by Raj
(USA)
Question:
Dear Adam,
Thanks for wonderful site. What are your views on Hypochondria?
I am a Hypochondriac. I see my mother the same way and I may have inherited it from her, not sure and I am certainly not passing the blame to her.
I constantly scan Internet for solutions and am super concerned about my health.
Any pointers you can provide would be helpful.
Thanks,
Raj
Response:
Hi Raj,
I have no experience with hypochondria, in myself or others, so I’m not really sure what I can say. I don’t really know how it feels, the intensity of it etc.
All I could say is that it probably feels as if there is an intense energy inside the body that has become paranoid and afraid. It probably feels dense and heavy and frantic and shaky, and it does not want to be destroyed. It is a kind of life-energy that is seeking survival, wanting to be maintained.
So you can’t fight with it. Logic or reason does not appear to work, since it is energetic rather than being an outcome of thinking. So rather than thinking more about it, treat it as an energy inside you. You can not seem to remove the energy or let it go, but you could ask yourself some questions.
1. Who would you be without this energy of hypochondria?
2. Does it help to keep you healthy?
3. Do you actually want it to be gone? Really - how would it feel if it was gone and you were without it?
Ask yourself the questions, give them some space, no need to hurry. Then read on
For number 1. - if it feels uncomfortable, like you are losing your sense of self, if you can not stand this initial discomfort, then that might be a reason for it sticking around. If you can take the diminishment in identity, allow it to crumble, you may be aware that you are more like an empty space, rather than a condition that arises within it.
For number 2.- if you feel it is keeping you healthy, then it is unlikely it will go, since you will want to keep it so that you can remain well. If you feel it does not keep you healthy, that if anything it makes you more likely to become sick, then allow this. If it is seen that it is no longer serving you, if there is no resistance to it, then it has space to dissolve.
For number 3- you may get a “no”, which may be a surprise. Is there something inside that secretly likes it, which enjoys all the worry and drama?
With all that said, notice the hypohondria as it arises. Does it come in waves? Is it there all the time? If it is there all the time, is it really? Is there no second where you are distracted from it? You can let the energy be there. If you take a moment to actively let it be there, you may not feel so sucked in to it. Once the attention is no longer facsinated by it, when it is allowed, it has space to be released.
So, that’s all I can really say, I hope some of that could help in some way. None of this is qualified medical advice.
Adam