Navigating Health Anxiety in a World of Instant Answers

In this episode, I share my own experience as a former health anxiety sufferer turned coach, and break down one of the biggest patterns I see keeping people stuck… the urgent need for immediate answers.

I talk about how the world we live in has conditioned us to expect instant information at the touch of a button, and how this trains the brain to treat normal bodily sensations as problems to solve. This is what drives behaviours like Googling, checking, and seeking reassurance… things that might soothe you in the moment, but actually reinforce fear and keep the cycle going.

I explain how health anxiety often doesn’t disappear with reassurance, but instead shifts from one symptom to another, and I share a real client example of how daily body-checking can become exhausting and all-consuming.

This episode is a reminder that there is no quick fix. Real recovery comes from retraining your brain and nervous system through consistent practice.

I walk you through the key shift that changes everything… learning to tolerate uncertainty, creating space between sensation and response, and focusing on present-moment safety instead of urgency.

I also share simple ways to start doing this in your day-to-day life, using grounding, breathwork, and attention shifts to help you step out of the cycle and rebuild trust in your body.

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If you’re ready to move beyond health anxiety and start truly healing, I’d love to support you.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Welcome to Healing Beyond Health Anxiety, the podcast for anyone who feels stuck in fear, disconnected from their body, or exhausted from constantly monitoring symptoms and sensations. My name is Amy. I'm an ex-health anxiety sufferer, turned health anxiety coach. After my own health diagnosis and years of living with health anxiety, I know what it's like to feel betrayed by your body, to live on high alert, and to struggle to trust yourself again. Each week we'll have honest conversations about health anxiety, fear, symptoms, and recovery with practical tools and gentle shifts that will help you move forward without pressure. So take a breath, you're in the right place. Let's go. Hello and welcome back to Healing Beyond Health Anxiety. So today's episode is one that I think is going to land deeply for you because we're talking about that constant need for answers. So if you've ever felt the feeling of I just need to know what this is, I just need to figure this out, I just need clarity so that I can finally relax. Then if you've felt that, this episode is for you. Because we know that it doesn't ever feel optional. It feels urgent, it feels super important, it feels like something you have to do. And I really want to slow this down today because this pattern, this need for immediate answers, is possibly one of the biggest things that I see keeping people stuck in health anxiety. And I say that with so much understanding because I've lived in that exact space, as you know, for many years. I specifically remember what it felt like not to be able to leave something alone, to want to get that clarity and those answers, especially when it came down to a sensation. Within seconds, I would be pulled into it. And so, like your brain just grabs it and runs with it. But before we even go into your anxiety, we need to acknowledge something because this isn't just about you, it's about the world that we're living in. We are not used to not knowing anymore. It's a it's a fact. If you think about it, if you don't know something, what do you do? You you Google it. If you want something, you press the button online and you you order it. If you have a question, what do you do? You ask and you get an answer instantly. Now, with our health, that is often something that we don't have instant answers to. Perhaps you've got a symptom at the moment and you've gone to see a doctor, maybe they've referred you or there's a weight now. So you don't have an instant answer anymore. You don't have that thing at the touch of a button. And because of that, because of the world that we live in now, what I see from the work that I do is it only heightens and perpetuates anxiety. Because everything in the world we live in at the moment is available at the touch of a button, apart from our health and how we can, you know, take that control back. So, really what we're talking about is the way that our brain has been trained to believe that if there's a question, there must be an answer. And I should be able to find that answer quickly. And if I can't, then there's a problem. So when something happens in your body, what happens is your brain is going to treat that the same way. It's going to want instant answers. It doesn't see that it's something to observe, it sees that this is something that it could it wants to solve. And if there's a question, there definitely must be an answer, which is why you know we can find ourselves down that rabbit rabbit hole of Googling. Um, and it doesn't see it as something to observe, it sees it as something to solve. So I want to just take this episode just to slow things down a moment and recognize this is a hard place to be because this is the world that we live in. It's not 1985 anymore. And often I say to my clients, I, you know, I wish it was. Back in those days, what did we have? We had a medical encyclopedia, we didn't have instant answers. We were used to waiting. We lived in a world where things didn't happen automatically. But sadly, the world that we live in now, and I guess how health anxiety is really advancing, is that we can get any answer at any moment at the touch of a button. And although it's great, you know, it has many benefits. There are lots of downsides to this too, especially when it comes to our anxiety levels. So maybe the symptom that you have is um something in your chest, in your throat, maybe it's a random sensation, maybe you just feel off. Um, and almost instantly your attention is going to zoom into that particular thing. Then, as we know, the thoughts can start, you know, we can start to what if, what is that? You know, that doesn't