Beating Health Anxiety How to Break the Vicious Cycle
You’ll know that doing scary things is bad if you are dealing with mysterious symptoms and you have been putting off going to the doctor. I have put off doctors’ appointments to wait for something to go away, whether it was a strange rash or persistent migraines. It’s important to know when you are avoiding a doctor because you are anxious. This is especially true if you have persistent health issues but no appointment on your calendar.
According to a study from 2023, 2 to 13% people experience this particular strain of anxiety. It can also manifest in the belief that you are sick, even if you are not. This leads to you going to the doctor more than you should. You might be reading this because you, or someone close to you, is struggling with the opposite problem: a difficulty in moving from worry to action.
You are not the only one who has put off something because they’re afraid. You’re likely spinning your wheels, because at the moment it feels better to avoid the unknown. According to a study from 2021 on health care avoidance, delaying a doctor’s appointment is often a response to stress about your body. All good things have to come to an ending, especially when they aren’t good for you.
Once you have a diagnosis, you are ridding yourself of the unknown,” Caitlin Donovan, senior director at the Patient Advocate Foundation tells SELF. When you get a diagnosis you can rid yourself of the uncertainty,” Caitlin Doovan tells SELF. She is the senior director at the Patient Advocate Foundation. The nonprofit aims to help people receive the health care they require from their providers. The most important thing to remember is that dealing with health anxiety is about feeling better – physically and emotionally. This is the goal. “Ignoring what’s bothering us will not improve our situation.”
Where do you begin? Here are some expert advice on how to overcome anxiety and get into a doctor’s appointment.
Stop frantic searches on the Internet.
Who hasn’t spent sleepless nights in bed, with a glowing phone screen illuminating their face, typing “vaginal discharge reddit” or even “lower back Pain Adderall”? It’s not just me, is it?
Right. Experts tell SELF that I’m far from the only chronic-symptom-googler among us. James MacDonald PhD is a licensed psychologist in Los Angeles who specializes on health anxiety. He told SELF, “By looking up symptoms online, one is trying to provide temporary relief from anxiety without addressing the underlying issue.” We engage in reassurance seeking behaviors and googling vague terms can make us feel better temporarily. “You may think, ‘Oh my symptoms don’t fit with that, so I don’t probably have that’, or ‘My symptoms fit with this and I am certain about what it is’,” he says. Online research is not going to give you a real understanding of the problem, if one exists. Even if it doesn’t make you more anxious, it won’t help to alleviate your anxiety or treat the problem in the long term.
Donovan also says that she recommends not going down the rabbit-hole because you could be further led into the weeds due to misinformation. Donovan warns that getting medical information from a random blog or on Facebook can be disastrous. It will only increase your confusion and anxiety over your symptoms .
Many of us find it easier to say than do. Stick to credible sources if you must research your symptoms online. Donovan suggests that you look for the big names, such as Cleveland Clinic, or websites of universities and hospitals. You might also want to look at the fact-checked, medically reviewed articles on SELF.com. Just a suggestion.
Dr. MacDonald says to take a step back if you are fixated on self-diagnosis via the internet and think about what makes you so passionate about it. He says, “Reconnect with values and think about how important it is for you to maintain your health.” “Connect this to the values-aligned actions of making and attending a doctor’s visit.”
List your symptoms in plain English.
Ignore them. This is a great alternative to going to the doctors when you’re worried about it. Throw away the key and lock them up in a box of your mind! Let’s move closer to the movie screen because our eyesight isn’t as good anymore. Yes, salsa is fun but dancing all day can cause hip pain in the future! Ice water is not worth the pain!
Donovan says that people have a tendency of normalizing bad situations until they become worse. It starts out with “Sometimes, I can’t fall asleep, and other times, I cough.” Then, it’s over a month, and now you sleep only two hours per night and sound like you have been smoking for thirty years. It’s like a frog in hot water.
Avoiding anxiety will not make you feel any better. Donovan suggests writing down a list of symptoms, and if it’s comfortable for you, sharing the list with a close friend or loved one. This person can be relied upon to validate and support you. She says that it helps to tell someone what is going on. You may be surprised at how much you have been suppressing when you hear what someone else has to say. But it’s important that you understand yourself. Even if there’s no one to talk to, writing out all your symptoms can be a great way to clarify things.
