Terrified of getting sick

[Reynolds]

So I was diagnosed with GAD about two years ago, when I first started high school. Right now I am on two different medications and an eating chart, because my anxiety takes from the complete and utter fear of getting sick. I cannot stand the idea of ever getting sick. It first started when I moved to a new school in a new town and didn't know anyone. My initial fear was throwing up in public, then it escalated to not wanting to get sick - ever. I now have lost over twenty pounds in fluctuation but it is so difficult for me to do anything while eating. I can't even step outside.


Does anyone else have this sort of problem? If so, how do you deal with it?

 

[Corzhens]

You remind me of my husband who has severe gastritis when he was assigned work abroad. Being homesick added to his burden and he felt isolated because his colleagues - there were 3 other guys with him in the apartment - did not lend much support. Whenever he would notice something wrong in his body, he would be so anxious as to feel a budding anxiety attack. And since he is not home, the problem would aggravated by gastritis which has tummy pain for the side effect. One night he woke up with rashes on his legs and thigh due to the cold weather, he was terrified and couldn't sleep. In the morning, he stayed home and when his colleagues left for work, the gastritis attacked due to his worrying about the rashes. In his panic, he called an ambulance and he was brought to the hospital. And the prescription given to him was a bottle of antacid.

 

[Alex]

Medication can only help in some cases, but I guess you feel sick from being nervous and anxious. Some people will feel this even without anxiety issues, as it can hit people randomly. I think the one the ways to overcome this is to work on your inner confidence and self-esteem. Change and moving to a new school is always nerve racking and it happens to many people, but subsides later on. Focus on you and look to do things that make you comfortable and familiar.


I still get nervous when I travel to a new place, but after a while I am fine when I have my own things around me and am comfortable in my surroundings. I know it may sound obvious, but when you think too much about something it can make the anxiety worse. Listen to music before you go out, I have a playlist of songs just the bus or train, and maybe eat small snacks?

 

[SirJoe]

It's a vicious circle that has to be broken, you get so anxious of possible getting sick that you end up getting sick. Maybe not from what you thought you were going to but from something else. When this happens your fears end up being "justified". After all you ended up getting sick just like you predicted, but the reality is since your body was on stress mode it ended up being more vulnerable. It's not easy to over come this and even though medication might help you have to find the cause of your anxiety. I think a good psychoanalyst could help you over come this fear.

 

[Sue]

My daughter in law has this. She sleeps with a bucket beside her bed at night because she is afraid of throwing up. She has been like this for as long as I have known her. At first I didn't really understand it but now I do get where she is coming from and that it is a real thing. She doesn't like to go out to other places or around where people are sick because she doesn't want to catch. She uses hand sanitizers all the time. It is a constant thing with her. If somebody is sick they are not allowed to come to her house. She never travels because of this.

 

[John Snort]

Hypnosis is often used to treat phobias. If you've tried everything and the results haven't been satisfactory, try hypnotherapy. Or even better there also self-hypnosis — — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-hypnosis

Self-hypnosis or autohypnosis is a form, process or result of hypnosis which is self-induced, and normally makes use of self-suggestion

Use it and you'll beat your fear of getting sick.

 

[justsayyes]

I'm also terrified to getting serious illness but i try to not let that worry about my health consume me. I just try to take care of myself as much as i can, i eat healthy and stay active, drink lots of fluids. I think if you're so worried about getting sick, you might actually end up being sick.

 

[sidney]

I'm not a hypochondriac, but I think the same way at times when it comes to my health. I do get worried, but more about dying due to a disease than contracting the usual cough or flu. I just try to take care of my health as much as possible, and I immediately take medicine once a cold or flu is showing it's early symptoms.

 

[jonthai]

That sometimes happens to me. I am very germofobic so I'm always scared of getting diseases and stuff like that. I'm not to the point where I need medication due to me being to control it. I think most of it it's psychological. You should try mentalize yourself you won't get sick over a few dirty things.

 

[deanyd_17]

This is especially true of me with sore throats. Sometimes I'll talk or sing for an extended period of time and find that the next few hours my throat is worn and sore. I suddenly become paranoid that I'm going to come down with a cold because of this. Not too likely, I know, but the mind is powerful. I'll occasionally become sick after such events and this only tends to fuel this fear that I have and make it more likely that I'll be sick the next time I get a bit of a sore throat.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

I used to have a very nonchalant attitude towards getting sick. The reason being that I hardly get sick, maybe only once a year.


However, recently I had a terrifying experience with being sick. It was just a fever and joint pains. After a couple of days, I found that I couldn't get up. I could roll over and get up on my knees but that was all I could do. I really panicked. At that time, I lived alone and the bathroom was downstairs. After I recovered, I moved in with my son (at his invitation). Now I go to the clinic as soon as I feel unwell. It's a good thing that the clinic is just a five-minute walk away and It's a government clinic, so everything is free.

 

[hades_leae]

While I'm not that fearful of getting sick, I do know exactly what time of year I'm going to get sick. For me it's close to the end of Winter in January - mid February. I don't know why it happens, but I get super sick, my body completely changes on me. It's probably because of the transitioning of the weather. Going from one cold day, to a super warm day, and then back to cold takes a toll on the body because I'd assume it shocks my body.


Having to always adapt to changing temperatures that fluctuate between 30 degrees is not good for the body I don't think.

 

[MichaelJacob]

I get really scared when I get sick I start to get anxiety attacks and then my heart starts racing so I think what if I could be having a heart attack. I would say I am Hypochondriac because sometimes I get bit by mosquitos and for some reason I think I might get malaria and I actually start feeling symptoms like a fever, fatigue, stomach pain, and just over all just feeling sick. But I try to calm down and I go to sleep and the next day I'm fine so it's all in my head, I also feel like I've overdosed even if I didn't take more than the regular dosage.

 

[kelden]

Getting sick is part of like, I'm afraid. Sometimes even necessary to strenghten your immunological system in order to be better suited against worse illnesses. I don't know how you actually manage to avoid getting in contact with microorganism like bacteria or viruses, your own keyboard is infested with microorganism. Getting sick might happen even as an arbitrary event, Everyone can suddenly have cancer for no reason. Prevention is important, and even right now with bacteria getting stronger to antibiotics, but don't attempt to make your life go around it, otherwise you'll feel miserable.

 

[kgord]

Anxiety is present with my sister's kids, they get it from both sides of the family. Her older son is pretty germaphobic, and also claustrophobic. He also doesn't like certain foods. He doesn't wash his hands excessively, but he does worry about what he eats being clean enough. I don't think it impairs his life that much, but it is just something that is always present in his consciousness so it can create problems in that way.

 

[RothStone]

My daughter is afraid of getting sick. When I put her to bed, she will sometimes start coughing, and I tell her "Oh no, you're getting sick baby", she freaks out and starts saying "no daddy please I don't want to be sick". It's so adorable, I try to tell her what it means to be sick, but she thinks about it like it's a monster or something. I have had many fears of being sick because I knew someone who died from being sick, and the doctors didn't know the cause, and never figured it out.


He was an old friend from back then, he just got sick and passed away. I don't fear it, but I do try to prevent it anyway I can. I don't remember the last time I was sick.

 

[thecorinthian]

so you keep throwing up because you're afraid you might get sick from it? I'm sorry I had to be blunt I don't think I understood the sentence, English is my second language but nevertheless sorry to hear about your GAD. I have mild healthy anxieties as well and I don't like to share my food with anyone in fear of contamination, it's something I'm working on everyday by talking to people who love and understand me. You're gonna need support my friend and maybe talking to a medical professional.