Extreme Anxiety

[EndlessQuest]

Hi guys! :) I'm new to this site and was hoping to get some coping tips for my anxiety situation. I am a 20 year old female. For as long as I can remember I have had hypochondria. Everything regarding my health was always a worst case scenario. Within the past 6 months however I've noticed my anxiety to snowball into something far more serious.
First I became anxious regarding being shot and getting into car accidents and it stayed this way for a few months. However, since I have returned home from college my anxiety has caused me to ask the big what-if questions. What is life? Who am I? Why are we here? What is real? What if it's all my imagination? What is a soul? Questions that most people ponder but I seem to now obsess over and can't escape. It's the first thing I think about and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep. It's driving me absolutely crazy and I feel as if I'm going crazy. It's gotten so bad it's to the point where I'm just starting to get freaked out by the idea of existence itself. I don't feel like myself and I feel completely trapped in my mind. Just hoping someone can offer me advice if they've been in this situation before and assure me that I'm not going off the deep end...
Thanks!

[Nowuccas]

Hey EndlessQuest,

A previous post about hypochondria follows:

Ask yourself exactly what evidence there is to support the idea that you may have such a disease, or is it just a baseless fear? What if you did have it. How would you cope? What then? Work it all out on paper. It's important to regularly monitor, and deal with a negative internal monologue (self talk), or mental process, such as disturbing thoughts, images, impulses, or emotions, by the process of (a): recognising it, and (b): challenging it immediately. Technique For Re-Programming Negative Thoughts: When you notice something negative, such as: "I can't do this/ am never going to get over this!" or: "Why am I always so useless/such a loser?" or even an image, emotion, or a memory; recognise that it is being generated from the negative part of your mind. After identifying, and labelling it, visualise a large, red, flashing, "STOP!" sign, and/or possibly a stern faced person wagging an index finger at you in a negative manner, then say to yourself as forcefully as you can, even aloud in a big voice, if alone: "I know this tactic: GO AWAY FOR A WHILE !!!" You may want to use either: "ruse", "ploy", "game", or "trick". In the case of an image, visualise a large "STOP" sign, or your preferred version. Some people go so far as to keep a wide rubber band in their pocket, then put it around their wrist, when they catch themselves backsliding, stretch and release it, as a method of reprogramming their mind sooner, but I don't regard it as being strictly necessary. Remember to remove it, afterwards, if you use this method.

Try replacing a negative thought with a positive affirmation of your choice, such as repeating: "I'll be just fine". Realise that by the act of viewing material about various diseases, you are implanting a suggestion in your subconscious mind that you may have it, It recognises a potential threat, and initiates the (formerly, in times long past) appropriate response; a "fight, or flight" reaction. Stop viewing such material. Practice a relaxation method, daily, and when needed, such as http://www.drcoxconsulting.com/managing-stress.html or http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/mindbody/a/Meditation.htm
or www.wikihow.com/Meditate or Yoga Nidra, (no flexibility required) on page L at your-mental-health.weebly.com below, and see page Z for much more about hypochondria (panic attacks, and anxiety; see pages 1, h, & i). Qi Gong, Tai Chi, or regular yoga suits others better.

Give acupressure tapping / EFT a good tryout, to see if it helps you. It is free via the searchbar at http://www.mercola.com "EFT" & "EFT therapists", or www.tapping.com (13 free videos) or www.emofree.com or YouTube EFT. Professionally instructed is probably best. - There is a version for use in public places at http://eft.mercola.com (you could claim to have a headache, as you employ the acupressure massage/tapping your temples, but you would then be restricted to subvocalising: saying it to yourself in your mind: "Even though I have hypochondria, I deeply and completely accept myself."). These will enable you to emotionally centre yourself, when practiced regularly, and can also help you become a calmer, more self controlled person, who is less susceptible to such beliefs.

Read: Treating Health Anxiety: A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach by Steven Taylor Phd and Gordon J. G. Asmundson PhD, & The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death. by Gene Weingarten, & It's Not All in Your Head: How Worrying about Your Health Could Be Making You Sick--and What You Can Do about It by Gordon J. G. Asmundson Ph.D and Steven Taylor Ph.d, from your bookstore, or Amazon.com and there are other media, such as CD's & Kindle material, via their searchbar: "hypochondria".

Hypnosis is merely a heightened state of suggestibility, in which you are better able to communicate with your subconscious mind; view http://myfavoriteinterests.com/hypnosis/ about what it is, and isn't. 85% of people are suggestible to some degree; 15% - 20% highly so, and 15% - 20% aren't much at all, so you could either preferably seek professional hypnotherapy, or, if not an option, hypnosisdownloads.com has: Overcome Hypochondria.

More about hypochondriasis may be found at http://your-mental-health.weebly.com/z.html where the above came from.

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I suggest that you view my previous post about Generalised Anxiety Disorder at http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33964-New-to-the-site-and-looking-for-help&p=223989#post223989

Hoping something in the above helps.

[EndlessQuest]

Wow there's so much information here! Thank you so much for the help! I'll be sure to give some of these tips a try!

[SarahBear]

EndlessQuest I know exactly where you are coming from. I hope you find comfort in knowing that you are not alone. I was always anxious of my surroundings and going anywhere because I was afraid I would be killed somehow or in some sort of accident. A few years ago, around the time I graduated from college for some reason, I developed severe hypochondria. I can't go a day without googling what I am dying from. I have made multiple visits to the doctors and the emergency room and most of the time the end result is something minor. I recently visited a cardiologist and wore heart monitor for two weeks because I was CONVINCED I was going to have a heart attack due to pains in my chest and a racing heart (symptoms of anxiety). I am a 23 year old female so the doctor didn't take the situation all that seriously but did it anyway to prove nothing is wrong with my heart. This is just one of the many examples of what I go through on a daily basis dealing with hypochondria. I am still trying to conquer this uphill battle and I wish I had more advice for you. You are not crazy and you are definitely not going off the deep end! I believe that there can be a successful end result as long as we accept how we feel and learn to deal with it in a healthy way :)