While I do not actually have diagnosable hypochondria (far from it), I have been, with some validity, accused of harbouring tendencies in that direction. I do have a habit of jumping quickly to the worst conclusions. I do. It’s the simple truth. But there is something I would like to make clear, through example!
Example the first: Last night I got a headache. My first thought was “oh. What if it’s a brain tumour? I don’t have a phone or internet. If I died of a brain tumour or a stroke or something no-one would ever know”. This would be an example of, yes, jumping to conclusions (or colloquially, ‘hypochondria’–again, I am not a clinical hypochondriac).
Example the second: I have been in a low mood more often than not for the past several months. I have also been fatigued, apathetic, lost interest in many of my favourite activities, and low on appetite, as well as several other symptoms of clinical depression. This led to me thinking “maybe I am depressed” and talking to my counsellor, who administered a questionnaire-thing that indicated that as a very real possibility. This would not be an example of hypochondria, but rather a valid concern.
Personally, I think it’s not actually that hard to differentiate between these two scenarios, or between, say, my recurring fears of skin cancer (“but I don’t remember that mole! I only have, like, a couple of hundred of them! I should be keeping track!”) and my pursuing diagnosis for Aspergers. Like, I think there’s a pretty clear qualitative distinction there.
Strangely, it seems not everyone agrees. Because whenever I do voice a concern regarding my mental health, there’s a couple of responses guaranteed to crop up. “You’re faking it”. “You’re jumping to conclusions”. “How can you be sure?”. And, of course, “stop being such a hypochondriac”.
Look. I am the first to admit that I can be needlessly anxious. This doesn’t just apply to my health–I jump to terrible conclusions all the time. But believe it or not, that’s not all I do. Sometimes I sit myself down, look at the facts, apply them to my situation, and come up with a reasonable conclusion. Sometimes I even get my opinion corroborated by someone else! So the least you* could do is respect that, and understand that when I say I think I’m depressed, or I think I have Aspergers, to understand that this was not a hasty conclusion.
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*to be absolutely clear (because otherwise I suspect someone would say something): I am not referring to anyone in particular with this here “you”.
I think there is a problem with people being overly dramatic. Too bad most people are, including myself; referring here to the whole headache-but-what-if-it’s-a-TUMOR scenerio. I’ve been there, though not quite seriously. More in a “wouldn’t it be sad if this wasn’t actually a headache but…”
I digress. I think valid concerns are fair enough. If you believe you have a disorder/condition you should pursue it. If it ends up being diagnosed, then it can put a mind at ease.
As far as depression goes, I will just point out that depression is very, very, overly diagnosed. I myself have gone into a doctors office saying “i’m having trouble concentrating” and walked out with a prescription for anti-depressants. So if you are exploring that particular diagnosis I reccomend fining a REALLY good therapist and then trying non-medical ways of coping.
um, dude, if you had headaches badly for many months (with the same frequency that you, for example, have less-than-desirable moods), anyone would tell you to maybe get that looked at because there could be something wrong.
maybe it’s just cause i know a lot of people/have experience with dealing with mental health, but i can’t see that as any less valid, at all.