Health anxiety can show up in so many subtle and sneaky ways—sometimes, we don’t even realize we’re doing these compulsions… Maybe you’ve caught yourself examining how shaky your hand is to check if you have ALS, or you push down on your chest to see if that PVC or skipped heartbeat happens again, or you check your thoughts and memory for signs of Alzheimer’s. You might excessively swallow because you’re afraid of having an allergic reaction, or you monitor your breathing to see if it feels “normal” or to make sure you’re doing it “correctly” These compulsions and safety behaviors can keep you stuck in an endless loop of hyper-awareness, fear and worry. You end up doing these compulsions as an attempt to alleviate your anxiety and get any amount of reassurance about your health-related fears—but ultimately doing this only fuels your anxiety and keeps you stuck in this cycle. The good news is that with the right tools and support, you CAN break free from these patterns and compulsions, and you don’t have to go through it alone ❤️ Do any of these sound familiar or do you do any of these checking behaviors? Which one resonated with you the most?
#anxiety #healthanxiety #ocd #ocdawareness #hypochondriac #ocdtok #fyp