Brief Answer: Let us live in present and be happy Detailed Answer: Dear XXXX Welcome to HCM We understand your concerns I went through your details. I suggest you not to worry much. You do not need psychiatric intervention because of two reasons: 1. You are already having anti-anxiety medications. 2. You do not have significant panic attack symptoms which warrants psychiatric SSRI drugs. You need to understand anxiety first. Let me try. Fear is objective. When we see a snake, we fear. We have palpitation, goose bumps, gasping, sweat etc. These are body reactions to the fear inducing subject. Adrenaline is the hormone responsible for this. By this reaction, your body is made ready for the next eventuality, to run or to fight. Your body is made perfectly ready. This reaction is also called "Fight or Flight Syndrome". Anxiety subjective. Imagining a snake and producing all those symptoms of fear is anxiety. Apprehension of a future event and panicking is anxiety. Fearing about an event which might or might not happen in the future and embarrassing self. Anxiety (GAD) is a disorder and not a disease. diseases needs medication and mental disorders don't need them. Here, in your case, you are anxious about your body. You are worrying that you might have some life threatening diseases and you are over exaggerating every symptom your body produces. This Anxiety disorder is called "Hypochondriasis". Hypochondriasis or hypochondria (sometimes referred to as health phobia or health anxiety) refers to excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the condition of body or mind despite the absence of an actual medical condition. Treating hypochondriasis is easy because it is just a disorder coming out of unawareness about self. You are worrying about your body, diseases, health, death, some impending evil etc. Can you make sure that nothing will happen to you in the future? Can anyone give you guarantee that you will not suffer from any serious diseases in the future? Can anyone guarantee that your life will be peaceful throughout life period? No one can. And that is basis of your treatment. Our yogis always say "forget the past because it is over and you can't change it. Don't worry about your future because you do not have any control over it, live in present and enjoy it". These are not my words. These words are wisdom handed over generations to generations and still are golden. This golden rule is to be understood and applied in your life. Once you understand the proper meaning of these golden words, your problem will be solved. Anxiety treatment has a three pronged strategy: 1. Breath deep (not hurting or not straining) and have plenty of oxygen whenever possible. 2. Drink plenty and plenty of water and other fruit juices.A tomato a day keeps anxiety away. 3. Practice relaxation twice daily. Sit in a quite place comfortably. Close your eyes. Gently clasp your hands and jeep them on your lap. Breath deep slowly. Relax and Relax. Feel you are relaxing. Try to focus your attention on your breathing. If the thoughts wander, no problem, let it be. Bring your attention gently back to the breathing whenever you are aware of your thoughts. This is called "mindfullness". Don't worry about anything. Just relax. Twice daily 20 minutes each. Combining these three valuable strategies and self awareness will bring forth good result. Just make sure that you become aware of your self. Means you are nothing. You do not have any control over your future. No one ever had and will have. A healthy person can die anytime due to so many reasons. We see such incidences every day. Whom to blame? Therefore, wise people always say - Worrying about one's future is foolishness, such worries eventually ruin their present day also. Let us live in present and be happy. Please become wise and see your problem vanishing. God bless you. Available for further followup questions. Good luck. Dr. K V Anand PhD.

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Brief Answer: NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE YOUR ABILITY Detailed Answer: Dear XXXX The treatment for anxiety starts when you accept you have it. You are on the right path. I am sure about it. The tips I gave you are not tips. But they are real treatment. The method we used successfully for so many hypochondriacs. I am sure that I will succeed again in your case. You are feeling tired, foggy, depersonalized, having blurred vision. I understand that and that is normal with every anxiety patient. I can clearly explain it. It is because of the anxiety habit. Anything we do will be our habit if we do it continuously for some time. That is organic and in your case, preoccupation, apprehension made you to be lazy and tired (fearing working, movement and preferring to be alone, still, lazy etc). That continued and your organic system took it for granted and it became habit. Such habit is to be overcome with persistent work. You need to make a new habit which overcomes this lazy habit. "Work and worship work" is the key. For the next 15 days, try not to sit idle. Work hard, exercise, meditate as I told, talk, jump, run and do what ever you can, but don't sit idle. Body and mind will resist, never heed. ignore the tiredness and body ache. Make this routine a HABIT. I can assure you, within that 15 days, you should see significant change in your hypochondriasis. AND NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE YOUR ABILITY. YOU ARE PERSON WHO LIVED SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE ANXIETY, KNOWING YOU HAVE IT. THAT ITSELF IS A HUGE SUCCESS. I am sure, you can do more than that. More.... so that the problem is totally cured. God bless you. Dr. K V Anand PhD

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