Stress Center Peer Support

I have the same problem sometimes. It got so bad at one point that I announced to family and friends to please NOT tell me about people they knew who had this or that disease or who died from what!!!!!!!
I didn't want to hear it anymore.....because I too would get caught up in all the negatives of it and would wind up really anxious as a result.
Now when I hear stuff, I listen and try not to attach myself to it, offer an ear or a shoulder where I can and really try to see the positive side of things.
Plus I try not to watch ER, Gray's Anatomy..those types of shows.....I can control that, but sometimes you can't always control what people are going to tell you or what you will hear.
Good topic, one that we can all relate to at some point in our life. It wasn't until I realized all about anxiety, that I discovered how sensitive I was to other peoples diseases/disorders/symptoms!!!!

See, thank you everyone for your responses. I knew I could count on you guys for getting me back on track. I appreciate all the responses-newrunner, who wrote "The Highly Sensitive Person" book?? and Stock Lady-thank you for telling me its alright for me to be happy-that is definitely a problem for me when I am surrounded by all this. I will take a piece of info from each one of you and learn to not take on everyone else's problems, be it health or whatever like Flyer99 mentions.

Thanks again.

Karla

Oh, and formyboys, that book "Bounderies" does look good-thanks for that too.

My thing also, is hypochondriasis. I am on my fourth week. I don't know if I screwed up, but I skipped to the session about obsessive-scary thoughts, because that is huge for me. I am very conscious of my pulse all the time. I am also very intune with what goes on with my head. I fear a heart attack/or something heart related or a brain tumor or anureysm. Can someone give me word of wisdom?
Thank you.

Okay. I too suffer from hypochondriasis. So, reading this forum really helped me to realize that I am not alone.....lots of us here have the same condition. However, I have also realized that we have a condition that we CAN and WILL overcome.....eventually.

I am in the same boat with you. I get tired of hearing about everyone else's diseases and terminal illnesses...it takes a huge toll on me. I begin experiencing "symptoms" and/or aches pains, etc.

It sounds to me that there are a lot of you who have read some really inspiring books to help you cope with this issue. Could someone please make a recommendation and tell me where I can get a copy????

Thanks so much