Health anxiety peaks before going on holiday

[behappy1736]

So I have had health anxiety for years and it comes in waves.
I find before I am due to go away on a holiday or break I get really anxious, like I can't get sick or the kids can't get sick before we go and I feel under pressure to stay big free 😂🤦🏻‍♀️
And then I worry about getting sick on holiday.
Anyone else have this and how do they over come your anxiousness as it's taking the sun away from the lead up to our holiday.
Thank you 😊

I get this too.

For me, I've noticed when I'm generally stressed it's as if my mind needs to find something specific to focus it all on. Nine times out of ten that'll be something health related, but can also be a sudden random fear that the fridge freezer will short circuit and blow the house up or something like that. (I'm nothing if not imaginitive!)

I wish I had the answer for how to help, but all I can say is embrace it as part of the process of going away. You browse for destinations, you research hotels or airbnbs, you book and pack and sort out tickets and someone to feed the cat, you plunge into anxiety, and about 3 days into the holiday you hopefully start to relax! It sucks, but it's a familiar pattern for me, and I think if you expect it you can give it less attention? I've watched some videos on youtube about Cognitive Defusion, which seems like a useful technique and I'm hoping to get better at controlling it.