Hi, am hoping for good suggestions about how to manage health anxiety. This has happened in the last year as my mother died after a late cancer diagnosis and at the same time my sister was also diagnosed with cancer (she has finished treatment and all looks good). On top of that various other family members have significant health issues..
Am assuming it is the impact of mums death (and suddenness of it) which has tipped me over the edge as all the other health conditions preexisted this year and I wasn't responding how I am now.
I pretty much symptom spot on a daily basis and today alone I've self diagnosed both GI bleeding and DVT. Which the rational part of me knows sounds ridiculous...
I know (rational head) that appropriate action is trip to GP and talk about CBT options. However health anxiety head says if I so much as step over GP threshold I'll have my worse fears confirmed. So any advice as to how to big up rational head and get rid of health anxiety head - just enough to get to booking GP appointment.
I'm perfectly aware that this all sounds frankly pathetic but it's worrying how debilitating this has made me in such relatively short period of time....
Thanks for any suggestions