As common as the cold so is worrying about constantly getting sick—we worry and worry and worry some more, we worry until the house is blanketed with Lysol jugs rather than cans and the garage is jammed with cases filled with Clorox Handy Wipes…and that’s still not enough protection!
One in ten people suffer from hypochondria. Three out of the four who have the disease turn it into an emotional disorder. Sadly and quite freaky to those who bend the bows of reality to suit the flavor of sickness available to bite into your everyday most doctors and psychologists don’t take hypochondria seriously.
The end result: Those who suffer from the disease do so in silence.
Anyone close to me would think I’m a hypochondriac. Not so! I admit to being in tune with a body that speaks out but I don’t chase down cold remedies unless infected and even then I set the sickness aside for ten days to see if it truly materializes. The family doctor screams at me claiming he could’ve relieved the symptoms of sickness which would allow the body to rest. Did I mention I had bronchitis nine times one winter followed by a slap in the face case of pneumonia?
The most stupid stunt was my most recent sickness where I convinced myself to meditate through the pain. I allowed my self to believe a wall stood in front of me and a second degree black belt in martial arts would walk through that wall. That lasted four days before finally convincing my non-hypochondriac self to seek help.
So what causes hypochondria?
According to the latest edition of The Worlds Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets, a hypochondrium takes place when the human mind interprets symptoms in an unbalanced way. The feelings are very real but the mind exceeds the limits of normal acceptance.
A normal bout of hypochondria begins in your twenties and early thirties then develops into a stronger illness through life’s constantly changing ways and means. Although its more common in women, men are quickly turning their avenues of peace into giant oceans of fear.
Single people are infected the most. Psychologists believe it’s because of the enormous amount of hours they spend in patterns of alone time and solitude encourages an obsession of ones self. I can totally relate with this in the way of how my body was brutally attacked at twenty five when it became a desire to read more books about human emotion and I locked onto a scary release that accused rock music of being the reason why teen suicide was skyrocketing in America.
Being the investigative type I studied the books, the stories and listened to the music that parents were pointing their fingers at. As a broadcaster I needed to know more about the tunes that were being shoved through those speakers. What I ended up doing was clearing just enough forest to plant a serious state of depression that took medical help to free my life and style from...twenty four years later I openly admit I still own the sickness.
Should hypochondriacs seek help? The scientists and physicians who pieced together The Worlds Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets absolutely without a doubt believe it’s mandatory if you answer yes to these four questions:
When you worry about a sickness do you fear you have it?
Do you often ask family and friends to reassure you that you’re not ill?
Are you obsessed with one particular disease?
Do you find yourself doctor shopping going from one doctor to another searching for the diagnosis that best represents how you feel?
There are people who will listen:
The Obsessive Compulsive Foundation
203-401-2070
ocfoundation.org
The NY State Psychiatric Institute
212-543-5000.
nyspi.org
We all suffer from fear, for some it changes everyday if not every hour. At times we can barely go an entire weekend without worrying about how life is affecting our children, dogs, birds, driving and or eating a plate of unhealthy food.
Learn to document your emotions, write down how you feel while creating what I’ve always called a safe zone.
By allowing your mind body and soul to speak freely in places where it’s ok to express, it helps you design a portfolio of words that medical officials can use to help bring peace to your wondering imagination. Without those thoughts, your next doctors visit will pretty much consist of a typical shrug of the shoulders with the same boring response, “I don’t know.”
In the days before my near take down my daily writing pen pointed exactly where the pain was and how it affected the rest of the body. Those notes have aided everybody involved with where to continue rebuilding the body I once owned…now it owns me. It didn’t go ignored in the journals I keep. It was ego that kept me from the doctor—the typical, “I’ll be ok.”
This is the one time I don’t want you to steal my art. I want you here tomorrow and learning to listen to your body and allowing it to have a voice is every reason why you’ll be here next week.
arroecollins@clearchannel.com
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