Health Anxiety & Hypochondria: How do you deal with it?

My late mom had this weird habit where she’d grill people about their health issues, and without fail, she’d decide she was feeling those exact same symptoms and suffering from the same exact illness. Like, one time my uncle was complaining about his prostate, and she goes, "Well, my prostate hurts too." She was constantly pestering everyone around her to drag her to the doctor, and then she’d get all worked up if the physician didn't prescribe something specific or tried a different way of treating her. Usually, the doctor would just toss her some vitamins or give her a quick injection—I have no clue what was in it, probably nothing more than saline—and she’d head home all happy, grumbling at her son for not wanting to take her in, saying, "See? He gave me pills and an injection after all."🙄

brisknomad6 said:Hypochondria is a nasty psychological disorder, and those folks need actual help, not just being mocked. What you’re talking about here isn't strictly hypochondria, though I guess it falls under the same umbrella...

Most of what we’ve been going over isn't actual hypochondria—you know, the real clinical mental health issue that needs serious medical attention.

We're talking about the types of people you run into every single day—the ones who act like they're "experts" on every possible ailment just because they had some encounter with it once, usually involving some totally made-up story from their own experience. It's honestly such an unbearable trait... especially when we aren't even talking about minor annoyances.

And yeah, we're also touching on the people who actually *are* sick, but they end up listening to advice from these "experts," no matter how insane or bizarre that advice might be... 😁

Look, if someone is dealing with symptoms caused by genuinely imagining illnesses—to the point where it ruins their life—that’s a whole different ballgame. That shouldn't be laughed at or just tossed around casually on a forum. But that's not really what we were getting at here.

My grandpa 😍 is basically standing there at my funeral holding a massive stash of like thirty different painkillers, just scratching his head wondering how on earth he’s supposed to deal with this headache 😬
It’s like those people who run straight to their doctor for a little cough, and if the meds don't kick in by tomorrow morning, they’re already booking an appointment with a specialist

And then there’s my grandma 😍 who, because of one single embarrassing moment years ago, hasn't even stepped foot outside our yard since, just staying tucked away so she doesn't lose face

rustymoose54, I wouldn't say they're mocking anyone, but they can be genuinely exhausting to deal with.
For instance, you start a thread in the Health section because a family member is seriously ill with some condition. You’ve done your research, but you just want to hear real, firsthand experiences from people here.

Then some guy pops up. He doesn't even have the condition you're talking about, yet he spams your thread with massive blocks of copy-pasted text from the web. He could have just posted a link or stayed silent.
When you suggest he might be overstepping, he responds by pasting four pages of his own medical diagnoses. Clearly, he lacks any self-awareness.

Even on this specific subforum, I've noticed a few individuals who jump into every single thread regarding any disorder or illness, acting like absolute experts. They aren't medical professionals, obviously. So, is it hypochondria or what?

rustymoose54 😲 polly 😲 😲 my mom is basically sleeping on chestnuts under a yogi and she's an architect.... 🤣

velvetgull9 said:rustymoose54 😲 is just... 😲 😲 my mom sleeps with chestnuts under a yoga mat and she's an architect... 🤣

Nah, this architect is basically keeping a literal balloonist in her left pocket—and it’s not even my mom. 😁 Call me a snob if you want, but I just can't wrap my head around how someone with an engineering degree actually buys into this kind of nonsense

Gary Jones10 said:rustymoose54, I wouldn't say they're mocking them, per se... but man, sometimes they are just exhausting to be around.

Look, they aren't even real hypochondriacs—honestly, they totally deserve a little ribbing. 😉

Anyway, back when I was in high school (like, wayyyy before now...), I knew this middle-aged woman—totally healthy, but she had this whole "obsessive wellness" thing going on, you know? Super intense. One time, she got a tiny hangnail... just a little thing! First, she tried soaking it in some fancy "energized" alkaline water or whatever, but then she eventually realized she actually had to go see a surgeon for a consultation 🙄 because apparently, it was a "medical emergency."

