“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater
power than defending or holding on.”
– Eckart Tolle
Health anxiety can be defined by obsessing and ruminating over your state of health. This obsession became the number one priority in my life. I had to ‘feel’ good in order to be happy. Each time I woke up with an uncomfortable sensation I would focus on it trying to understand what it could be. Why would the sensation not go away? My doctor says everything is fine, why do I still feel awful? Being stuck in this unknown was debilitating. It was torture. Then once I discovered that the sensations I felt daily were do to this thing called anxiety, I began to study the reasons behind it.
In this post, I want to talk about the worst sensations I felt during my anxiety disorder in the past. I hope that they link to the experiences you are currently going through so that you can move out of that unknown domain and into some known territory. It is within this new territory that you are able to expand your knowledge of anxiety and begin the recovery journey.
1. Depersonalization
Depersonalization had to be the worst symptom of mine. It is the feeling of being out of control. Automated. Unable to control the thoughts coming into your head.
I remember working in retail at the time and I couldn’t get a grip over my surroundings. I would walk down the aisles of the store and it would feel like the world beneath my feet was shifting. That I could trip over my feet at any moment. This symptom made me and many of the clients I work with feel like they’re going crazy. Why?
The amygdala, the fight, flight, or freeze response, has taken over all other brain processes. That’s its job. I has detected a perceived threat. So it takes over all other cognitive thinking. Thats why you can’t think your way out of a panic attack. The amygdala is running the show. So the more I was fighting this anxiety response, the greater the sensations. It is a losing battle because the more ‘whys’ and ‘what ifs’ you think in regards to how your feeling, the more confused and anxious you become. The key is to surrender. Accept that what you feel is anxiety and the amygdala being active. Awareness will calm down your anxiety system and lesson those depersonalization symptoms.
2. Sudden Body Pains/Zaps
When the anxiety response is active, it can cause a wide range of strange sensations. The reason? The body is tense. Adrenaline and cortisol is released so that you can respond appropriately to the perceived threat. Also, your blood becomes more acidic which causes a lot more inflammation. So this being the case, there can be many body pains and aches that can lead someone who is overly sensitized to their health down a road of worry. Every time A strange pain would shoot through my body, I would immediately say “oh no.” I was concerned about these sensations, always waiting for them to go away. So the next strange pain would send me straight to concern. But since it was anxiety causing the pains, I was now caught in a loop. Concern leads to more sensations. And it lead me to Googling the sensation which didn’t help me either.
If the pain or body zap is a concern for you, get it checked. Rule out anything serious. Once you confirm that it is nothing major, pin a note up somewhere so you can see it everyday stating that the sensation is nothing serious. This is a reminder that you are thinking irrationally about the sensation. Then begin the process of breaking the negative patterns linked to the sensation(s). I recommend the elastic band technique where you slap the band against your wrist whenever you feel the sensation. After you slap it, think of rational thoughts such as: “the sensation is there because I am anxious and tense. If it kills me let it kill me. I refuse to fuel those negative thoughts.” This powerful CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) tool will help you break the patterns of negative emotion already linked to the body pain/zap.
3. Rapid Heartbeat
A heart palpitation or a rapid heartbeat always sent me into a state of panic. What if it’s a heart attack? What if it’s heart disease? These thoughts are so common with anxiety sufferers. But not only the thoughts, the symptom as well. Why?
When the anxiety response is active, the body tenses. The body is in reactive mode and needs to pump more blood to the parts of your body that need to function in response to the danger. So now the heart is pumping harder for good reason but can be misinterpreted by someone sensitive towards their health.
I remember my heart always pumping out of my chest when I was a young boy. I would run, bike, and play with my friends all day long. As soon as I got back home, I was drained. But while I played and ran, I remember my heart beating soo loud and feeling like it was about to burst out of my chest. I didn’t view this as a health issue. I always thought: “wow im pooped from running.” Then when I got older, I began to misinterpret the heart beating loud as a health concern.
There are 2 reasons why you develop a sensitivity towards your heart. First, you build up a poor belief over how you view yourself and your health. So now anything out of the ordinary to you will come as a shock. The next reason is, you go through a highly emotional event in relation to that particular body part/sensation. For example, a client of mine went to go for a physical and the nurse, while checking his blood pressure, said it was high. She told him to “better be careful or you could have a heart attack.” This sent my client into panic and for 20 years he was sensitive to his heart. He was just nervous of the physical, that’s why his blood pressure was high. He was in fear mode. He’s fit and healthy. He spent all those years hyper focused on something that was functioning well. But it only takes one highly emotional moment to link a negative interpretation to something physical.
What do you do? Well, break the pattern. I recommend the elastic band technique for this connection. The connection between the negative emotion and the heartbeat you react to. Everytime you slap the elastic band, think of a rational replacement thought. Also, switch your ‘what if’ thoughts. Instead of “what if it’s a heart attack?” replace it with: “what if I’m just excited?” or “what if I am stressed?” These powerful strategies help loosen your grip over the old patterns you are running and replaces them with powerful rational options that will lesson the bodies anxiety. Do this over a month to see results.