Anxiety is a beast. This emotion covers a vast range of feelings, thoughts, body responses, triggers, and so much more. It is simultaneously a casual term for small flutters in your stomach to intense disorders requiring therapy, medication, and more to function. Anxiety is extremely personal and individual, so it may manifest in different ways and for various reasons.
If you experience anxiety, you may find yourself worrying about many different things. Work, relationships, socializing, and family issues are just some of the everyday things that cause worry.
But what about physical health?
Though often overlooked or written off as something every does, anxiety over physical health is actually a common thing. But especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, people are more worried than ever before about their health.
While this worry is completely valid and can be based in a lot of facts, this worry about physical health is taking a toll on many peoples’ mental health — and possibly yours, too.
Anxiety Over Being Sick
Fear or anxiety about being sick is nothing new. When we have an abnormal ache, pain, or cough, it’s normal to question what may be causing it. This is a survival instinct in humans, because a lack of awareness can be detrimental. But most aches and pains are typically just the result of being human - though it’s a good idea to see a doctor for lingering conditions. So while many of us feel anxious about our health sometimes, it’s typically not a long-lasting concern.
When the anxiety becomes all consuming about your physical well-being, this can edge into hypochondriac territory. Hypochondria is a condition that makes some people have a more consuming fear of illness. If you suffer from hypochondria, you may be always worried about having a heart attack, getting cancer, or contracting a rare disease anytime something feels slightly amiss. Hypochondria affects the way people can live their lives and can be completely debilitating. However, most people who experience anxiety over health are not hypochondriacs, though the term is commonly misused.
Anxiety and the COVID-19 Pandemic
When the pandemic began, a new wave of panic and fear about physical health set in.
COVID-19 was spreading rapidly, but we still didn’t have much information about it. The fear of a deadly virus sent many people into a state of panic. While we may have more information about COVID-19 now, if you ever felt (or still feel) panicked about COVID-19, you aren’t alone. Your fears are valid, and it can be really hard to cope with them when you feel panicked.
But it’s essential to keep in mind that while concern over the pandemic is one thing, panic is another.
When you’re anxious about your physical health, it’s easy to lose sight of reality. In the first few months of the pandemic, a majority of news coverage talked about the deaths associated with COVID-19. This was (and is) exhausting mentally to consume on a daily basis, so anxiety is normal. Of course the virus can be deadly, but it’s not productive to endlessly worry about catching it in a way that prevents you from maintaining your life.
Instead, you have to find a balance that protects yourself and others. This means taking the necessary precautions for yourself and doing what you can to stay safe, but it’s important to still try and maintain a routine of some capacity that adjusts back into your life as best as you can for the foreseeable future. Of course, this definitely isn’t always an easy or simple process for many people. So how do we let go of health-related anxiety?
Coping With Health-Related Anxiety
When you feel panicked about your health, the very first thing to do is stop and take some deep breaths. Then take a minute to consider exactly what you’re panicked about: do you have symptoms of anything? Have you been around anyone who has COVID-19? If the answer is no, remind yourself that your anxiety is getting the best of you. Bring yourself back into the present moment, here and now.
If the answer is yes, then it’s still a good idea to take a few deep breaths and try to remain calm. You can then schedule a COVID-19 test or appointment with your doctor. Even if it is the literal worst-case scenario, being trapped in a state of panic will only make you feel worse.
Take a Break
Another good way to cope with anxiety — especially when it’s COVID-related anxiety — is to take a break from checking the news or social media. The media that you consume on a weekly, daily, and hourly basis greatly impacts the state of your mind. It’s really easy to slip into worry when all you see is bad news flooding your news feeds regularly.
Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you have to delete all your social accounts. There are some great benefits of connection and community, especially when physical socializing is limited. However, you can consider setting boundaries for yourself. This can include getting apps that limit your screen time on social media, unfollowing people or pages that often share triggering information, or finding new sources of news that are less consuming.
Ask for Help
If your anxiety feels like it’s impacting your ability to live and function regularly, it may be a bigger mental health consideration. You might want to consider seeing a therapist to work on processing the deeper-seeded feelings around the anxiety. Therapy is an incredible tool that can help you work through your anxiety, be it health related or not, and find ways to cope.
The pandemic has been scary, and it’s okay to admit that. But you don’t have to drown in anxiety over your health. Talking to a therapist can be instrumental in helping you calm your panic down and gain back control over anxiety. Whenever you feel ready for support, we’re here to help you address the anxiety in your life in a safe space.
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Prospect Therapy is a queer + trans affirming therapy practice based in Long Beach, CA, with a focus on mental health for first-generation, immigrant, and bicultural communities. We continue to provide online therapy for a variety of mental wellness and relationship concerns to clients throughout the state of California. Learn more about how we bring lived experience to our work with LGBTQ+ folks of all ages in our communities by requesting a consultation below.