Illness Anxiety Awareness

Imagine you’re sitting at home, getting ready for bed and a sudden heart palpitation jolts you out of your relaxed state. You rush into your parents room alarmed, you felt something… in your chest. Your heart begins beating faster with adrenaline, so loud you can hear the sound of it filling your ears. So you google it. Your first thought is a heart attack, that’s where all the symptoms stem from, right? One or two check off with the list Dr. Google has provided for you. So you make your parents take you to the ER room. You get there and have your blood pressure checked, get an ECG, also physical exams done, and nothing. You’re a perfectly healthy person. But then the next night you delve into the world of people who have died from being misdiagnosed by doctors. More symptoms start appearing, suddenly you have pain down your arm, in your jaw, your lower back. This is it! You know it is. You’re really having the heart attack this time, no way could the doctors dismiss it, it’s all there. But it’s not. You go back to the ER, still healthy. It continues like this for days, maybe months. You have a break down nearly everyday because you think you’re on the verge of death, the hospital has become a second home. People tell you you’re fine. Why can’t you believe it though? You want so badly to believe it but the validity of the pain you’re experiencing is more than the words they speak. And then one day it stops, no more chest pains, or phantom symptoms, so you let that go. You weren’t having a heart attack after all. But when you experience another pain, the cycle continues.

This is the struggle some people with Illness Anxiety Disorder may experience on the daily.

I want to bring awareness to this mental disorder because a lot of people may not know it exists and brush it off as paranoia or just general anxiety but it does have its own disorder. It’s scary to have your own logic and reasoning turn against you, if you think you may have Illness Anxiety Disorder please see a licensed practitioner or if that isn’t available to you give a call to these helplines:1-310-855-HOPE (4673) or 1-800-TLC-TEEN (852-8336), if in the midst of a bad attack try giving a call to this helpline: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264). IAD is a scary disorder that no one should go through alone. If you or someone you know may be, or is suffering with Illness Anxiety Disorder some things you can do to help yourself and them are:

Stay off the internet - searching up symptoms and illnesses can make you/them feel worse

Reassure them they’ll be fine - it may seem like it’s going through one ear and out the other but it does offer a calming effect sometimes.

Therapy - a person licensed to give non-bias, proactive feedback and coping mechanisms can go a long way.

Support groups - nobody, especially while frightened and vulnerable, deserves to feel alone with their disorder.

Be patient - it can be frustrating when you don’t understand why you’re feeling this way/ why they insist they’re ill despite numerous tests, just be supportive and patient and give them someone to rant to.

Search up and learn about Illness Anxiety Disorder, be informed!