How to Deal With Health Anxiety

Ever since I was little, I’ve always struggled with anxiety over getting sick. I fully would convince myself that something was wrong with me, even though I was perfectly okay. I once was just reading a book and a character in it had a heart attack, and I quite literally persuaded myself that I was having a heart attack as well; mind you I was probably only 11 years old. My fear just became worse as I got older, especially when I really was diagnosed with cancer at 15. After the doctor told me I was in remission, I was ecstatic, but in the back of my mind, the thoughts of relapsing again were still there and still continue to be.

Health anxiety is a very prevalent issue in the world, especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s scary reading the news and hearing about all the loved ones lost or still fighting for their lives in the hospital. Sometimes it’s hard for me to even enjoy my life when I am constantly in fear of something bad happening to me or someone I love. If you are like me and also stress over health anxiety, you are not alone. Here are some tips that have helped me calm down my health anxiety and focus on the present:

1. Stop googling your symptoms

You have a painful stomach ache and find out through Google that you might have a rare genetic disease. It slowly sends you on a spiral convincing yourself that you’re definitely going to die. Trust me, we’ve all been there. It’s so easy to do a quick Google search if something is bothering you and you want to find out immediately. But, I’m here to tell you, that it’s not worth it. First of all, you’re not a doctor (unless you actually are, and then you can ignore this). You can’t diagnose yourself with something that you don’t even know that you have. Searching your symptoms on Google will only scare you into believing that you have a disease or illness that you most likely don’t have at all. If something is seriously wrong, contact your doctor and make an appointment. Why would you want to worry yourself for no reason? So the next time you feel the need to Google your symptoms, take a deep breath, put down your phone, and go do something that makes you happy. It will save you so much unnecessary stress.

2. Limit your consumption of health news

This is a hard one because the news about the pandemic is constantly thrown in our face almost every day. I think ever since the pandemic started, people have become obsessed with checking the statistics and speaking on and on about what’s going to happen with COVID-19. We can’t really run away from it because people are always talking about it, but we can limit how much we choose to look at the news. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you to completely stop updating yourself on health news. It’s important to stay up to date and informed, but when the starts to impact your anxiety, is when you need to take a step back and start to limit your consumption of the news. I previously wrote an article about how to handle anxiety from the news, and one of the psychologists and researchers I interviewed, mentioned how it’s good for people to identify two reputable news sources and engage with them for a specific amount of time per day. Maybe you choose to look at the news for 10 minutes in the afternoon every day, instead of checking it 24/7. Limiting your news consumption will help you feel so much better mentally.

3. Do something good for your mind and body that allows you to be present

Whenever I used to feel super anxious about something going on with my health whether that be an upcoming test or even an odd bump I think I felt, tended to isolate myself in my room and become consumed with nervous, negative thoughts. However, I learned that isolating myself only makes it worse and it’s actually better to get out of wherever I am and go into a different space. Personally, I’ve found that going on a walk while listening to music is super helpful when I’m anxious. It allows me to clear my mind of all the negative thoughts instead of just sitting with them. I also love going to the yoga studio because I can disconnect and focus on the present moment. So often we find ourselves worrying about the future or something bad happening, but those thoughts aren’t our reality. We don’t know what may happen, we can only choose to focus on our present situation. Even if you don’t enjoy going to yoga or going on a walk, do something that makes you happy that doesn’t involve just sitting alone in your room. Maybe even talking to a family member or friend will also help you in working through the emotions that you are feeling. We may not be in control of the future, but we can control how we deal with our thoughts.

Having anxiety over your health or your loved ones can be really challenging to deal with. Hopefully, some of these tips will help you to deal with your anxiety in a healthy way. Remember to always go see a doctor if a symptom you are experiencing is seriously concerning to you; just don’t Google it!