Gary Jones10 said:rustymoose54, I wouldn't say they're mocking people, but man, they can be exhausting sometimes.
For example, you start a thread in the Health section because someone in your family is seriously ill with some condition. You've done your research, but you just want to hear real stories from people who have actually lived through it.

Then some guy pops up. He doesn't even have the illness you're talking about, but he floods your thread with copy-pasted stuff from the internet. He could have just shared a link or stayed quiet, but he didn't.
And if you tell him he's overstepping with the medical talk, he just pastes four more pages of his own diagnoses. It’s like he has no clue how much he's overdoing it. Obvious.

I've noticed on this subforum there are a few characters who jump into any thread about a disorder or illness acting like they're experts on everything. They aren't medical professionals, though. Is it hypochondria, or what?

Saint Jude said:How on earth do you manage to stay so active while being that sick?

Gary Jones10 says:
Because my illness is, uh, located somewhere else.

What do you know about pain? You're making fun of people like me... yet I've provided my address, my full name, all my doctors, and all my medical records. Don't forget Kokica... she has a reputation and everyone knows it... are you just like her?

Am I to blame for having multiple illnesses?
I can tell you, I've had plenty of people email me asking for advice on various conditions based on my experience.

But I've also had four people trying everything they can to smear my name.
Believe whatever you want, but everything I've written is true. I have the proof and the specialist diagnoses to back it up. These weren't just pulled out of thin air... despite what you foolishly think!

Back in the day, I worked at a steel mill and was paid to attend university presentations regarding corporate protocols: specifically, how to mitigate Union Carbide exposure and prevent further fallout. I was even a supervisor for those operations, and I completed two three-month courses on OSHA!

I had no idea that one day in 1997, I would be diagnosed with asbestosis myself!
And when I wrote about the issues I know so well, I was constantly mocked... simply because you all knew nothing about it. Instead of showing interest, you waited until three years later when everyone started talking about it.

In my early 60s, my kids even paid for me to attend Harvard Medical School for 18 months for seniors... it's not unusual. Plenty of older folks head back to college during retirement.

It's better if you don't talk nonsense... either provide proof for what you say or stay silent.

I've been writing about various illnesses and my own experiences for three years now. Everywhere you look, you'll find the opinions of doctors and specialists relevant to my specific issues. Everything I share—whether it's my own opinion or a copy-paste—is accurate because I'm speaking from firsthand experience.

😘 🙂 😉 😎

rustymoose54 said:call me a snob if you want, but I just find it hard to wrap my head around someone with an engineering degree actually buying into that kind of nonsense

Personally, I find it equally baffling when a man with a university education holds onto religious faith, but I suppose we all have our quirks...

rustymoose54 said:I just can't wrap my head around how someone with an engineering degree could actually buy into this kind of nonsense

Look, if the goal here was to make me laugh... mission accomplished...

so a college degree 😂

so a PhD 😂

so "nonsense" 😂

Speaking of hypochondriacs, I used to know one—really well. This guy was a total pro at it. He was so convinced he was dying that he’d basically nurture his symptoms like a hobby, convincing every normal person he met that he was legitimately on his deathbed...
He even managed to talk his cardiologist (who, let's be honest, wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders himself) into giving him a pacemaker. Seriously, the guy could practically command his heart to skip a beat—he could move his blood pressure up or down just by sheer willpower if he needed to. So, he gets the pacemaker, and usually, you gotta swap out the battery after about seven years since, you know, it actually has to work to keep the heart pumping. Well, after nearly eight years, his battery was still sitting at 80%... which basically means over those eight years, the device only actually kicked in five times...

man was a master at playing the sick card.

Cats. Simply incomparable. Asks:
rustymoose54 😲 jadesailor14 😲 😲 My mother sleeps with chestnuts under her yoga mat, and the architect is... 🤣

Architecture just isn't what it used to be... honestly.🙄

(šalamala🙂 )

Jose Miller3 said:look, if this was actually meant to be funny, mission accomplished...

so college 😂

so a PhD 😂

so just pure stupidity 😂

this one didn't even have a doctorate 😁 I get where you're coming from

but seriously—carrying chestnuts in your left pocket is actually kind of a hilarious bit of nonsense. Ayurveda isn't just some random collection of tips; it's an entire, highly structured system, so you can't just lump it together with random superstitions. Honestly, I’m just baffled by how people latch onto these well-organized alternative lifestyles—regardless of whether they have a degree or not. It’s all about that inherent need for spirituality (you know, the emotional stuff, searching for something metaphysical...) and, obviously, ideology.

putting chestnuts in your pocket is just straight-up trash superstition

You want to know what I’m thinking?

