Health Anxiety - anyone got any good ideas of how best to tackle it?

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if many people on here struggle with health anxiety. 
Both myself and my son really struggle with this. Any unusual or uncomfortable bodily sensation and we start to panic that there’s something terribly wrong with us. Most of the time we just about manage to keep it vaguely under control - we reassure ourselves and hope it will just go away - but I’m wondering if anyone has any ideas about good ways of dealing with that  panicky feeling when we start catastrophizing over some physical sensation that troubles us. I’m so tired of struggling with this, and so sorry to see my son struggling with it too. 

  • Hi Luna - thanks so much for your reply, I’m really sorry you struggle with this too. 
    I love these ideas - and I will definitely try them. They fit with what I’ve been reading this week about challenging the unhelpful thoughts behind the anxiety, and replacing them with more flexible and positive alternatives. I think you’re also so right that it can help to write things down - I’ve been doing it with other things and will try it with this too - that’s such a helpful suggestion - thank you :) 

    I hope the strategies you’re using continue to help you with this - because we deserve to enjoy our lives don’t we? It’s so hard to enjoy life when you’re weighed down with all these worries. Thanks for sharing your experience - it’s really kind of you and I really appreciate it x 

  • How are you and your son doing Kate? I hope you're ok and the health anxiety isn't too bad.

    Mine hasn't been the best but I've started talking about the health anxiety aloud when I notice an ache or feeling unwell and doing that and telling myself it's just anxiety I'm finding is helping me. I'm not sure if you would be comfortable and your son saying aloud but I thought I'd say just in case.

    I'm also keeping a positive health diary now writing down when I'm triggered and reminding myself it isn't anything serious and is just my anxiety and voices tricking me.

  • Thank you - I really need to give meditation another go. In the past I’ve found it so difficult to calm my mind and stop my racing thoughts - and in the end I gave up on it. I know it helps so many people and I need to try again. I’m really glad it’s helped you so much - that’s wonderful to hear. 

  • I had this. I committed to meditating ever morning before I do anything else. Pretty much helped everything in my life, most especially anxiety

    Good luck Slight smile

  • I've just noticed that there's actually a short presentation on the subject of interoception included in today's lineup on the Autism from the Inside Summit.  

    autismexplained.kartra.com/.../63

    Plus Kelly Mahler has her own website on the subject.

    https://www.kelly-mahler.com/

  • There is a discussion about it on here https://community.autism.org.uk/f/adults-on-the-autistic-spectrum/20092/anyone-with-interoceptive-hypersensitivity and also some further discussion within https://community.autism.org.uk/f/miscellaneous-and-chat/27895/i-feel-like-an-alien

    Much of what I have found online is written from the perspective of helping autistic children who experience hyposensitive interoception.

    I found an article here which seems to explain hypersensitivity fairly well:

    Hypersensitivity to interoception - meaning someone is very sensitive to interoception - can mean someone is overwhelmed by feelings that are a part of the body's day-to-day functioning. This can make sensations difficult to interpret, and can also cause anxiety, stress and/or distraction, as well as discomfort and pain. A common experience reported by many people who are hyper-sensitive to some interoceptive cues is that their own heartbeat can be extremely distracting.

  • Aw Kate I feel for you and your son ... I suffer from health anxiety since my mum died pretty much. I find I feel and notice every little thing about my body. If I get an ache my thoughts race is it cancer? Is it brain tumour making me dizzy? Usually have a few voices throw in their opinions too. It's horrible isn't it just adds to the anxiety and makes everything you're feeling a lot worse. I think anxiety is actually one of the worst things out there. When my health anxiety kicks in I try to busy myself with things I enjoy to distract otherwise it just takes over and then I'm feeling a lot worse. Distractions don't solve it but they do help ease it.

  • Many thanks Jenny - I will look at this. I only wish there were services accessible to autistic people that are as helpful and informed as this community! It’s so helpful and useful. I think GPS could learn a lot about autistic people by coming on here and actually listening to autistic people. 

  • That was insightful. Thank you. The role of interoception hadn't occurred to me.

  • Sadly not, but I struggle with the same. If you find an answer, let me know.

  • Can I second the importance of hypersensitivity here?  I only recently realised the relevance of proprioception and interoception to a lot of issues within our family and getting more of an understanding of sensory sensitivity in general has been really helpful. 

    Ausome training do a couple of courses, one on sensory sensitivity and one on interoception which, although they're not on their list now, they say they'll be repeating.  So I'm watching and waiting.

    https://ausometraining.com/online-autism-training/

    I also find that other, more specific anxieties can grow on my general background anxiety (I probably qualify as having generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) plus a few specialisms over the years like public speaking, spider and driving phobias).  And bringing my general anxiety levels down has also tended to bring down the worst of my "specialisms" too.  

  • This is so very helpful Autonomistic - thank you so much. 
    I’m the same - googling symptoms is a disaster for me and I try to avoid that as it will only worry me more. I sometimes ask my husband to check things on my behalf for reassurance. Like you I have a terrible fear of any medical setting. I spent a lot of time in hospital as a child which I think has a large role in that, and unfortunately last year I had a really serious physical health problem and spent weeks in hospital - and that’s made it so much worse. I can’t face medical settings now without very severe anxiety. 

    I have never heard of hyper sensitive interoception - that sounds very like myself and my son. We are deeply disconcerted by any physical sensation that feels unusual or ‘wrong’ to us. We ‘feel things too much’ - if that makes sense? I’m ok with cuts and bruises and things like that - it’s other sensations that really bother me. However my son can get really troubled even a really small scratch can be really troubling for him. 

    Thank you for telling me about this - I’ll try and find out more about it. I think you may have hit the nail on the head! 

    I’m sorry you struggle with this too - it’s not easy is it? Myself and my son need to find a way to bring more rest and peace to our minds and bodies. 

  • I find using Dr Google can bring up many more possible causes I hadn't thought of and are rare anyway. This can be unhelpful and increase the anxiety. If I do need to look something up online I try to stick to official sites such as NHS.

    I think with me the anxiety is largely related to a fear that I might need to visit doctors or hospitals, something which I tend to avoid.

    As part of my autism diagnosis I became aware that I experience hypersensitive interoception. That means I am much more aware of my own internal bodily sensations and can become overwhelmed by them. My new found knowledge of my increased awareness means I can reassure myself that the physical sensation is normal and it's just that I am more aware of it. 

    I wonder if it is possible that you and your son experience hypersensitive interoception too? When you are much more aware of your body you notice things that most people would not even be aware of. It does not mean that there is anything physically wrong, just that you experience those physical sensations very differently because you are autistic.

    The other thing I would say is that stress and anxiety can often find new and surprising ways to manifest in the body.