Saw a tv show about sick people

[qwerty4]

Hi again,

Two weeks ago I saw (part of) a Dutch tv show that follows young people with a terminal disease. I saw about 20 minutes of it and of course I now think that I have all the diseases that I saw in that show. I am very anxious once again, but I also got very sad seeing those people struggle. The problem is now I seem to not be able to let that sadness go, I keep thinking about how scary and random life is, am scared that me or people close to me will be next and have even had two dreams about one of the people from that show.
Many, many people watch that tv show and I have asked some of them how they feel after watching that, they said they often cry during the show and then just forget about it afterwards. Now I feel even more abnormal for letting me affect it so much. I try to avoid reading/watching things like that as much as possible but it is not always possible, because it is after all a part of life. My question is, how do you guys deal with this? How can I read about something that might be triggering without being sad/obsessing about it for weeks after? Any advice?

 

[edm]

That is very heavy stuff you are watching. Don't be too hard yourself.

 

[Mini14]

I am somewhat similar with my anxiety, that I can easily get carried away reading about/watching shows about medical conditions. Ill sometimes get in this "poor me" state, and think "I wonder if I saw a doctor today, would that doctor treat me for..."

For me, I need to remind myself that "this too, will pass".

 

[Izthewiz]

Why would you watch this?
Put on positive things as these kind of shows will put bad worries in your mind.

 

[bin_tenn]

It's not abnormal in the sense that you're not alone; this is a very common reaction for anxiety sufferers like you and me. The intense reaction itself, however, *is* abnormal, because your brain is latching on and can't let go properly.

 

[FinneousRex]

Some people can handle shows like this. Others can’t. If you have health anxiety, you’re kind of asking for problems watching shows like this... the media tries to make you scared. The more scared you are, the more you go to the doctor, the more tests they run and the more money they make. Then the supplement companies jump on the bandwagon and sell stuff that helps with aliments, but is not FDA approved or clinically tested, and people blow money on that stuff. They make money off of people like you who see this stuff and assume it’s them, then you go to the doctors, completely healthy, have 483832974 tests done and they make thousands of dollars off your insurance company. It’s a vicious cycle. Don’t put yourself through this stuff on purpose. Watch stuff that makes you smile or happy. I tend to, when I’m alone or down, only watch shows that make me smile, like family guy, Futurama, South Park, etc. or make me feel indifferent, like cooking shows, house hunters or home improvement shows.