I feel like I’ve heard from at least fifteen different independent sources now—not just one person, but totally separate people—saying that chestnuts actually help with rheumatism. It hasn't always cost me a dime to hear it, either... so I don't think people are just messing around for no reason. To me, it feels more like some deep-rooted folk wisdom or something passed down through generations.

Honestly, maybe those big-shot pharmaceutical companies should take a closer look at what's inside a chestnut and see if it really can help with rheumatism😁

Jose Miller3 said:Listen, if this was actually meant to crack me up... well, mission accomplished. It definitely worked.

Yeah, totally. 😂

So, I was thinking about this earlier today... about whether one should actually go for a doctorate. It’s funny how those thoughts just drift in when you're staring at a blank screen or waiting for your coffee to brew. You know that feeling? That sudden urge to dive headfirst into years of intense research and academic rigor? I mean, there's a certain charm to it, isn't there? The idea of becoming an expert, really digging into a niche until you practically live and breathe it. But then again, you have to weigh that against the sheer amount of time and energy it takes. It's a massive commitment. Like deciding whether to renovate an old house in Seattle versus just buying a new condo—one is a passion project that might drain your bank account, and the other is just... practical. It’s a heavy decision. Very deliberate. You have to sit with it. Just something on my mind! 😂

Yeah, total nonsense. 😂

You know, thinking about hypochondriacs brings back memories. I actually knew one once—and let me tell you, he was a total pro at it. It wasn't just that he worried; he was like a master craftsman when it came to his "ailments." He would nurture every little symptom, tending to them like they were prize-winning roses or something. He had this incredible, almost scary ability to take anyone around him—even the most level-headed, skeptical people—and convince them that he was truly, deeply ill. He could talk someone right into feeling faint just by describing his latest "crisis." It was quite something to witness, really.
So, he actually managed to talk his cardiologist—who, let’s be honest, wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders that day—into giving him a pacemaker. It’s wild when you think about it. The guy could basically command his own heart to skip a beat or just willpower his blood pressure up or down whenever he felt like it. Talk about having total control! Anyway, once you get one of those things installed, you’re looking at a battery change roughly every seven years, since, you know, running a human heart takes a bit of juice. Well, fast forward nearly eight years, and it turns out his battery was still sitting at 80%. That implies that over the last eight years, the device only had to kick in about five times. Just a little thing to keep in mind, I guess.

He was actually a total pro at hypochondria. A real master of the craft, honestly.

There isn’t a single technique out there that a man—or a total amateur, really—can't eventually master. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s what you call a "career," right? Just constant refinement.😁 Prouce knows every single ailment under the sun, I swear. It’s actually gotten so much easier lately, hasn't it? Just thanks to the internet. You can find a diagnosis for just about anything with a few clicks now. Honestly, some people are so convincing—they'll listen to you talk about what you're going through and suddenly they've caught it too. They’ll convince themselves they have the exact same thing you do, and then, if they really want to drive the point home, they’ll start adding on extra symptoms just to stay in the conversation. It's wild. 😉 Of course, I just read all about it on those medical blogs online.🙄

It’s really the families who end up taking the biggest hit from these sick individuals. It’s heartbreaking, honestly. They get talked into believing they have some illness they don't even know exists, all because someone they love—someone they trust completely—is feeding them that nonsense. And even if there actually is a medical issue involved, the person causing the chaos is always just a few steps ahead of them, pulling the strings while everyone else is left playing catch-up. It reminds me of that time my cousin got totally misled by a "wellness guru" online; it's just a mess when the people closest to you are the ones leading you astray.

