Health Anxiety

[Askinga]

AIBU to think the reason my health anxiety has gotten worse over the last few years is because of the huge increase in news articles constantly bombarding us with horror stories? I can't scroll down a page without 'mother of 3, 28, terminal' it's tragic and depressing. Is it really 'news'? I don't necessarily think so.

Do you think these illnesses at early ages have been increasing or are we just more informed about it now? I do see that colon cancer has gone up which is unsurprising as diets have got a lot worse with processed foods etc. Has the Covid vaccine got anything to do with it?

People are actually living longer then they ever have the reason stories like these make headlines is because their rare

No, the Covid vaccine has nothing to do with it. Were that the case then things would have been all rosy until summer 2020 and that is demonstrably not the case.

Perhaps the best thing you can do to protect your health is address this abnormal level of health anxiety or simply stop reading that type of news.

You just notice it more because you have health anxiety.

Some types of disease might be increasing slightly. Others are decreasing, though. That is normal.

And no, the Covid vaccine has nothing to do with any of this.

Also if your spending time googling health conditions you will get a lot of posts/ ads/ stories ect about health conditions its like if you've been looking for a new car or shoes you will get so much stuff coming through about it.

Covid vaccine has nothing to do with, Covid itself has everything to do with it. The government spent around a year scaremongering, telling us all how we were going to die, or kill granny, or be single-handedly responsible for a mass outbreak.

You need to address you anxiety and just get on with living your life. We are all going to die in the end. I will probably die quite soon. You will probably not. I am not worrying about it. You are.

Do less scrolling! Read proper news which isn't full of clickbait tragic stories, and control your social media use so that you see things that don't feed your health anxiety.

As a pp said, people are living longer, and there are cures and effective treatments for many things which used to be life-threatening or life-changing.

And no, of course the covid vaccine has nothing to do with it!

I am former cancer patient and every time I see these stories I scroll by or click the 3 little dots at the side to say it's not of interest to me. I'd end up in an absolute state otherwise. They are very triggering sometimes.

I definitely don't google, that tells everyone they are dying even if they have a cold. It is more when I am reading online news there are a good handful of articles most days, which is unavoidable, unless I avoid the news altogether. That could be a good shout these days anyway.

I'm sorry to hear that. I do click not of interest on ads that come up in my FB newsfeed etc.

In relation to the vaccine has nothing to do with it, Dr John Campbell in particular is rather convincing in suggesting otherwise, he goes through excess deaths, statistics, available data from other countries and explains it quite thoroughly. There does seem to be a link between what they are calling turbo cancers, blood clots and an increase in heart conditions.

Do you have any support to put your health anxiety behind you @Askinga (assuming it’s challenging enough to begetting in your way)?

People are healthier than ever. Stop reading the shit.

Why are you reading this stuff

If you have health anxiety, you probably agree with people that fit your narrative?

fullfact.org/health/john-campbell-youtube-singapore-children/

As someone who had cancer at a young age and living with a rare gene mutation, I was advised by a leading research professor that most data and trials are there to generate headlines.

You lost me at John Campbell.

Yes plenty of support. My friends and family all know I'm a hypochondriac. To be honest I had a real dip a few months ago where I was convinced I had kidney cancer due to ongoing back pain. I've managed to get myself out of that and have been doing a lot better recently but the constant reminders in the news do set me off. Even a cancer research ad can bother me. I think I just need to stop reading the news altogether. I just don't remember news outlets ever reporting on this stuff up until a few years ago, because it isn't really news the whole nation needs to hear. I have had health anxiety since 14 so it isn't that I am hyperaware all of a sudden, there definitely has been an increase in coverage. Perhaps it is lazy journalism like when they steal stories from MN for something to write about. A page filler if you will, but I think it's a bit distasteful.

I'm not anymore that is for sure.

What medical help are you receiving because you definitely need help.

I've practiced CBT for years. Maybe it just all boils down to a fear of death ultimately, which is a difficult one to treat because of the inevitability of it.

The more health stuff you read and watch the more will come up. My news feeds sound nothing like yours. As for the John Campbell stuff people like this are very good at scaring vulnerable people this is how they build a following and make money. Don't live in fear just focus on your life and things you enjoy.

It doesn't seem to be working. What does your GP say?

John Campbell is a charlatan.

I haven't been in years and I am actually doing substantially better than previous years. I took anti anxiety meds when younger and they didn't agree, so I won't take them again. My MIL was the same when she was younger and she said 'the older you get the less scared you get, because you come to accept it,' so I'm following that mantra.

I personally think it is because it is almost impossible to see your GP, 111 always says to go to A&E and A&E don't look for root cause so if you're not dying you're sent home to repeat the process, even if you are quite ill.