So much if HA is trying to gain certainty over one’s own health to ward off a catastrophe but in my experience the fear of death isn’t about death itself or the chances of it happening but about the meaning it has for the individual; loss, losing control, being a burden, causing sadness, not coping, not being around for children; whatever the meaning is.
In my experience HA is a tough one to shift because the preoccupation shifts to different illnesses and symptoms, but the process remains largely the same with key things that keep it going:
checking: (usually with a particular focus such as breast cancer for example), visual checking of body in the mirror, checking using hands), internal body scanning, over-monitoring using smart watches, BP machines etc. Checking via Google - news articles, scientific papers, stories on social media.
Reassurance seeking: asking family and friends, GP visits, expensive private testing, googling symptoms. Perhaps this thread is an exercise in reassurance seeking?
Safety behaviours: designed to reduce risk of illness in the future, these tend to be “preventative” behaviours – taking a vitamin supplement daily when there is no medical reason to do so, resting or lying down for long periods to prevent illness, controlling functions such as swallowing or breathing, carrying medical equipment “just in case”, checking where the nearest hospital is when travelling, carrying water at all times, Googling health related information for symptoms you don’t have to “be informed”. carrying water “in case I get ill”, never leaving home without smart watch, identifying local hospitals as a first priority when visiting a new location for example.
Avoidance: ill people, not visiting seriously ill relatives even though they are important to you, avoidance of routine appointments, avoidance of raising heart rate, : avoiding strenuous physical activity, avoiding situations which activate health rumination and anxiety such as exposure to media material about illness or people who are ill, avoiding thinking about illness by distraction, avoiding medical settings.
I know you’ve been doing CBT @Askinga but it may be worth having a refresher as even when things have improved sometimes people subtly partake in the things that keep HA going and it sometimes helps to have someone pinpoint those subtle behaviours that keep the problem going at some level.
There is a lot of catastrophising in the media and lots of polarised positions after Covid. Lots of scare-mongering, lots of misinterpretation of data. Click bait. Seek and you shall find! There is the problem of algorithms giving you more of the same. But it’s a diet we are all fed and ultimately whether it causes real distress or not is to do with how well we tolerate uncertainty, how we interpret symptoms and health information and what we do to manage that distress which may not be as helpful as it seems in the short term.
Have you read Overcoming Health Anxiety @Askinga? It’s a good aide memoire if you’ve already done CBT.