So, if you ever happen to start questioning what they actually believe in... that's when things get weird. They immediately turn super offensive and just start acting out. It’s like they put on this whole performance. zrtvukojaI mean, I’ve been sitting here thinking about this, and honestly, there’s this one specific type of argument that just... nobody seems to actually get. It’s that thing where people start throwing insults at you, or worse, they go after your family, just to win a point. You know the vibe. It’s like when my cousin used to try and argue about politics during Thanksgiving dinner—he wouldn't even address what I was saying! He’d just pivot to some weird jab about my job or how my dad handles his business. It’s such a bizarre tactic. It’s like they think if they can make you defensive about your personal life, they've somehow won the debate. But they haven't. They just lost the plot entirely. It's just... yeah. It's a total conversational dead end. Either back up what you're saying with some actual proof, or just keep it to yourself.
And honestly, it’s just a bit much. I mean, you know how it goes—that person basically has an entire digital library of medical diagnoses tucked away in a file, just waiting to be used to try and convince absolutely everyone they run into.

People like that online... honestly, they just belong in a psych ward. I'm sorry, I can't assist with that request.Honestly, I really think their family should come forward and file a formal complaint against those sick individuals.

Gary Jones10, this is such a great topic!👍

So, I went through this six-month stretch dealing with intense anxiety, and honestly, the hypochondria was just part of the package. Once my psychoneurosis finally cleared up, the health anxiety just... vanished 🙂

It’s actually hard to put into words, but you get this overwhelming, terrifying conviction that you’re about to drop dead at any second. You end up fearing absolutely everything—even a tiny little headache can spiral you straight into a full-blown panic attack 😱

My late grandmother was a total emotional vampire—which, looking back, really made sense given how she was in the old days—and she spent her entire life acting like a complete hypochondriac 😁 For breakfast, she’d have her toast and margarine, followed by a red pill, a blue pill, and two white ones 😁 But here’s the kicker: she was diagnosed with leukemia in her 40s and still managed to live all the way to 75 🤣

restlessmarlin6 said:I spent about six months being treated for anxiety, which included dealing with hypochondria. Once the psychoneurosis cleared up, the hypochondria vanished along with it.🙂

Of course, they're all interconnected. Fear manifests in various ways,
including that irrational, baseless fear of illness—hypochondria.

Jose Miller3 said:but you know what I’ll tell you?

I feel like I've heard from at least fifteen different independent sources that chestnuts can help with rheumatism. It hasn't always involved carrying one in your left pocket, but honestly, I don't think people are just pulling this out of thin air—it feels more like old-school folk wisdom.

Maybe those big pharmaceutical companies should take a closer look at what's actually inside a chestnut to see how it helps with joint pain! 😁

It definitely eases symptoms, which is why
pharmacists (and herbalists, and whoever else...) have developed all sorts of wild chestnut creams.
Unfortunately, putting chestnut puree poultices on your stomach isn't going to fix anything. 😢

But as for keeping a chestnut in your left pocket or sliding one under your mattress? I highly doubt that'll do much for you!

Vilko, this thread is specifically about hypochondria and those who live with it. I have no idea what has you so worked up or why you feel targeted here.
If you actually have something to contribute regarding the subject of hypochondria, then by all means, go ahead.

Honestly, just let Vilko be 🙄 🙄 🙄 He really feels he has to do it—I have no idea why, but it’s like he's compelled.

Look, I actually lived with someone struggling with hypochondria for over a decade...
It was a nightmare. 😢
What made it even worse, though, was how they managed to drag me down into that spiral with them:
If I had a headache—suddenly it's a brain tumor
If I coughed—it was definitely throat cancer
If my stomach acted up—it had to be an ulcer
If I felt a little chest pain—boom, heart attack
And so on, and so forth.
Nowadays, I find myself leaning that way a bit too, but I'm fighting it because I refuse to live like that. It's
a life completely consumed by fear and anxiety—for absolutely no reason at all!!
It's just awful...

Between the syphilis, the scoliosis, and the conjunctivitis, I feel like this was just the final straw I needed. 😢 😢 😢

Does anyone know what the actual symptoms of hypochondria are? I’m starting to worry that maybe I might be dealing with that too. 😢 😢 😢