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Chat gpt has actually been really useful for health anxiety spirals as it allows me to share all my worries and it does a pretty good job of talking me down. I’m not usually a fan of AI and I understand this is reassurance seeking behaviours which isn’t ideal but it allows me to worry and it actually gives me practical advice and reasons why I might be overreacting to a minor symptom.

I have health anxiety for 3 years with constant worry of having one illness. I everyday wake up will look in the mirror of my tongue and these goes on more than 10 times a day and I will stare at the mirror for 5 min at least
Just feeling so tired mentally :(
I am planning to see a psychiatrist as my therapist has recommended me too
I worry a certain illness will appear on my tongue :( even after seeing experts saying that it is healthy :(

The what ifs are really arghh

I have health anxiety over my kids and it's so tiring! Who wants to chat and can relate?

I'm making a bracelet with charms symbolising my mental health issues. But I don't know what to choose for health anxiety. I don't mean awareness ribbons. I mean symbols like for bpd there could be a ladybug and for depression maybe a black dog. So what do you think about health anxiety?

They're just like meh I'll be fine in a couple of days. They eat expired food like "it's fine. worst case scenario I get a little sick" they feel achy their first thought is "let me get some rest" not "what is happening to my organs" like how do they do it? How do you achieve this level of peace with the unpredictable nature of our existence

my health anxiety has gotten significantly worse over the course of 2026, and a huge thing i've noticed is that sleep is absolutely VITAL to me feeling like a normal, functioning person. i literally could not stay asleep last night for no identifiable reason. so today, i was constantly light headed, had blurry vision, felt anxious and "out of it," etc. i mean, i know that not getting enough sleep affects EVERYTHING negatively, but it's really aggravating to me how much it ruins my whole next day. taking naps doesn't even really improve it... i just have to wait till the next day to hopefully feel normal again. and also, anxiety can make sleeping a lot harder obviously, so it's just a vicious, unfair cycle.

and what worries me is that i didn't always experience this!!! why has my anxiety gotten so so much worse the past couple months? of course, this is where i start getting convinced something is wrong with my brain... being in a human body feels so torturous sometimes.

Hello all,

Since few years i am facing a weird symptom.

I feel like i don’t have my head or i feel extreme light headedness.
I feel like my face is so light that it doesn’t have any strength, due to these reasons i am facing extreme anxiety.
I went to several doctors but they are not able to identify.

This feeling is with me 24/7

I’ve gone 6 times this year for heart anxiety what about you??

I was thinking, if a person has a low cardio fitness. Then they can get a faster heart beat faster than other people. This can lead them to think they’re having a panic attack, which can further increase their bpm. And if a person has a really low cardio fitness(but otherwise healthy), can it make someone tired, which can be seen by health care workers as depression? When in reality it’s just low cardio fitness? I’m not a doctor, so don’t take anything I say as health advice, and do your own research before doing any kind of exercise, especially intensive exercise.

[DISCORD] CLICK HERE To find a support system in our growing health anxiety community.

Welcome to r/HealthAnxiety. Check out our community user flairs, and attach one to your username!

Use this megathread for vents, rants, worries, fixations, DAEs, finding support/advice, finding reassurance, symptom focused content, or the like. If you are mainly focused on your physical symptoms, this would be the thread to use. You may also be redirected here if you choose not to follow rule #3 regarding post titles, if it is categorized as one of the post types above, or if the content is too detailed. Remember this is not a place to give or ask for medical/pharmaceutical/veterinary advice, or promote/sell alternative medicines/therapies/products/subscriptions. Please focus on "Health Anxiety" which is defined here. Please avoid displacing others who are looking for support regarding their health anxiety by using other appropriate subreddits for things that are non-HA related ( r/Anxiety, r/depression, r/AskDocs, r/socialanxiety, r/mentalhealth ). Take the time to comment on each other's entries to show some support while we traverse through HA together.

Only post a standalone thread if it mainly includes the mental aspect of Health Anxiety. Everything else goes in this thread. This megathread is used to prevent any unnecessary distress on somebody who is not mentally prepared to engage with the above content (Imagine scrolling down on your main general feed to relax, but bump into something distressing instead). HA is very unique in which it is very easy for someone to read something/experiences and then come out thinking you may have something after reading it. This is why we take these precautions and use a megathread as navigating through social media is one of the many challenges that our community members face on a daily basis. We are here to accommodate everyone at various stages of their HA. To address visibility concerns the thread is sorted by "New", so that it acts as its own reddit feed. An example of a post would be redirected here:

• "Does anyone else feel like this?" + "Insert Symptoms" -> Use this megathread

Although not required we do encourage the use of: 1) A trigger warning header (TW) which gives warning to redditors of what the comment will be discussing about, and/or 2) Spoiler text which blocks out any details that redditors may accidentally read >!and find distressing.!< You can apply this via two methods:

• a) Desktop: highlight the word/sentence/paragraph and click on the "Diamond exclamation point" icon to apply spoiler text
• b) Mobile: Surround your text with the following symbols like so:

&#8203;

>!spoiler text goes here!<

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬:

• CALM APP offers meditations, and other guided mental health activities.
• STOP GOOGLING SYMPTOMS with the FOREST APP
• Medito App offers mindful guided meditations: Also has breathing exercises, walking meditations, mantra meditations and sessions to help you deal with stress, anxiety, pain and low-mood (100% free, no ads, no sign-up required)
• Check out ASMR. Here's an intro video that explains ASMR for anyone unfamiliar, by Gibi ASMR. If you like it, there's tons more!
• Breathwrk Breathing Exercises app on the App Store
• Sanvello app for anxiety & depression on the App Store
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America is a great resource.
• Freedom From Fear's mission is to positively impact the lives of all those affected by anxiety, depression, and related disorders through advocacy, education, research, and community support. 
• r/HealthAnxiety's "Daily Mental Health Activity" calendar located on the sidebar (for desktop) or in the about section under the rules (for mobile).
• r/HealthAnxiety's Rabbit Holes: 1) Advice and Empowerment 2) Memes & 3) Resources
• Our Wiki has more resources here.

