Hypochondria and Medicine

[DrTorkashvand]

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Hello SDN,

This is more of a personal post, my objective here is to get the collective opinion of the many intellectuals on this forum. I am a hypochondriac, and it can get pretty bad at times. However in my pursuit of medicine, nothing has caused anxiety towards my health as of yet, but other daily issues do, on a regular basis. For those that do not know what hypochondria is, it's a condition in which an individual gets anxious about health issues that do not necessarily pertain to them. Now for my main question, can someone with health anxiety make a good doctor? I would argue yes, I've known the symptoms and treatments for different cancers, as specific as certain osteosarcoma I believed I had after a 5th grade soccer injury, and I do have the ability to be logical, I don't always assume I'm terminal. Kind of a funny issue I have but believe me I'd really love to hear what everyone thinks.

 

[Tungsten5]

I'm a slight hypochondriac (always worrying about little deficiencies here or there and the effect of certain behaviors on my health) and my opinion so far is that it makes you aware and concerned of the little things.

Granted worrying about osteosarcoma is a little more extreme and probably won't have this beneficial effect

 

[mmmcdowe]

You dont sound like an actual hypochondriac. You should be fine.

 

[Itisneverlupus]

Oh my god...I think I have that too

 

[theseeker4]

Oh my god...I think I have that too

Strong username to reply to this thread. 👍

 

[DrTorkashvand]

Just a perfect match to the thread. Haha but honestly could someone who self diagnoses on the daily ever make it through medical school? Considering everything you learn on a daily.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

If it's not causing significant impairment in your day-to-day life (social functioning, ability to do work, etc.), then it's not hypochondriasis.

Rather, look at medical student syndrome, which pretty much every medical student has bouts of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_students'_disease

Just a perfect match to the thread. Haha but honestly could someone who self diagnoses on the daily ever make it through medical school? Considering everything you learn on a daily.

If it causes severe impairment such that one cannot perform his med school duties, then he/she may need treatment for what is basically a type of anxiety disorder. Treatment options including cognitive-based therapy and SSRIs.

 

[Pacna]

From my time working in the ED, I can confidently say that most people simply have Unique Snowflake Syndrome. "It's ME, though! It can't be a viral infection! It MUST be bacterial!" "It's ME, though! It must be cancer." etc, etc.

We all do this. We think we're afflicted with one thing and the doc says it's not that. We have that moment of "but, but, but!!!" I think more exposure to medicine will teach you that you, in fact, are not suffering of menopause as a 25 year old male and are more likely just warm because you're wearing a sweater.

 

[Godspeedyou]

That feel when you go through a 12oz bottle of hand sanitizer every week and take 3-4 showers a day

 

[Muffinho]

I was coming down with a sinus infection a few months ago, but didn't have any of the symptoms other than fatigue. The fatigue made me google "Muscle Weakness" (as I wrongly equated fatigue with weakness). The first 5 links were about ALS. I read the symptoms.

The next day I started twitching all over the place. I continued this twitching for about a month. I went to my GP and he said I don't have ALS. A week later, I stopped twitching.

O_0

 

[DrTorkashvand]

I was coming down with a sinus infection a few months ago, but didn't have any of the symptoms other than fatigue. The fatigue made me google "Muscle Weakness" (as I wrongly equated fatigue with weakness). The first 5 links were about ALS. I read the symptoms.

The next day I started twitching all over the place. I continued this twitching for about a month. I went to my GP and he said I don't have ALS. A week later, I stopped twitching.

O_0

I've had similar situations, mostly with fevers, in which I'd have a fever and go to the GP and it would be magically gone when they took my temperature.. That lead me to believe that the fever was brought on by anxiety.

 

[Muffinho]

I've had similar situations, mostly with fevers, in which I'd have a fever and go to the GP and it would be magically gone when they took my temperature.. That lead me to believe that the fever was brought on by anxiety.

Yeah, my GP told me I suffer from anxiety issues. My sister goes to a Naturopath and he gave me some passionflower. I'm not actually sure if it helps with anxiety, just makes me a little drowsy.