Living within my own body [Archive] - Anxiety Forum - A Home for Those with Anxiety, Fear, or Panic Attacks

Slammed Vdub

06-27-2016, 09:48 AM

Hello everybody!
I hope everyone is doing well today. I just thought i would come and write about how i feel about my current health anxiety. Before i had anxiety which was about 6 years ago, i would have never guesses the pain and suffering it can cause day in and day out. Ive had all the tests done for everything, but that changes nothing about the fears i have. Once i get a EKG done and see my heart is healthy, all of the sudden i think i have a tumor so i develop symptoms for that. It really is a vicious cycle of which i see no end in sight. I feel as i mentally live life as a stick figure trapped within my own bodies' borders. I constantly scan myself for new symptoms. I become alert of every twitch, pain, pressure, discomfort and feeling. I am always on high alert and it is exhausting. This is no way to live, and i am looking for a way out of this trap. I wish i could go back in time to where i was worry free. I was always smiling and happy everyday no matter the occasion. Life was beautiful, but i did not know it. I now take that for granted. I have had counseling and prescribed medication which i wont take. I feel like i am trapped in a traffic circle and the exits are blocked by my own thoughts. I no longer find motivation to get better for myself. I now need to get better for the people around me, particularly my girlfriend. She means the world to me and i cant stand feeling this way around her as i know it will bring her down. I dont want to pull her back, i want to move forward. How do i do this. I do i break out of my own skin and live a free life. How do i turn my alert system down. How do i go on.
DJ

Nowuccas

06-29-2016, 03:49 AM

From memory, I believe that I responded to a previous post of yours about health anxiety, and below are all of my relevant posts.

Counselling is not equivalent to a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, so I suggest that you Google: "clinical psychologists; CBT; ( your location )" and attend an initial session with the nearest 3 before deciding on who you feel most comfortable with having around 6 months of therapy.

The following came from Yahoo!:

One: Take a sheet of paper and divide it into four columns. In the first column, write down all the negative, distressing or anxiety-provoking thoughts that are going through your head.
If you just know you feel bad and are not sure what you’re thinking, these questions may help:
What was going through my mind just before I started to feel this way?
What does this say about me? What does it say I can/can’t do?
What does this mean about me? My life? My future?
What am I afraid might happen? What is the worst thing that could happen if this is true?
What does this mean about what other people might think/feel about me?
What does this mean I should/shouldn’t do?
What images or memories do I have in this situation?

Read through your list of thoughts and circle the one you find most distressing. This is the thought you’re going to challenge. (You can always repeat the exercise for other thoughts later if you like.)

Two: In the second column, write down all the factual evidence that suggests your circled thought is true. Be as specific as possible, and only include facts, not opinions. For example, if your friend Sally said a particular dress made you look a little fat, don’t write, “I look fat” (this is just Sally’s opinion). Don’t write, “Sally says I look fat” (this is overgeneralising). Write something like, “Sally said I looked a little fat in the green dress.”

Three: In the third column, write down any factual evidence that suggests your circled thought is not 100% true. To do this, you can ask yourself the following questions:
Have I had any experiences that show that this thought is not completely true all the time?
If my best friend or someone I loved had this thought, what would I tell them?
If my best friend or someone who loves me knew I was thinking this thought, what would they say to me? What evidence would they point out to me that would suggest that my thoughts were not 100% true?
When I am not feeling this way, do I think about this type of situation any differently? How?
When I have felt this way in the past, what did I think about that helped me feel better?
Have I been in this type of situation before? What happened? Is there anything different between this situation and previous ones? What have I learned from prior experiences that could help me now?
Are there any small things that contradict my thoughts that I might be discounting as not important?
Five years from now, if I look back at this situation, will I look at it any differently? Will I focus on any different part of my experience?
Are there any strengths or positives in me or the situation that I am ignoring?
Am I jumping to any conclusions that are not completely justified by the evidence?
Am I blaming myself for something over which I do not have complete control?

Four: In the final column, try to come up with some “alternative” or “balanced” thoughts that are more factually accurate than those in the first column. These should take into account all the evidence you’ve just gathered. You can ask yourself the following questions:
Based on the evidence I have listed, is there an alternative way of thinking about or understanding the situation?
Write one sentence that summarizes all the evidence that supports my thought and all the evidence that does not support my thought.
Does combining the two summary statements with the word “and” create a balanced thought that takes into account all the information I have gathered?
If someone I cared about was in this situation, had these thoughts, and had this information available, what would be my advice to them? How would I suggest that they understand the situation?
If my thought is true, what is the worst outcome? If my thought is true, what is the best outcome? If my thought is true, what is the most realistic outcome?

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Anti-anxiety techniques:

Learn, become proficient in, and employ acupressure tapping / EFT, and progressive muscle relaxation, ( http://www.drcoxconsulting.com/managing-stress.html ) using whichever you find most effective.

Give the Meridian Tapping Technique / EFT a good tryout, to see if it helps you. It is free via mercola.com or www.tapping.com (13 free videos), or www.eftuniverse.com or www.emofree.com or one of the many YouTube videos. Google: "YouTube; EFT videos".
Professionally instructed is generally preferable (Google: therapists; EFT; [your location] or mercola.com has a locator). - There is a version for use in public places at http://eft.mercola.com (if you like, you can claim to have a headache, as you employ the acupressure massage / tapping on your temples, but you would then be restricted to subvocalising: saying it to yourself in your mind: "Even though I have health anxiety, I deeply and completely accept myself)."

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GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33964-New-to-the-site-and-looking-for-help&p=223989#post223989

HYPOCHONDRIA / HEALTH ANXIETY: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33806-BAD-Health-anxiety-Have-afew-questions

ANXIETY or PANIC ATTACKS: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?34755-Panic-attacks-that-last-for-hours

COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33992-Magic-thinking-another-reason-why-I-am-afraid-of-my-thoughts&p=224089#post224089

HERBAL ANXIOLYTICS: http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?34269-5-Powerful-Tools-You-Probably-Haven-t-Tried-Yet&p=225415#post225415

NON HERBAL NATURAL (NON PHARMACEUTICAL) ANXIOLTYICS: (5-htp, etc.) http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?34355-Help-Please!!!/page2