Fear Of Disease Is Killing Me

Nobody desires disease, which is the loss of health. The fear of disease resides in each of us, it is one of the universal fears, together with that of dying and going crazy.

A psychically and physically healthy person does not desire death, as his self-preservation instinct is completely intact. But sometimes the fear of illness and death take on exaggerated proportions, making the individual’s existence more and more difficult.

Living can become very difficult when our existence is steeped in the fear of disease, pain and death. It can even happen that they are so intense that they cause such unbearable suffering that it leads to suicide, in the most extreme cases.

The fear of disease is real

Hypochondriac people are, par excellence, those who most identify with these fears. These fears usually make these individuals particularly apprehensive and pessimistic.

They imagine a future full of pain, infections, malaise, incurable diseases, etc. It is not uncommon for them to end up exhibiting compulsive attitudes about hygiene, washing their hands several times a day to regain the feeling of control.

Another characteristic of hypochondriac people is the continuous self-observation to which they subject their body. Every little discomfort (imperceptible sensations, skin spots, etc.) is interpreted as a symptom of some serious or fatal disease. They subject their organism to continuous analysis, observing it with an imaginary magnifying glass capable of magnifying any slightest signal they encounter.

This generates a strong feeling of anxiety, which leads them to go to their doctor very often. However, they are plagued by constant doubts that arise from the insecurity that underlies their personality. For this reason, they cannot calm down even when the doctor assures them that they are perfectly healthy. On the other hand, although they understand that their behavior can be unusual, they consider it logical and coherent as they believe that what they imagine can really happen.

When the disease is psychological

In fact, it is not entirely true that hypochondriac people are perfectly healthy. Their disorder, rather than organic, is psychological. Nonetheless, hypochondriacs refuse to accept the idea that they need psychological therapy.

On the contrary, they usually require their doctor to prescribe all the more complicated tests, including analyzes of all kinds, x-rays, CT scans, electrocardiograms, etc.

In most cases, they are not satisfied with the results of these tests, as they continue to think that their disorders depend on the malfunction of some organ and that no one is able to notice it. At the same time, they doubt any medicine they are prescribed. They read the package leaflets carefully, terrified by the idea of ​​incurring the side effects described therein.

If they decide to take the medicine, which happens only on rare occasions, they find all the side effects by pure suggestion. This leads them to constantly change doctors or consult various doctors to compare their opinions before starting therapy.

Disease as the center of the world

Fear of disease leads hypochondriac people to buy and read medical encyclopedias, health web pages, as well as attend lectures aimed at doctors. They consult these sources whenever they feel the slightest symptom or when someone tells them about the disease contracted by some acquaintance.

Talking about illness causes these people great anxiety, but it is also their favorite conversation topic. In a sense, their whole life revolves around the fear of disease and death.

Today’s society, in which pain has less and less sense, favors the development of hypochondriacal traits, which, therefore, are increasingly frequent. The point is that we live in a society in constant search of comfort, a technological and partly “dehumanized” society.

In other cases, the fear of disease has a real basis. When this is the case, it can be particularly intense. In the event that this situation is prolonged over time, the onset of depressive syndromes is also frequent, as happens for the terminally ill.

In short, people who are afraid of the disease end up making their whole life revolve around the same topic, which prevents them from living their life to the full and being calm. The most severe cases of fear of the disease presuppose the presence of a psychological disorder called hypochondria. Hypochondria can be treated by contacting a mental health professional.