I am sure most people have gotten a headache or felt some pain and thought they were possibly dying. They, of course, say that jokingly and get over it. However, when you’re a hypochondriac, it’s much more serious and these thoughts can last for days and weeks and make you feel even worse. Hypochondria, which is also known as health anxiety or illness anxiety, is not what people think it may be. It much more than jokingly freaking out every time you feel bad or you’re in some kind of pain. It is having serious anxiety over your health even when, sometimes, you are completely fine.

I discovered my problems with hypochondria a rather hard way. About two years ago I lost my health insurance and about a month after that, I started experiencing some chest pain. Naturally, it alarmed me because most people associate chest pain with something bad. I ended up going to the emergency room a day after because I looked online to see what it could be and what came up multiple times was “heart attack.” I was extremely scared, but the doctor told me it was just anxiety and they sent me home.

Although the doctor cleared me, I was paranoid that maybe he missed something and that there could really be something wrong with me. My chest pain didn’t really go away after that. I started looking up more and more things online and the more I did that, the more I felt pain. I started developing pain in my arms and feeling dizzy as if I actually had symptoms of a heart attack. This went on for two months until I freaked out enough and went to the emergency room yet again. Once again, the doctor said it was anxiety and let me go home. After that, all the pain I had been feeling on and off for two months started to die down after a few weeks. This made me realize that maybe I was a hypochondriac and that the pain I was experiencing was just because of my anxiety. I looked it up online and it all made sense to me. It also made me realize that my lack of insurance made me very paranoid that I won't have the medical care I need if something were to happen to me.

After my first experience dealing with hypochondria, I dealt with many more. Of course, I am not the only person out there that with this. People far and wide have to live their lives every day being a hypochondriac, fearing illness and death all because of some pain they may be feeling. They spend hours online obsessively searching for what’s possibly wrong with them and then get worked up if some of the symptoms result in cancer or death. It could be a small headache and they think they have brain cancer or a chest pain and they think they are going to have a heart attack.

Then, their anxiety over their symptoms turns into them experiencing more symptoms that may not even be actual pain or anything they should worry about. They take countless trips to the emergency room or make endless doctor’s appointments because they are so convinced that something is really wrong with them and that they might be dying. Even after the doctor says they are healthy and they find nothing wrong, they still worry that they missed something crucial. They go through numerous remedies and medicines to see if anything works or relieves their pain. They even try convincing themselves that they are fine and that they are just freaking out about it for no reason. No matter what they do though, they can't seem to get the thought out of their head that tells them, "There is something wrong with you."

Being a hypochondriac really affects your life and may even change it. You will be hyper-aware of your body and how it functions and the slightest changes may set you off. You can’t talk about infections or diseases without worrying if you have it yourself and you might not even think about pursuing any medical jobs because of your anxiety surrounding your health. You may even avoid certain activities because you are scared they will cause you to get some kind of disease or infection.

If you experience these things, know that you are not alone. Please get help or go to a psychiatrist if it starts affecting your daily life and avoid looking up your symptoms on Google because that can be your worst enemy. I know this is scary, but one day it will get better and you won’t be as worried about your health anymore.