Hi all, when I get a chest pain, or a head pain, or stomach pain, or any random symptom, is it me saying in my head "oh what if this is a heart pain" that fuels the anxiety further? if I stop reacting like that should It help me??
Hello, Les171091! You are a hypochondriac just like me. Whenever you feel something off with your body, you always think of malignant diseases and conditions such as heart attacks or stomach ulcers. This is quite a vicious cycle really. Yes, it would do you good if you stop reacting like that. Also having a checkup for your general health will help, too. It would ease your mind.
Hope you'll be well!
If you dont fear it it should help. Thats the goal. Unsure if you can stop it, or your body teiggering it but if you dint fear it then it wont escalate. Those horrible what ifs make a mess of everything 😰 Cbt tries to address all that as well. All we are are our thoughts,
Hi Les,
when we react to a symptom with fear and anxiety, our brain thinks we are in danger, so it sends out a hormone, adrenaline to "prepare us for battle " the adrenaline can cause faster heart rate, sweating, and more anxiety. So the "what ifs" make us more anxious.
We need to learn how to react to symptoms so as not to cause the brain to overreact.
So yes it would help a lot to drop the fear based thinking.
Remember, Fear stands for false evidence appearing real. Meaning that when we get symptoms, we tend to jump to negative conclusions,when the odds are way more likely that it's nothing serious.
our subconscious believes us even if we are wrong. So we get symptoms.
the best thing to do is get a checkup if a symptom persists and have peace of mind.