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Letting go of fixations on anxiety symptoms, especially for individuals dealing with health anxiety, can be challenging due to various psychological and cognitive factors. Here are some reasons why it might be difficult:
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Catastrophic Thinking: Health anxiety often involves catastrophic thinking, where individuals tend to interpret minor symptoms as signs of serious illness. Breaking free from this cycle requires changing thought patterns and challenging irrational beliefs.
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Hyperawareness of Bodily Sensations: Health anxiety sufferers are often hyperaware of bodily sensations and tend to focus intensely on any changes or discomfort. This heightened sensitivity can make it challenging to shift attention away from perceived symptoms.
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Confirmation Bias: People with health anxiety may selectively attend to information that confirms their health concerns while ignoring or dismissing evidence to the contrary. This confirmation bias reinforces their fixation on anxiety symptoms.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Thanks for joining me on this podcast episode. If you haven’t subscribed yet to this podcast, please do. And if you know anybody out there who may be suffering from health anxiety, please share this podcast with them, and let’s help more people become more than anxiety.
Yes, the Health Anxiety Program is now available at theanxietyguy.com. Head over to theanxietyguy.com today and learn more about my newest program, the Health Anxiety Program, today.
Clinging onto Health Anxiety
And my friends, today I want to dive deep into this clinging onto because with health anxiety, there is a clinging onto box, bodily symptoms, and intrusive ideas. And this idea of letting go can be so easy to understand, but so difficult to implement.
Understanding the Inner Dynamics
First of all, anyone who tells you to just let go doesn’t really understand the connection between the inner child and fear. Nor do they understand or consider that generational trauma can, in fact, play out within anxiety disorders.
There’s a lot to consider here. But a gentle, open-minded, and open-hearted approach will be necessary when embarking on health anxiety healing. As I mentioned, it can be simple, but it certainly isn’t easy.
The Goal: Neutrality and Disinterest
The end goal, of course, is to get to a place where you have, in fact, let go. You have experienced a bodily symptom. But the playing field is even. The playing field between catastrophic thinking about it and perceiving it that way, and perceiving it in a way that is much more neutral, factual. That’s the goal, isn’t it?
Because when you, on this journey, move yourself towards neutrality in how you perceive your fears, then you’re creating momentum to move yourself towards a place of disinterest. Disinterest is the goal. Because when you find yourself disinterested in bodily symptoms, when you find yourself disinterested in intrusive ideas, then they don’t turn into emotional states.
Reasons for Clinging onto Physical Symptoms
If they don’t turn into emotional states, they won’t run your behaviors anymore. And you’ll no longer identify with being a health anxiety sufferer. So what is our goal? Neutrality and disinterest.
Understanding Fear and Safety
There are, however, three reasons for why we cling on to physical symptoms. And I want to share these with you today so that you can gain a deeper understanding as to what’s going on on the inside.
Reason 1: Fear Makes Us Feel Safe
Reason number one is that fear makes us feel safe. That’s right. Fear equals safety. The more we fear, the more we release these stress chemicals, the more we release these stress chemicals, we find ourselves in very certain places. We find certainty in fear.
And as long as there is a feeling of certainty, then we believe that we know who we are. Ah, I’m just that fearful, anxious person. It’s just who I am. That’s something my mom would say. And so we need to understand that if fear makes us feel safe, then what does true safety make us feel like? What does inner peace make us feel like? Well, at an unconscious level, inner peace is the enemy. Okay.
Overcoming the Opportunistic Inner Child
This is why you see people start to make progress and then they revert back to fear because that inner child within you is very opportunistic. It wants to make sure that at any opportunity it brings you back into a familiar place. Because of some of the traumas that you experienced in your life, you have begun to connect familiarity to fear.
But the truth is that once you understand this, you can begin to see breaking past it.
Reason 2: Habitual Behavior
Number two reason why we cling on to physical symptoms is because it becomes habitual. It’s a habit. It’s a habit.
So many people out there say something is hard. It’s hard to move forward. It’s hard to change. It’s hard to implement new things. It’s not that it’s hard. It’s just that the old behavior has become habitual. You’re just unpracticed. That’s all it is. So stop convincing yourself that change is hard.
Reason 3: Identification with Behaviors
Number three reason is because we have identified with these behaviors. As I mentioned, we believe that I am my physical symptoms. I am fear. I am hesitation. It’s just who I am. No. It’s not who you are. And the truth is that when we heal health anxiety at a belief level, at an identity level, then we move ourselves towards our purpose and our mission for this life.
So eliminate the I am’s and understand that this is nothing more than a chapter in your life. A chapter connected to deep learning. The deepest form of learning, in fact. And if there’s one thing that’s going to be the most difficult challenge in your life, in your life, it’s to overcome health anxiety. Once you do, everything else becomes easy.
Tapping into the Idea of Letting Go
Here are three reasons to begin tapping into the idea of letting go.
- Your future can be different than your past. Believe it.
- Your perceptions over yourself and the world will change.
- You can finally allow the body to do the healing rather than rely on overthinking with the mind to do so.
The Path to Healing
Overthinking is the enemy. Overthinking is the crutch. Overthinking will never bring you to freedom. Believe that.
The Essence of Our Goal
So in essence, what’s our goal? Our goal is to let go. Our goal is to trust.
Crossing the Bridge
But when you’re crossing a bridge from one side to the other, there are all these experiences that you must experience along the way.
A Journey of Senses
You don’t just jump from one side to the other. As you cross the bridge, you notice new things, you hear new things, you feel new things, you taste them, you smell them. There’s a whole experience that you can experience to be experienced as you’re crossing the bridge.
Patience and Skill Sets
So if you’re trying to cross that bridge from clinging on to your symptoms and getting to a place of trust and letting go, you must be patient. You must utilize some skill sets.
Understanding Your Needs
You must understand at the deepest level what you need. Do you need to focus on trauma work? Do you need to release these negative, negative blocks that are keeping you from manifesting good things in your life?
Navigating Health Anxiety Healing
What do you need in your health anxiety healing?
The Importance of Emotional Awareness
Because let me tell you what you don’t need. You don’t need to focus entirely on your symptoms. Because if you continue to do so, you’re going to be a hamster running on that wheel. Running, running, running, but never getting anywhere. This is who I was for years. I don’t want you to be the same person.
Go deeper. Understand your pains more deeply. Understand the emotional baggage that comes with health anxiety. And starting today, begin learning how to diet your emotional body. If you can do this, you’re on the path towards healing.
Closing Thoughts
I love you all from the bottom of my heart. If you enjoyed this
podcast, please give it a positive rate and review. And again, the Health Anxiety Program is out
. 12 Weeks to Freedom starts today. I’ll see you soon. Have a wonderful day. And remember that you are more than anxiety. Bye-bye, my friend.
A Message to Warriors
Warriors, if you are enjoying this podcast, please subscribe and give it a positive rate and review. Also, don’t forget to check out the original Anxiety Guy podcast on iTunes with new episodes airing every Monday morning Pacific Standard Time. Remember, you are more than anxiety. See you in the next episode.
