Does Reading These Forums Make Anyone Else Anxious?

[PanicPhobia]

Does anyone else have anxiety attacks after hearing the stories and symptoms of other people's anxiety? This happens to me almost every time I log in here. It's sort of a paradox. I like conversing with people who have the same problem I have, but when I begin thinking about this topic, it inevitably leads me to being anxious myself. I start reading about heart palpitations, chest pains, dizziness and then I suddenly start having the symptoms.

In any case, I was wondering if anyone else has this problem.

[mistiblue]

Sometimes. I have this happen in everyday life though. Like tonight for example, my son threw up and I instantly started feeling sick.
Or if I read something about someone being sick or having cancer, I immediately start feeling sick or having symptoms. This is a normal part of anxiety.

[PanicPhobia]

Yeah, I hear ya, misti.

My dog was diagnosed with cancer today and now I become anxious about possibly having it myself. I do smoke, and maybe this will be what I need to quit.

[AmberGbenga]

I get it myself sometimes

[Enduronman]

empathy....look it up.

[NeverToo...Fear]

I do get something similar, and like what E-man suggests, empathy might be why. Us anxious people tend to have a lot of empathy. While I'm reading what people are saying, I tend to really put myself there and get into it. I have to sort of put up a shield to not totally get wrapped up in feeling the issues being described. It's a double edged sword, because it's nice knowing you aren't alone, but talking about it makes you sometimes think of your own. I'd rather be empathetic than not though.

[Enduronman]

It's called empathy, and ^^^ explained it. We are able to put ourselves into someone else shoes but yet, we don't always know that we're doing it. I had to learn to ground, shield, and block...before I could return to this forum. The problems, are not, my problems but I will help others try to figure them out because their success, is my success...Empathy. :)

[alankay]

It can at times as it reminds you of well............anxiety as a topic and then your attention turns inwards to yourself(not good). I just limit my readings to good threads or threads I can have a good comment on(try to anyway).
What does help is how many have anxieties that I had and thought ONLY I had(but read here others have too). It helps to be aware of scenarios(the various ways anxiety manifest itself) so when you have similar anxieties you know at the root, it's just anxiety, perhaps in a different form and it's OK. Nothing to freak out about. In that way I find it helps.
I hope it "helps" that just as a certain percentage of the population struggles with alcohol/substance abuse, sex problems, material obsessions, work difficulties, severe family issues, weight problems, physical/health issues, another part struggles with anxiety. Most of us humans have problems that others cannot see because we work to hide them. I'm just saying we all struggle with something and anxiety is by no means rare or even unusual. Anxiety is a normal emotion we just get too much of too often and so causes problems as it is so uncomfortable(to say the least).
It does not help as the stigma of mental illness/struggles make it harder to deal with anxiety as some see it as a bogus problem when indeed it is real.
Many figures in history have had it and I'm glad we have better therapies and meds for it nowadays and hope future generations will have even better treatments. I pray they do.
Anyway.................Happy New Year to all! Alankay