As SELF reported, it’s a good idea to make a list before you go to the doctor . You will, of course, be going there soon. It’s helpful if your doctor makes you nervous. This can make it difficult to express yourself or remember what you want to say.
Accept the worst case scenario and uncertainty.
According to Dr. Macdonald, a common thought pattern that people experience when they’re ruminating about health stuff is called “catastrophizing”–as in, turning a perceived problem into an insurmountable tragedy in your mind. He explains that “people tend to lose confidence in their abilities to cope if they receive a diagnosis and jump straight to the worst case scenario.”
So…do that. People with health anxiety may benefit from walking to the edge of that mental cliff, peering over, and seeing what lies on the other side. Even if you don’t know what it is, accepting that uncertainty can be a good step. Dr. MacDonald says that if this sounds frightening, you can ask a therapist for help. He suggests finding a psychologist specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which can help to reframe thought and behavior patterns that lead to anxiety or other mental health problems.
If you’re seeking a therapist, ask them to “help you construct a narrative of coping in very vivid and clear terms,” suggests Dr. McDonald. It’s important to make yourself feel like you can handle whatever fear you have, even if you don’t. This will help you remove its influence on your mind. (In CBT, this process is called “de-catastrophizing.”) That might look like working through questions like, “Okay, so you do receive some form of diagnosis. How would it look? What would follow? What would you do? “Finish that story you are leaving unfinished. The unfinished nature often leads to anxiety and uncertainty,” says he.
Imagine yourself in a situation that you are dreading. This can help you get to the doctor’s office. Dr. MacDonald explains that “there’s proof that rehearsal can decrease anxiety about future-oriented items and increase performance.” This means that you’ll be able to take proactive steps to improve your health, or calm down. Think about the experience of walking into the building of a doctor’s office, waiting in the lobby, and speaking to the doctor. If you don’t see a therapist regularly, you can find one by searching the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or using this SELF guide on how to find an affordable provider of mental health care. You can decatastrophize on your own if you write through the above questions as you create your symptoms list.
Once you’ve made an appointment, bring a loved-one with you.
Accountability can be a powerful tool for getting unpleasant things done. This includes going to the doctors when you don’t really want to. Donovan recommends bringing someone you love to your appointment as backup (and additional insurance that the visit will be completed). She says that having someone with you is emotionally supportive. They can take notes, which is a great way to cover a lot of ground. A second person will also be able to help you realize that your symptoms are not just mental. “A lot people are invalidated by health anxiety,” says Dr. MacDonald. Doctors may have dismissed their anxiety as being a symptom of the condition, but symptoms can also be real.
Seriously, thank your brain!
You may think it’s corny, yet the fact that you are even considering going to the doctor for your health is a positive step. And you should be grateful! Donovan believes that not taking action is a problem shared by people of all health levels: “It’s conflict avoiding,” she says. It’s the idea that we can get through anything if we are just strong enough. It’s cultural in the sense that we don’t have much time to take care of ourselves and our health system is expensive. “The incentives are low for us to do anything about our concerns.”
Your thoughts may also be trying to help you in a frazzled manner. “If there is a physical trigger, such as pain or dizziness or a palpitation of the heart, your brain will automatically interpret that as a danger,” says Dr. MacDonald. It’s job. “Everyone has experienced the feeling of a random pain or ache, and then thinking that it could be serious.”
Dr. MacDonald recommends using a technique known as cognitive defusion to reduce the stress-inducing effects of this reaction. “I suggest that you recognize the brain’s role in producing these thoughts and accept them as simply ideas, not necessarily truth or reality,” says MacDonald. When you hear your brain alarming over a particular symptom, acknowledge that this is just an idea. Instead of getting caught up in a cycle of anxiety, Dr. MacDonald suggests: “Thank your brain for being there to help you stay safe,” then let it go. It might sound as if you’re saying, “Thanks, but it’s not necessary right now.” It’s only a pain; that’s all it is.
Also? It’s normal for you to be anxious when your body does something unusual. Everybody does it at some point. You’ll feel relief, no matter what the doctor says, when you stop this mental guessing.