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Hypochondria is defined as excessive worry or concern about one’s health. While not everyone deals with diagnosable hypochondriasis, many people are experiencing heightened and excessive worry about their health due to COVID-19.  It is not easy to deal with health anxiety when everywhere you go there are new updates and reminders that we are currently living in a global pandemic. Even with following the safety guidelines issued by the CDC, the anxiety and stress can work against you and influence your immune system. Which means you may not have COVID but you may get sick from worry nonetheless. Here are some things during this time that could help you if you struggle with health anxiety:

Temper your media consumption 

While it is important to keep up with the things happening in the world, it is also easy to overdo it. Constantly being bombarded with information that stresses you out can have the capacity to work against you. Make sure to take some time away from the media and internet so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Turn to your hobbies and self care to help curb the stress.

Practice personal protection 

Even as more people are getting vaccinated, and choosing to engage socially, consider what you need to protect yourself. Six feet is the minimum for social distancing out in public, if you find yourself surrounded by people who don’t respect that distance, don’t be afraid to assert your space. Continue to wear masks and face shields, carry hand sanitizer with you and wash your hands when you can. Also make sure to wash your hands when you get home. 

Consider what you need to boost your immune system 

Exercise and a balanced diet are not only good ways to preoccupy yourself and your mind but they are the first defense you have against getting sick. Keeping your body and mind healthy will help strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy in the long run.

Seek out medical help when necessary 

If you are feeling sick, or worried and stressed, seek out help. Talk therapy could be beneficial and helpful for a variety of reasons beyond hypochondria. But your health anxiety may cause you to seek out help more often than necessary. Doctors are one of our first defenses against the virus. Many doctor’s offices are booked at this time, and emergency room wait times are quite long.  Create awareness of your body, your patterns, and your physical feelings.  Keep a diary of what you are feeling and assess if you need to go to the doctor.  

Seek out trustworthy sources

Find sources that you can trust and stick to those. This digital era has brought unlimited knowledge and information to our fingertips. And while that is a great advantage for many reasons, it also means that there is a lot of contradicting information and non-accredited sources that can contribute to that knowledge. Be careful where you get your information and make sure the source is trustworthy.

Understand how you best manage stress

Each of us handles stress and anxiety in different ways. Recall moments in your past where you have felt the way you feel now and try to remember what worked for you. Acknowledge how you are feeling and discover what works best for you. Whether it’s help like therapy or selfcare, reading or meditating, do what you need to in order to promote your mental wellbeing.

References 

Burfitt, E. (2020, March 18). How to deal with health anxiety during a pandemic. Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-deal-with-health-anxiety-during-a-pandemic#How-to-stop-worrying-about-COVID-19

(IPD), B. (2021, January 05). Managing health anxiety during covid-19 and flu season. Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://www.dupagemedicalgroup.com/health-topic/managing-health-anxiety-during-covid-19-and-flu-season

March is Women’s History Month. We want to salute and pay homage to the incredible women who have paved the way! Here in America, groups of women have always been the backbone of movements and moments in time that have extraordinary impact. Women worked courageously to free Black slaves during the Abolitionist Movement. Women fought for their own rights during the Suffrage Movement. During World War II millions of women took the responsibility of working while simultaneously caring for their families. Daily, women juggle full-time employment, business ownership, partnering, and parenting. Women have paved the way in academia, entertainment, business, and government.

We love the strength, tenacity, courage, willingness, compassion, and love that women embody. And we also know all too well, that the weight of these titles and roles can grow increasingly heavy. Carrying such a load can take a toll on the mental and emotional health of women. We are not exempt from hurt, pain, trauma, and abuse. As a matter of fact, women are more likely to be survivors of trauma and abuse.

While we are on the frontlines of these movements and moments, it is a necessity for women to make their mental health a priority. As we are taking on multiple roles and giving our full attention to all of our duties, our mental health may be in jeopardy if we are not attending to ourselves with love. At times, mental health issues, can lead to physical health issues, therefore we cannot stress the importance of creating awareness of how you are doing mentally.

