“Reassurance Seeking And Health Anxiety Are Extremely Common In Sensitized Sufferers.”
*This episode of the Health Anxiety Podcast Show can be found by scrolling to the bottom of this post, enjoy!
Today’s health anxiety podcast show episode is all about the common habit of reassurance seeking. Health anxiety sufferers consistently seek the validation of their good health when symptoms arise, and honestly you can’t really blame them. The symptoms of anxiety can be so debilitating and mimic a real physical illness that when the doctors tests all come out negative, a deeper sense of confusion arises.
The fear of dying is the root cause of reassurance seeking and health anxiety
Health anxiety sufferers deep down love living so much, that they want to maintain their good health for as long as possible. So when something disturbs the flow of pleasant living it can be very crippling mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. ‘The Fix’ as I commonly call in through my CBT based programs for health anxiety, keeps the sufferer in a limbo between thinking they are healthy and being convinced they have a physical illness.
A tremendous amount of certainty is needed for health anxiety sufferers, and they will consistently revert back to a handful of people for ‘the fix’
These handful of people that make up a health anxiety sufferers support group become fed up over replying in the same manner again and again. Patience, compassion, and self education over health anxiety is absolutely vital for these support people as they help the health anxiety sufferer move towards desensitization. In today’s episode of the health anxiety podcast show i’ll be sharing the exact knowledge the sufferer needs, as well as the support team to end the reassurance seeking once and for all.
Today On The Health Anxiety Podcast Show, We’ll Be Looking Into:
- How reassurance seeking and health anxiety connect
- How to overcome this habit in the quickest way possible
- How reassurance seeking only prevents a person from progressing forward
It is true, since just before 40 my health anxiety ruined my life. I feel like at 40 my body turned into some sort of ticking time bomb. I donr really go to doctors anymore…I have so many random symptoms, which ones do I investigate?
I horribly fear aging and dying. I exercise strenuously and that is the number one thing that reduces my anxiety, but only temporarily, because as I get older and have more demands with work and my kids becoming teenagers, I live in fear that I won’t be able to maintain my intense exercise schedule.
I do reassurance seek instead of going to doctors. At this point I have no idea what is a real symptom and what is anxiety.
Strenuous exercise and this program are what help me manage.
Sending good vibes Wendy, keep up the program progress.
I listen to your podcast everyday, I think you are amazing, thank-you. One question, I have a hard time eatting without feeling like i am going to choke, food stays stuck and has a hard time to go down, I even avoid estting certain foods for this reason also I feel short of breath when I eat, Is this normal from a health anxiety suferer? I would love your help, thanks Doreen.
Doreen, I would wonder if you have any conscious recollection of a past experience where food and choking was involved? Maybe another person in your family or even in your families history? A good starting place prior to re-framing the experience with a practitioner who focuses on regression work.