- Date posted
- 32w
Question about health worries
I asked this question before, I think last year and i find that not alot of people arent talking about this. I understand that alot of people have health anxiety and they like to go to get checked up to know everything is fine, and we know theres that point where you do it as a compulsion, but noone talks about when you should go to get a check up. Maybe its because it depends on the person, but i find that i have a big problem with that. Im on the other side of the fear spectrum, I dont like to go to doctors, but I question that myself too cause there were times when I had a really bad backpain and i knew i had to go get checked up, or when i get really sick i go to get a check up. But im really afraid of doing bloodwork cause last time i got really sick after that. I think the last time i did bloodwork was in 2017or 2018... so yeah i know i have to go, i try it this year, tomorrow i will go get an EKG so and they will check my heart. So that will be my first exposure, however im really scared of bloodwork, even today i talked someone who said the same thing that he always bad side effects after it, and i forgot to mention that my brother always faints away adter bloodwork. So back to my question. I understand health is important, thats why i worry alot, and that you have to face fear and go to doctors but i got to a point where I notice everything and my reaction is "I should go to a doctor" and thats not healthy for me. If i dont go then i feel like I dont love myself enough. Cause poeple say caring for your body is love, and you should do it with love not fear but many times i feel like love says i should go to see if this is serious cause i care for myself. And before I developed fear of bloodwork or hospitals, I noticed everything on my body and i was afraid its serious. And this is what i dont like that people say its okay to check it once then stop... thats not the key cause anyone struggling with it knows that then it will go on another symptom. Thats why i feel like poeple who say "go get bloodwork every year" are still anxious about their health and maybe the compulsion is still there its just now the person knows they can wait a year safely...It happened with me now while im writing this post, i just thought about the yearly check ups that we have here in our work and that gives me peace that im okay, but what if i would miss one?I played with this thought and i got anxious that it would be dangerous missing it, i would be anxious the whole year about my health and that i let myself down if i dont get a check up and all this makes me feel guilt. And in that moment you dont know what is real, is this just negative thoughts or you are really letting yourself down by ignoring your health. And I dont really like to talk about it with people cause many would say "well go get a check up, you will feel peace". Dont get me wrong im not saying check ups are wrong, you should get check ups but i hope you get what i mean, what is behind it. Now i am on the avoidance spectrum but deep down im also on the "i gotta get checked up, i cant handle this". I know if i get bloodwork, everything comes up fine, then i will have a head pain or dizzyness, then i will be like "i have to get my brain checked, and then i have problems with my eyes then i get my eyes checked,i have panic attacks i get my heart checked cause i cant handle the palpitations and im afraid my heart will stop, then 8 months passes and i find something on my body, is this dangerous? Idk... i did bloodwork almost a year ago, they say you should do every year..." and it will never go away. I know that cause in 2017-18-19 i was like that, i went to every doctor, i checked everything and even after that i had new symptoms that needed another doctors check up... Until i had had enough and i developed fear of check ups. So theres actually both. But the overreaction of symptoms are huge. So with that my question is how do you work on that overreaction? For exemple 2 weeks ago i found a bump on my hand that maybe was there along time as i remember it but i noticed it now and i just thought the worse, it might be cancer i should check it and if i do i ignore my health and end up as a kid i knew who died of cancer because they found out late that he has it...I already associate someones tragedy with my life, but you know people say you learn from others problems... I just found one video about this topic where someone shared when they chose to go to the doctor, I think thats a really important part for our journey. I hope that yall dont take this as I say checkups are bad, there are people who take yearly checkups without being afraid, cause if they miss one they dont go crazy about it, but i think many still struggle with health anxiety... I hope you see the problem behind it.