^(UPDATE: The thread is now monthly to accommodate redditors who would post 1-2 hours before the thread would refresh (and basically not get any engagement). Now instead of that happening 4 times a month it will only happen once a month. The thread refreshes on 1st day of each month. To avoid the spam rule, please post as usual as if it was a daily thread.)

About a couple of weeks ago I was supposed to get lab work done to follow-up on something found in previous labs, but I’m avoiding it. It simply feels too hard to face what this could end up being. It feels hard to breathe when I think about it.

I have severe atopic dermatitis, which I’ve had since I was a baby. My new derm ordered me to get labs to see if I’m able to safely get on dupixent. My labs revealed that I have very high levels of LDH, or, lactate dehydrogenase (levels were in the 500s) in my blood stream. During my appointment the derm told me she isn’t super convinced something is wrong, as it could be due to the state of my dermatitis and what it is doing inside my body, but noted that this type of thing is commonly seen in people with DANCER.

I ofc did some research once I got home and all I can find about this was people talking about having DANCER and that it is a likely indicator of having it. That, or working out (I don’t work out). I also seen that someone at my levels likely means something is very wrong and it means there is severe tissue damage.

I am frozen and facing this is so hard. It doesn’t help that every time I get on YouTube, the first video recommendation is always someone with DANCER. To me, it feels like confirmation.

Does anyone feel like they are reassured and recovering one moment, knowing you are safe from what you feared, only for the anxiety and dread to slam into you like a truck once you're exposed to a 'medical' environment?

I was at a private testing center to get a blood draw for my iron levels. I saw a couple of ambulances passing by with the sirens on. I was doing so good till that moment only to feel immense dread and psychosomatic sensations the next moment. It was worse when I sat in the chair. I haven't been able to calm down yet, 2 hours later.

I see all of you go and get tests but mine paralyzes me into seeking treatment. I have severe cardiophobia and my anxiety symptoms have been manifesting in ways where I constantly think I am in heart failure. I have a terrible fear of getting news that I am terminally ill or I have a disease that is going to progress and it is irreversible. I dont even like going to see my PCP much less the ER. The last few doctor appointments he told me that I'm fine. Everything feels so real and I cant get past this crisis. How do you guys deal with this?? Do you have the "need every test" or "avoid doctor at all cost" type?

Just as i felt like life was going back on track my HA flares up again right before a huge event i have to attend. I cant do this shit anymore, im 15 and im living every fucking day of my life on the edge. I shouldnt be thinking about death and ailments, im a fucking teenager i need to go hang out with friends,play video games, succeed academically but oh no i just have to be a unreasonable human being who believes everything in his body is a rare terminal illness

So I’ve always had GAD - like since birth. However, when my mom got sick and I watched the progression of her illness, the generalized aspect began to get more focused on health. Then, after she passed away 1.5 years ago (which I witnessed and have severe PTSD from due to several things being missed and neglected ultimately resulting in her earlier departure), my anxiety has been completely centered around my health, my kids, and my husband and it is totally and utterly out of control. Not one day goes by where I don’t convince myself or hyperfixate on something health related. My son bonked his head earlier and was making sounds in his sleep - so naturally, I of course spiraled. I am a freaking therapist myself and in treatment for all of this but the cycle is vicious and it’s a terrible spot to be in. It feels never-ending. I’m not sure if any of you can relate but 50% of the time I’m crying because I’ve convinced myself something ominous is happening to me, my kids (terrified to leave them - they are a toddler and a baby), or my husband. The OTHER 50% is me crying over this mental illness!! I just feel so distraught by my own brain and depressed that THIS is how i live? Psychologically, it is a beast. And even when trying to rationalize with logic, you can only go so far right - because life and health ARE unpredictable. Anything could happen at anytime and I don’t know it’s just awful

im constantly thinking about my health and fixating on it , my mental health has been terrible most of my life and im always thinking of the worst that can happen to me , how do i fix this ? i have to live my life being incredibly cautious now . its making my life hard to live on a daily basis and i start crying randomly when i think about it even in public . i need help . if anyone has any tips for what eases their mind about this or gets them by day to day please share it with me . it would mean a lot .

I TRULY NEED HELP THIS IS MAKING ME NOT ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT ANYMORE EITHER

I had my first panic attack last October(I’m 22), and I haven’t been the same since. Constant panic for weeks on end. And yes, when I say constant I mean CONSTANT. I haven’t had minutes where I felt normal again, maybe just when I was sleeping. It is kinda hard for me to even remember when I felt normal last. During the past 3-4 months, I’ve been doing better. But now I am back into a spiral, where i am almost constantly aware of my heart, breathing when doing even the smallest movements and I over check my body almost “hoping” to find something. I am fully convinced there is something wrong with my health, because I refuse to accept that I could ever feel like this for days on end. It is truly a paradox to me, I barely feel present anymore. I just miss the old me. I hate that every appointment I go to they just tell me I’m fine, it’s almost that I want them to find something so I know I’m not crazy. Of course I don’t want to be sick but idk😭 I’m starting exposure therapy on Monday with a different therapist, but I have this constant feeling that there is actually something wrong with my health and it’s not anxiety. How do I get over that??? How will I ever know if I’m ill or not lmao.

Considering going virtual for my health anxiety because in person is impossible to get into near me. But I keep second guessing whether it's as good.

People who've tried both was there a noticeable difference or is it basically the same?