Webster's Dictionary describes panic as: a sudden overwhelming fear that produces hysterical behavior and that can spread quickly through a crowd; an instance, outbreak, or period of such fear, an anxiety disorder characterized by feelings of impending doom and physical symptoms such as trembling and hyperventilation; and the last one listed is a sudden widespread fear that the economy is faltering....
Stress, Fear, Panic - The Ripple Affect!
For a person suffering from hypochondria panic attacks are almost a way of life. I am not totally convinced that even in total recovery the attacks go away forever. The reason I say this, is because I believe things like 911 and the "Blackout of 2003" cause enough fear and feelings of impending doom upon the public, that we will end up with even more hypochondriacs than before each event. Those of us who have been in recovery from active hypochondria have slight relapses which bring about panic attacks.
Each and every day the news programs of today provide any number of opportunities for a hypochondriac to experience psychological terrorism.
An example of Psychological Terrorism can be when a new disease is discovered and everywhere a person turns, such as radio, television, movies or even conversations at work focus upon that disease. A hypochondriac will learn as much as possible. They will seek out information past what the news programs or even the newspapers are offering them. Off to the library they will travel, going to any lengths to discover if they too have had too much exposure to radiation, or the latest black plague disease and the list can go on forever.
Before I became a healthier person (which I did one day at a time using some of the methods I share about in my other articles,) there were so many diseases that I truly believed plagued my body. Some of which were real and some phantom. What I am mean is, I obsessed on having the problem for such long periods, and learned so much about the disease or problem, that I began to own the problem. The disease became mine psychologically and emotionally. This ownership in the end began to travel to further depths and finally I physically owned some of the diseases.
Terrorism, yes... the terrorist itself was my own belief system believing whatever was wrong with the world might be, or was wrong with me. Therefore, I would begin my trips to the doctors to see if I had whatever it was being reported that week. Most of the time, the outcome would be that I had 'irritable whatevers'... you know those diagnoses, the ones that the doctor gives people who worry so much that their stomach and bowel system is unhealthy. Terrorism of believing you are ill. Well there is a way to be free of this problem. When you are watching television or reading a book and you come across a new disease you have not heard about before, ignore this new information. Say to yourself, "it would probably not be helpful to me as a hypochondriac to learn about a new illness." Then go on about your merry way, being blessed to be ignorant of that one bit of information. Recovery starts there. Stamp out psychological terrorism.
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