Latest / Wellbeing Solutions - Ask A Counsellor / I keep worrying about my health – why?

Transcript

I keep worrying about my health – why? · Wellbeing Solutions - Ask A Counsellor

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: I keep worrying about my health.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: There are many reasons we worry about our health, and health anxiety can start with experiencing an illness or health condition, seeing others experience illness, lose people we know and love through illness or disease, or have a heightened anxiety due to other stresses in our lives which can really come in and focus onto our body, our body's aches and pains.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Some may argue that we all have a healthy fear of death, and this underlies all anxiety.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: So factors coming into us worrying about our health can be our fears of missing out on loved ones, leaving loved ones behind, and just not having enough time to do everything we want to.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Health anxiety is a combination of frightening thoughts about health and the things which keep those thoughts present in a cycle of anxiety.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: It is not a mental illness, but it is a special type of anxiety or stress reaction which makes people focus on their worries about their health and interferes with their daily lives.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: When we notice something unusual happening in our body, we quickly decide whether this is a sign of illness and whether we need to go to see a doctor.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Alternatively, we may keep an eye on the symptoms, and if they do not go away after a certain period, we may then go and see a doctor.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: The doctor will then examine us or do tests, and after this we know that the symptom is not a threat, usually and we would normally stop worrying about it knowing what is causing it.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: This sequence can go wrong.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you've had trust if you have trust, sorry, in the professional who has seen you and you have had successful previous medical appointments and experiences, great.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: However, if you've had less supportive medical appointments and staff or problems with the health service in any way in the past, then you may feel less reassured and remain worried and anxious about the symptoms.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting the right answers?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Are they not listening?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Are they missing something?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes being sent for medical tests can also trigger thoughts of there must be something wrong if I need to go for tests.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can also get in that cycle of focusing on your body, where as you focus more on your body, you notice changes that you hadn't noticed before, and then this opens up new avenues of fear, increasing your anxiety.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: So good news, you know.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: I would encourage you to look at, if you feel this is becoming a problem, to look at cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: It is great for well, it's effective in treating health anxiety, so it's worth looking into.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: CBT therapists will offer special techniques to help you identify things or that trigger your worries because everyone's unique about your health, and then finding alternative thoughts which can then lead to a change in how you respond and feel.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope this has been a useful podcast.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, if you are in physical pain, then you should visit the GP, especially if you cannot link the pain to changes in diet, exercise, or injury.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so please take care and look after yourselves.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.