because i had panic attacks where i almost died several times so i thought something was surely off  :)

when results everytime came back fine and the last time when doctor was little too pushy about antidepressants and other pills i realized its all in my head so i just relaxed and who would have thought those horrors are gone. i didnt thought of it as a health anxiety, it had no name for me, just some silly trip in my head  :)

maybe i still have some panic attack from time to time  but not that i can remeber when was the last time and if they happen i relax again and its alright.

dont resist death or disease. it will get more scary for the moment but you will let it go if you dont resist it. it wont go away over night but surely not resisting the fear will let you experience it (more terrifying at the moment) and it will pass eventually.  its same like fear of heights or any other fear. if you are scared of heights , you can close your eyes but the fear will stay. if you open your eyes you will get more afraid but after time it will go away. just a normal fear or health anxiety as you call it, its nothing special, you will see when you put an end to it  :)

social anxiety is a lot, a lot harder to overcome for me because its not only my head, there are all other heads around me  ;D  its more fun though
 

xankab

Member
Thanks, Nikola: you are absolutely right that not resisting disease/death is important. Indeed, one of the key components of the recommended therapy (which I am starting from a book) is exposure and response prevention, which is in the same vein as what you said...
 

xankab

Member
@MZ: The book is "Freedom from OCD" by Jonathan Grayson. The video is linked from http://laocdtreatment.com/blog/ (see Nov 7 entry, The ABCs of OCD)
 
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