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hey there!
I'm asking you because I've read many of your responses,[one including your latest post on the hating babies thing] and I've grown to respect your wisdom and intelligence in all sorts of questions you've answered. You don't sugar-coat anything, and I know I'll get it straight from you.
In the passed few years, I've been around death. My uncle died at 47, 2 friends at 20, one at 22, and even seeing death in newspapers has really molded me into a hypochondriac.
Everyday I'm on the internet obsessing over my health and what could be wrong with me. I edit out all basic illnesses like a sinus infection or tendentious, and replace them with the most serious of conditions.
I envy all my friends who can just live love, and only be concerned with boyfriends, school, and work. Instead of me living my life, and sit around thinking of 40 ways I could die tomorrow.
It's sad, because I'm 21 and I should just want to live, right? I can't do that. And it's selfish and wrong, and all I want in this entire world is to fix it and be normal.
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Maybe give some free advice about: Health?
Okay, so I did some research on hypochondria and its causes, effects, ways to cope, prevention, and treatment. I'll just summarize them and give you the gist of them, plus the website I got the information from. In no way can I treat your disease or diagnose you (obviously), but hopefully we can work this out and create a plan of action for you that will ultimately result in you being freed from this burden.
Your most burning desire at this point I'm assuming is just to find some way to cope with this mental disorder. So, keep your bearings and monitor yourself. Rather than constantly checking your heart rate and breathing and such, focus on not going overboard on these things. If you can separate yourself from your actions that lead to your hypochondria symptoms, the symptoms will begin to decrease substantially. Also, find yourself a good doctor and stick with them. Often times, people with this disorder will "shop around" for different doctors in order to validate their feelings and beliefs, despite professional tests and opinions. Don't constantly look up different symptoms of horrible diseases on the Internet, because you'll only start to come up with your own symptoms that match these. Enlist the help of your friends and family and explain to them your feelings and symptoms, because then they'll be more likely to identify with what you're feeling rather than ostracize you and reject you.
This is a disorder that stems from anxiety and will certainly result in more anxiety, which as everyone knows will actually cause your health to deteriorate on top of affecting your social and professional life. Because of this, it would be a good idea to join a support group where you can learn the coping strategies of others that suffer from the same thing.
The death of multiple loved ones for you is definitely something that led to your hypochondria; it's listed as one of the main causes of it.
What is a good sign is that you are actually concerned for the well being of your mind and that you recognize that the thoughts and feelings you're having are not normal and are destructive. You need to be officially diagnosed by a licensed professional, no matter how many symptoms you identify with on the Internet. Once diagnosed, you can begin the journey of recovery and treatment with a trusted mental health professional. It is important to act quickly, because the longer you wait the worse things can become and the harder it will be for you to overcome the disorder.
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
That's where I got the majority of my information. If my advice turned out to be crappy and didn't live up to your complimentary first paragraph, which would really suck, then you can always IM on AIM at trisspoke.
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