- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I have health OCD as well. I am mainly terrified of sustaining any type of lower body injury. I developed hip problems my junior year of college... and after going to SO many different types of specialists... I received a diagnosis 3 years later and had to have 2 surgeries. I am so terrified of any other lower body illness and I think about it constantly. My older sister said that I “look like I am trying not to step on legos” when I walk around the house because I walk so carefully and obsess over every step I take and how my foot hits the floor. It’s crazy because if I have any other issue aside from lower body... it’s almost as if I don’t even care. The idea of any other health issue almost sounds GOOD as long as it doesn’t impact my ability to use my lower body. I have experience some issues with being terrified of having another mental illness as well. If someone posts on social media or is talking about either mental illness or a lower body injury, I ignore them like the plague. Even thinking about their name makes me cringe. It’s as if I’m afraid to “catch” it. I know it sounds horrible as well... but I’m especially afraid of depression and schizophrenia.
- Date posted
- 5y
That’s really interesting to hear, and thank you for sharing me your story! Made me feel a lot better about my situation. I’m especially afraid of schizophrenia too, which is almost a relief because I didn’t think others had fears like that. My health OCD is mainly to do with kidneys because a lot of people in my family have had issues relating to the kidney, so whenever I get a pain, I obsessively check that it isn’t anywhere in that area. Thank you for showing me that I’m not alone in this!!
- Date posted
- 5y
I am the same exact way, with almost all of the same exact fears and compulsions. One of my grandmothers died of breast cancer so I am constantly checking for lumps, one of my grandmothers died of pancreatic cancer so if I feel any twinge of pain in my abdomen I’m convinced I have it, and many other relatives have died from other types of cancer. Also, if I hear of someone else getting sick/dying from something, I start googling it and am convinced I have it, or could get it soon, too. With the schizophrenia thing, I also am so worried I am going to start hallucinating or hearing voices, or that I will lose control.
- Date posted
- 5y
I am really new to this app so this is the first time I’ve commented to someone! I was looking through and read your post; I suffer with the same OCD tendencies relating to health conditions. I was 18 and diagnosed with a benign tumour in my eye, ever since when I feel unwell or have pain or my heart races I spend all day checking my pulse ect making sure it’s ok! I’m also studying to me a nurse so knowing physical illnesses like I do doesn’t help the situation! Have you been recommended anything to help? I am due to see a doctor tomorrow regarding this as it’s now starting to take over every day! ? hope you feel better soon x
- Date posted
- 5y
unfortunately I haven’t seen anyone yet (my appointment is in Feb) so I haven’t really been shown ways to help but I’ll be glad when I finally do! And that’s super understandable, I was going to be a paramedic but then I realised the more I knew about an illness, the more my brain could trick me into thinking that I had it. And it sounds bad but even being around people who are ill sends my OCD crazy so I thought best not to go that route, I really wish I could, so I’m super happy and proud to know that you’re studying to be a nurse! Same to you x
- Date posted
- 5y
And to add on, I thought that being afraid of this certain mental health disorder came from too much of a personal experience which is why I thought I was alone. But after seeing a comment by someone else who had said the same thing, I was really taken back and surprised; relieved too
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
I've never been diagnosed with OCD, but have thought for a long time that I do have it. I've tried to bring it up in therapy but have been shot down as "OCD tendencies". Luckily I'm with a new therapist and am planning to bring it up again. Especially after reading a lot of your posts, I'm really resonating with them. Especially my anxieties and obsessions with my health. God forbid I feel any weird pain or ache, I instantly think I'm dying. Sometimes I get a weird pain in my head and think it's a stroke or aneurysm. Ill go as far as the perform the stroke FAST test. This happens multiple times a day. I also have HUGE anxieties about death and my mortality. If I think about it too much, I get this deep cold pit in my stomach and spiral. Even talking about it causes me sooo much distress. I'm just worried I'll be dismissed or told I'm just self diagnosing because I related to a post online. But if any of this sounds accurate, please let me know. I'd love to be reassured of my obsessions rather than just dismissed as being anxious.
- Date posted
- 23w
It started when I became an adult, and started receiving my mental health diagnosis. I hyper fixated on each and every action I did and how it could be related to my diagnosis’s. It then lead to fixation to my physical health — making appointments and seeing every specialist I can to rule out every possibility. I currently have been suffering with obstructive sleep. I woke up the past few days with severe pain from the lack of sleep whilst believing I was oversleeping. Luckily my fit watch tracks my sleep cycle and it turns out I am not receiving any sleep. I had an extreme panic attack — bursting into tears on the phone with my mom wondering what this case might be. She told me it could be sleep apnea and that a simple sleep study could figure this out. However, knowing my family history I made appointments to every specialist I can to make sure it is nothing serious. The unknown of health can be scary to me. Watching my mother suffer with her physical health chronically since I was a child lead me to be very conscious and aware of how my body is functioning. This morning was one of the worst moments of physical pain. I should just take one step at a time with the sleep doctor instead of taking measures to see every specialist that could pertain with this issue. However, that is very hard to me. I don’t want to ever wake up in the pain I was this morning. Does anyone else suffer with health-related OCD? And if so, how do you find a sense of ease during moments like I expressed?
- Date posted
- 21w
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
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