Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Orange-Colored_GlassesOrange-Color...
- Date posted
- 4y
I’ve also struggled with health anxiety and OCD related to health. Here are some ideas: 1. Understand that no one is truly certain about their health. Not even if a doctor has just declared them super healthy. Most people walk around with a feeling of certainty about their health, but that feeling is based on probability, not certainty. (“the headache I had yesterday was probably from skipping my afternoon coffee,” “I probably don’t have cancer since I don’t have any symptoms,” etc.) 2. Now that you know that people can be uncertain and still feel safe with their health, make it a goal to accept uncertainty. Promise yourself that you’ll work toward that goal. 3. Work with an ERP therapist if you can. Things you might do in therapy that you can also do on your own if needed: A) differentiate between reasonable health actions (e.g. going to the doctor once a year, disinfecting a cut once before putting on a bandaid, etc.) vs. compulsions (e.g. googling symptoms, asking for reassurance from family members or friends, taking your temperature repeatedly) B) develop response prevention messages for when you get the urge to do compulsions (e.g. “it might be serious, or it might be nothing. I don’t need to figure it out right now”) C) do exposures so that you can practice sitting with the anxiety without doing compulsions. These could include reading articles about people whose mild symptoms turned out to be serious, writing and reading a script about becoming ill, or engaging in a behavior your OCD deems unsafe (like going an hour without drinking water or only wearing one face mask when you go out) Health stuff is really hard to deal with because OCD can make it feel like you don’t have the ability to figure out if something is a serious symptom or if it’s all in your head. The only way to get a better radar for that is to treat your OCD, which involves taking what will feel like risks. The truth is that your OCD isn’t really protecting your physical health, it’s just giving you things to do to make it feel like you’re in control. The more you can accept the uncertainty, the closer you will be to better mental health and well-being. I hope that helps. Best of luck!
Bri007Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Wow thank you so much for this. It was very thoughtful and much appreciated! The more that I hear from others the stronger I feel in terms of not giving into the compulsions and managing my OCD. It can feel very lonely at times. Thank you so much
Orange-Colored_GlassesOrange-Color...
- Date posted
- 4y
@Bri007 It’s a very isolating disorder! I’m so glad you’re reaching out for support and feeling stronger in resisting compulsions. You’ve got this!! :)
Amanda T.Amanda T.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
@Orange-Colored_Glasses I just want to say I’ve been struggling with health anxiety and somatic OCD the past few days, so i searched for a thread. Your comment helped me frame what is “reasonable” va compulsive. I bookmarked it for the future when my OCD makes me question if I need to worry. Thank you!
Bri007Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Thank you. It really means a lot! Just started therapy again after almost a year and a half without. I have a 1-year-old daughter now so the motivation and circumstances are much different than they've been in the past. I've also seen an increase in my OCD since having her And I don't want her growing up seeing me struggle as bad as I am.
Orange-Colored_GlassesOrange-Color...
- Date posted
- 4y
That’s awesome that you went back to therapy. I’m sure that parenting a baby is incredibly stressful and thus a trigger for increased OCD symptoms. Be gentle with yourself! Your daughter might “meet” your OCD at some point, and that’s ok - she’ll learn that it’s ok to be scared sometimes, that no one is perfect, and that her parent is super strong and awesome!
Bri007Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
Thank you! It really is a motivator to make sure that I'm more managed in terms of my anxiety for her. Your words mean a lot.
Bri007Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
I am so sorry but know that you are not alone.
Bri007Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
I have really been working on separating the emotional reaction to the habitual response in my mind that sets off false threats for every little thing that comes up for myself.
Bri007Bri007
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 2y
It takes time but it's worth noting when certain fears pop up whether due to Sensations or things you see or feel in regards to your body.
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Cooki_brooki23
- Date posted
- 23w
Health ocd obsessed over heart/lung related issues
I have gotten maybe about 8 EKG’s within the lest 2 years? I’ve also gotten an echo done, and I got a heart monitor to track my heart over the course of maybe 2 weeks, back last year. Even though I have been to the emergency room so many times because of panic attacks that I thought were heart attacks, and went with a Cardiologist I still obsess and worry. I always think that I am going to develop some kind of heart problem after getting the tests done. Like if they’re just suddenly going to appear/my heart will suddenly have an issue. I especially get nervous when the pain is in the center of my chest + I get a tight feeling like I have pressure on my chest and can’t breathe completely. Please someone share their experience of how they controlled their health anxiety, especially if it’s related to this.
astoto
- Date posted
- 9w
Medical OCD
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Secretidentity
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4w
Theme switch or normal questions
So in the past year that I’ve been diagnosed with OCD it’s always been relationship OCD and I feel that I’ve got a pretty good handle on understanding how to deal with relationship OCD but the past few days I have been obsessing over like different health things like yesterday I was watching so many videos on rabies and like learning all about it and questioning if I had rabies and then like I have a dry patch on me and I thought it was ringworm or something, but I don’t think it is based on like how it is I don’t know, but I did a Teladoc appointment because I noticed a rash and they gave me a prescription for it and like it’s no big deal. it’s just a yeast infection but then he said that like the thing that I thought was ringworm, I should go see my primary care provider to make sure that it’s not skin cancer and so now I’ve been looking up like skin cancer signs what it looks like and stuff because he kind of freaked me out with that and I don’t know if this is a normal reaction to someone saying that or if this is more of like an obsession now.
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