0:00
This is like Googling symptoms and
0:01
WebMDing and co-piloting or chat GPTing
0:05
whatever your current issues are and
0:07
then like finding facts to justify the
0:09
way that you feel. There's also a
0:11
tremendous difficulty tolerating the
0:12
uncertainty of it. And this is because
0:15
the nervous system here is scanning for
0:17
future threat. It's not responding to
0:19
attachment loss. Health anxiety asks,
0:22
"What if something's wrong?" And panic
0:24
asks, "What if I'm not safe or I'm
0:27
supported or if I'm alone?"
0:30
So, the bad news is they feed each
0:32
other. Panic and health anxiety totally
0:34
feed each other. And this is where
0:36
things get tricky and why so many people
0:38
get stuck with this. A panic attack can
0:40
trigger health anxiety. That sensation
0:43
was terrifying. What caused it? What's
0:44
wrong with me? And health anxiety can
0:47
trigger panic. What if the sensation
0:49
means something serious? And it creates
0:50
this loop. The body loop, the body
0:52
sensations, the panic response, uh fear
0:56
interpretation, increased vigilance, uh
0:59
and then another panic response in
1:01
response to the constant spinning. And
1:04
at this point, fear is maintaining
1:06
panic, but fear didn't necessarily start
1:08
the panic in the first place. So, health
1:10
anxiety can keep panic alive and like
1:12
thriving even when panic began because
1:15
of grief. And so, this can spin. And for
1:19
people whose loss started because of
1:22
illness, those things get really
1:24
tightened. So, let's say you lost a a
1:26
partner, a parent to an illness
1:29
prematurely, now you're kind of dress
1:32
rehearsing the tragedy that what if this
1:34
happens again to someone else that I
1:35
love or to myself. And so, it's hard to
1:38
tell which one you're dealing with when
1:40
this is happening. You know, I've had
1:42
clients that have had these these
1:44
propensities because of their own loss
1:46
and they do end up really myopically
1:48
focused on health consequences because
1:51
they don't want to miss something in the
1:52
future. And if you think about it, we're
1:55
thinking about what we might miss
1:56
because it gives us an illusion of
1:58
control. If we become overly aware and
2:00
responsible about something, proactively
2:03
addressing our health, then maybe we
2:05
will catch something in time and it
2:07
won't end in the same negative fate that
2:09
perhaps what we experienced before did.