Here are 10 ways that you can take good care of your mental health:

• Going to therapy consistently 
• Assessing your own needs and wants 
• Taking regular days off from work 
• Identifying the duties that you are not getting paid for as work 
• Engaging in hobbies that are fun and fulfilling
• Implementing boundaries
• Leaning on others for support 
• Asking others for help 
• Loving on yourself with compassionate self-talk 
• Acknowledging your own thoughts and feelings as valid 

Women, you are amazing! We salute and thank you for all that you. Keep filling your own cup, so that others can benefit from the overflow of your greatness!

Our lives are full of internal and external stimuli that are fighting for our attention.  It is this fighting that makes it difficult to achieve a state of awareness. There is traffic, lunch, schedule, kids, dogs, parents, fears, anxiety, depression, partners, deadlines, bills, health, loneliness and the list goes on. It is easy to judge and dread the list. We are not going to really talk about the list in this post but for now I will say that the  list exists and it is not the work of mindfulness to make the list not exist. 

Mindfulness can be described as a state of awareness of ourselves moment to moment without judgement. One of the skills we try to develop with a mindfulness practice is the ability to be aware and to stay in that state of awareness. When we are in a state of awareness, we get to use one of my favorite life tools – intention.  Living with intention is the best way to live a life that has meaning to us. You develop your ability to access mindfulness through practice.

One of the mindfulness exercises I give my clients most often is the daily activity mindfulness exercise.  There is something you do everyday.  Brushing your teeth. Wash your hands. Wash your hair. Take a shower.  Any of these activities are activities like them will work. I suggest it be something you do daily that is relatively simple and rote.  I describe the daily activity you use as being your anchor or safety line.

We will use brushing teeth as our example.  While you brush your teeth you are going to concentrate on brushing your teeth and only on brushing your teeth.  You can look at the brush. What color is the brush? What does the toothpaste look like? What does the toothpaste taste like? What does the toothbrush feel like on your teeth, your gums, your tongue? Allow your mind to explore and notice anything about brushing your teeth.

While you are trying to keep your awareness on brushing your teeth, other thoughts will want to arise. You will wonder what you will wear that day or worry about that email you are dreading to send. It’s okay.  Simply recognize the thought and return your attention to brushing your teeth.  Don’t judge the thought.  Don’t judge yourself for having the thought. Gently acknowledge and return your attention to brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is your anchor that helps you easily redirect your attention.

Spoiler, this is going to be so frustrating.  You are going to get distracted over and over again.  That is fine.  It is not a test.  It is a practice.  It is about strengthening your ability but definitely not about perfecting it.  We want to spend more and more of our time in a state of awareness because from that state of awareness oh the places we can go…

This is more of an educational post for those of you who don’t know the inner workings of therapy.  Some people think therapists give you advice.  Some people think therapists tell you what’s wrong with you.  We don’t.  We listen to you.  We give you space to talk and to be.  The more we sit with clients, giving them our undivided attention, the more clients open up and talk.  The more clients open up and talk, the more we can understand them better and in turn help them understand themselves.  There is so much power in presence.

We ask questions, tons of questions.  To get to know our clients better.  To hear their stories, to bear witness to them as humans.  To validate them.  And the thing is, we aren’t just listening.  We are attending.  While we listen to you, we are making connections to your past, present, and future.  We are tuned into what you are saying and what you are not saying.  We are skilled with tools and techniques to help.  We are so in tuned to our clients that we can discern which techniques will help and when, and which ones won’t.

Therapists are not interested in quick fixes or making our clients feel better.  Clearly, we don’t want you to feel worse.  Of a truth, the goal is to decrease symptoms.  Yet “feeling better” comes with helping you understand yourself better.

So, if you are on the fence about therapy or are considering therapy, I hope this helps to educate you on a piece of the therapeutic process.  It’s worth the investment, it’s worth the work.

Blessings,
Leslie