The fear of illness is killing me

Illness, loss of health, is something that no one wants. The fear of illness is in all of us. It is one of the most universal fears, related to the fear of death or the fear of madness.

A person who is somatically and psychologically healthy does not want to die, since the self-preservation instinct remains intact. But sometimes, This fear of illness and death takes on exaggerated proportions.making the same existential process difficult.

It can be very difficult to live when our existence is drenched in fear of illness, pain or death.. It may even be the case that the fear of death is so intense that it produces unbearable suffering that leads the person to suicide, in the most extreme cases.

The fear of illness is real

Hypochondriacs are, par excellence, the ones we most identify with this fear.. A fear that, as a rule, makes them apprehensive and pessimistic. They imagine a future full of pain, viruses, discomfort, incurable diseases, etc. Thus, it is rare for them to end up carrying out compulsive hygiene behaviors, such as washing themselves many times a day, to regain a feeling of control.

Another characteristic of hypochondriac people is the continuous self-observation to which they subject their body.. They interpret a small discomfort, a body sensation, a spot on the skin, etc. as a symptom of a serious or fatal illness. They subject their body to continuous scrutiny, looking at it with an imaginary magnifying glass that magnifies any signal it detects.

This causes them great anxiety, so they frequently go to the doctor. However, They are constantly plagued by doubts that come from a background of insecurity that underlies their personality.. So they don’t stay calm either when the doctor tells them that they have nothing. On the other hand, they understand that their behavior is not habitual but they also think that it is logical and coherent, imagining that what can happen to them happens to them.

When the illness is psychological

In reality, hypochondriac people don’t have anything. His disorder, far from belonging to the organic realm, is psychological.. However, they refuse to accept that what they need is treatment in this sense.

On the contrary, they usually demand that their doctor perform the more complicated complementary examinations. These examinations can consist of analyzes of all types, x-rays, scanners, electrocardiograms, etc.

After these explorations they are usually not satisfied, since they continue to think that their discomfort must necessarily come from an organic injury and that what happens is that no one is able to discover that injury. On the other hand, distrust the medications prescribed to them for any reason. They read the leaflets carefully, becoming frightened when considering the possibility of suffering from the side effects described therein.

If they decide to take medication, which only happens on some occasions, suffer these undesirable effects by mere suggestion. This causes them to continually change doctors or consult several to compare their opinions before deciding to start treatment.

Illness as a theme around which your world revolves

Hypochondriacs also buy and read medical encyclopedias, health websites, and even attend conferences for doctors, etc. They check them every time they notice the slightest symptom or when someone tells them about the illness that someone they know has contracted.

Talking about illnesses creates great anxiety, but on the other hand, It is also their favorite topic of conversation, since it is the one that interests them the most. In a way, his entire life revolves around the problem of illness and death.

Today’s society, in which pain makes less and less sense, favors the presentation of hypochondriacal symptoms., which, of course, are becoming more and more frequent. And we live in a society fundamentally concerned with comfort, technical and partly dehumanized.

On other occasions, the fear of illness has a real basis. So the fear of dying can be downright intense. In cases where this situation lasts a long time, it is also common for a depressive syndrome to arise, as in the case of terminally ill patients.

In short, people who are afraid of the disease make his whole life revolves around the same theme. This does not allow them to live fully and peacefully, quite the opposite.. The most serious cases of fear of illness involve a psychological disorder called hypochondria. Hypochondria can find relief, let’s think that the person who suffers the most is the patient himself, if treated by a good mental health professional.

You might be interested…