Always worried I have a serious illness

Hello and welcome!

You are not alone. Many of us here deal with health anxiety. We have the same concerns and worries, in different degrees...but it is all pretty much the same theme...fear of illness, loss of control, fear of dying, ect..

Having young children and a great responsibility as a caregiver is part of the challenge I believe. My anxiety and heath worries started when my second child was young. I had a pre-teen and a toddler to raise...add in some other personal issues, and I had the perfect mix for some A/P!

I went through CBT to help learn how to deal with my anxiety disorder, and it changed my life.:) Have you considered or done any therapy? If not, I and many other members here can recommend it.

Self-help is also a great option, and you can find some great ideas in our Resources here on our main page. (1st post)

Talking with others who understand is also key. We are here to support each other and listen anytime...so keep posting!

Talk to you soon,

Scaredy Cat

You're already in the anxiety cycle. Do you remember being so sick before, having pains on a specific part of your body or being hurt but only ignored them when you were young, and after months and even years pass by you still feel you were in a great shape? Everything is much easier back then. But now that you started to worry about your health so much fearing your days are numbered gives you a dreary feeling in itself. Makes you feel more sick. From what I read, Yes, anxiety can cause dull headaches, dizzy spells, stomach pain, visual disturbances and the most worst of all the "panic attack". Makes you think you have a serious health condition. All you have to do is to manage bringing down your stress and anxiety level and break free from the anxiety loop. You can already find different tips and advises from people here in HW. I became a hypochondriac when I started convincing myself I was seriously sick and went googling. I felt so bad I thought I was about to break and lose it. Posting and reading what people have to say here in HW helps. You have to take those advises and put them into action, it takes months and even years to battle anxiety, it depends on how effective and fast you develop your coping skills. Anxiety is not something you can put away in a day. You should have patience in it. You're not alone and don't give yourself too much load by worrying and wasting your time on it.

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MOST anxiety happens at the subconscious level. JUST because you don't feel consciously anxious or had a day or two of calm doesn't mean your mind & body are relaxed. It can take months of reduced anxiety before a body goes back to a more non-reactive state.

Hello and welcome to HealingWell.  Glad you've found our online community. It’s a great place to connect with others traveling the same road...you'll find much support, encouragement and advice from others who understand.

Great advice from the members who have posted to you. 

Health worriers may be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder or depression, or a number of other illnesses, but their condition is really better defined by the mistaken ideas they have about how and why people get sick. Similarly, they have Bad Ideas about drugs, doctors, and other related matters. Bad Ideas are incorrect, but self-confirming, prejudices which lead people to behave in ways that worsen their fears. Treatment is directed to changing these behaviors so that health worriers can see the world and themselves more accurately. This kind of treatment is called cognitive-behavioral, or exposure therapy. The underlying principle is confrontation. It is necessary to confront one’s fears in order to overcome them. This is not easy to do.

I have health anxiety but not to the extreme that it is OCD unless it relates to medical issues already diagnosed.  When you have a known disorder it is very difficult to not worry and takes much willpower to stay in the moment, not assuming the worst case scenario.

Stick with us as we are here to help and support you.