I cant stand it! Im only 12 and im sure ive got health anxiaty
Allthough i can never go to the doctors by myself i sort of secrtly get reasurance from my friends all the time! Ill ask them things like do you get growing pains or do you ache when you get cold, do you get swollen glands and do you get swollen glands here. I spend agers on the internet reaserching symptons. One time i found a small lump on my neck and my mum told me it was just a gland and i worried all day and sat reasearching about it thinking i must have cancer untill i made myself physicly sick. Im constanly thinking about parts of my body hurting or having a tight chest so i might have a heart problem or i was thirsty so do i have diabeates. Ect ect. Im to scared to tell anyone, at one point (not very long ago) i was so scared that if i told myself i didnt have cancer or whatever i was obsessing about then ill jinx myself. Please help! I have no idea how to tell my parents becuse my mum and dad hate it when i start obsessing over something to do with my health.. I keep most of my worries to myself and i think i need help before it gets worse...
Hi worried girl
I have a 12 year old daughter and at her school they have a school nurse to talk to. Why don't you go along for a chat if you have a nurse at your school, and maybe she can give you the reassurance you need.
Sometimes reading up about conditions is the worst thing to do - even if you are ill. If you are fit and eat well, then start enjoying your health and try not to get bogged down with the \"maybe I might have......\".
Talk to the nurse if you can, tell her your fears and I am sure whe will be able to come up with some good ideas for you to work on.
Enjoy life and be happy - you have such a lot of fun ahead of you!
Take care
Suze :diva:
Dear worried 12 year old,
Having read your description of how your thought pattern is regarding worrying about illnesses it sounds like you need to talk to somebody, perhaps get some talking help. You sound a very aware 12 year old who will get over this period in your life, but you probably do need some help to shift your pattern of thinking. I talk through experience, as a therapist, but also as someone who has health anxiety and has battled with it for years. It is very hard to change the pattern of thinking without getting someone to help you in this, but there is help out there. The self help information on this link is, in my opinion, very good and describes fully the kind of worries people have and how to challenge those thoughts, particularly the line which says about imagining you are 90 and looking back on all those wasted years of worry. I have children, am a sane person (!) and have a job where I help other people, but still have these battles, so it just shows you that nobody is immune to such issues. However, I have had cognitive behavioural therapy which challenges your pattern of thought and it is a case of re-learning things. We are like we are because of things we have learnt so we need to re-learn and challenge our original thoughts. I hear what you are saying about your parents and think that it is hard to see your children worry about things which are difficult to understand, and anything like this is hard to explain to other people. My advise, is to firstly not worry! You can get over this and you have a great life ahead of you. I would talk to somebody, get the ball rolling, and then see what information is on offer to you. I think that if you tackle this now you will be able to move on much quicker than if you worry about it alone for months. From a very personal point of view, I have found that exercising really helps - sounds a bit of a cop out to say this - but getting those positive hormones in your body pumping! I do something every day now and it helps also because you are helping to keep yourself as fit and well as possible. It is a distraction but one which helps focus on the positive and the healthy in life. I run each day, but there's lots you could do. I hope that this helps you a little. Best wishes.
Hello worried girl
I think the advice of mumof3 is good advice. I too suffer from anxiety and I can relate to you because I know I had similar worries at your age and now I am still suffering at the age of 48. There is more knowledge these days on this condition and how to combat it, do it now because fear breads more fear
and the longer it goes on the worse it will seem to get.
Unfortuantely for me I feel it is too late, it is so deep seated I just live day to day trying to avoid certain situations, so don't leave it, talk to someone you will be surprised at just how many people actually can relate to your fears.
Hope you can overcome this, no, I know you can.
T