“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.” ― Steve Maraboli

On this episode, I talk about one of those health anxiety habits that completely takes over peoples lives. I’m talking about constant checking. Checking in on the strange mole, skin discolouration, bump, vein, and body aches. This habit easily takes over other peoples lives. I go over the reasons why you do this and how you can break this cycle. Below, are the key points I talked about.

• If you have been practising checking for a long time, those neuronal circuits associated with the behaviour are STRONG. They are now an unconscious program that is your new normal. An addiction that can keep you in anxiety.
• You also attached value to the act. How? What you pay attention to the most determines what you value. The concern you have over your health is what’s most important to you. The more you act out the victim, the more you cement the belief of how unhealthy you really are. This is a vicious cycle.
• What could bring about this checking? It could be: the imprint of adults around your when you were young (they were sensitive over their health), a traumatic moment (someone close to you got ill or you did), or the lifestyle choices you made like being addicted to destructive behaviours that negatively impact your health. A health anxiety suffer has a foundation built on sand. They have poor beliefs over their state of health. How can you change these beliefs? Discipline. You MUST change your lifestyle and create a routine that promotes health. Also, resolving past traumas help you to move on and free yourself of the past.
• Learn about anxiety. For me, the best way was to relate to those who went through the same suffering I was going through and got better. They solved the problem I had. Checking on your symptoms is exhausting. It gets in the way of your family, friends, work, and keeps you in a state of stress. The more you learn about anxiety, the more you understand what is happening internally. Then, you can counter this stress response with habits that relaxes the system. Then many people report that their anxiety symptoms are way less noticeable. The body needs to relax in order for it to repair and heal.

Make sure you listen to the full episode below!