feel normal. Has that always been there? What if this is something serious? And at this point, this is when your nervous system has already shifted, okay, because you're no longer just experiencing that sensation, you're now in it, you're in that loop. Um, and then that becomes the urge, the pull to do something, to take back control within that moment. And what we see is that tends to be one of our safety behaviors. So we want to check it, we want to Google it, we want to compare it, we want to ask reassurance from someone. All of these things feel like they are helpful in the moment, but as we know, they are safety behaviors and they only communicate that there is danger, there is a problem, there is something to be solved. Okay, so that urge feels like the solution. It feels like, you know, if I just do this, I'll feel better. But how many times have you ever Googled something and actually ended up feeling worse? Or how many times have you gone on the internet and ended up with more questions than answers? Okay, because what we know is this possibly might give us some temporary relief, but it certainly doesn't give us any lasting relief. And by communicating fear and danger back into our nervous system, we find that you know that thing that possibly might have reassured us was only temporary. It maybe made you feel a bit calmer for a moment, but what happens is then we we get another thought and then another sensation and then another doubt. And there we are, back in, as we know, the hamster wheel of health anxiety going round and round and round. And so what I see is this is where people can get stuck because I guess it feels like they they haven't found the right answer yet. Okay, I guess it feels like I just need to figure this out properly, I just need to get this solution, I just need to sort this out just this one time, and then I will feel better. But as we know, this is the slippery slope of health anxiety, and that one time is never really one time, is it? It's it's a habit, it's a perpetual cycle, and it's really difficult to jump off of this cycle, especially if this is a pattern of behavior, behavior that we've been doing for so long. So it's not really about the answer, I guess, you know, I guess it's more about the pattern. Uh, it's about the pattern and how we feed into it. Because I guess if we're responding with urgency, what our nervous system is learning is there is something that we need to stay alert to. And the more alert that we become, um, the more our body produces sensations, the more that our mind will scan, and the more real all of this feels, because let's be honest, you know, these symptoms, these sensations, everything that we're experiencing isn't made up. Absolutely, these are actual physical things that we're feeling. That the differences are they produced by our body or are they produced by our mind via a heightened nervous system? And that's the really hard part. But the way to tell this apart, and it's a question that I get asked an awful lot, is you know, how do I know if this is health anxiety or not? And the real key is if you are going from one symptom to the next symptom to the next symptom, never really, you know, you find salvation in that one symptom that you were really concerned about. Maybe that's because you've had medical reassurance or you know, you you've come to some uh realization that you're okay, and then it fades, but then the very next day you're on to something else, or the next week you're you're feeling bad again. And this is when I recognized health anxiety in myself because it was relentless. And I I remember thinking, this is really weird because I, you know, I felt bad last week and it was a completely different worry last week. And this week I'm not even concerned about that worry anymore. I'm onto something completely different, a completely different symptom. And last week, that headache that I was massively concerned about doesn't even worry me now because I've had that reassurance, or the doctor, you know, said it's okay, or you know, whatever had happened, I was now onto something completely different. And so if that is a question that's burning in the back of your mind, I want you to know that that's how we get to the point where we can recognise this is health anxiety. We are going to the doctors, we are being told, you know, everything is okay, but yet we're we're going round and round from one thing to the next. So I want to give you a real life example of how this shows up. So I had a client who was waking up every morning, um, and before she even got out of bed, she would check in with her body. She was asking, you know, how do I feel today? Is anything different? Um, and if something felt slightly off, that was it. Like her whole day would completely shift. She'd start watching it, monitoring it, and it didn't have to be, you know, an actual symptom, it could just be a little, a little something that just didn't quite feel right. And she would spend her whole day adjusting, uh adjusting her day around it. Um, but when we looked into this together, it wasn't the symptom or that thing, it was the meaning that she was attaching to it. And not only that, it was the behavior that followed. Because what was happening is her brain had learned check first, then decide if it's safe. Okay, check first, then decide if it's safe. And that was completely exhausting for her. And this is where the quick fix world pulls you right back in. Because when you feel like this, you don't want to sit in uncertainty, you want to get immediate answers. That's your knee-jerk reaction to fear. It feels like the right thing to do, and because we're so used to it, you know. I've done an online shop for my groceries today. We're so used to just pressing the button and it gets delivered, it get it, it comes, that information is there. Then it's really hard to not do that, you know. To not get my groceries delivered means I've got to do something completely different. I've actually got to go outside, and which, you know, I am capable of doing, by the way, but for convenience purposes, that's why I've done it this week. But it's really interesting to recognize that the world that we are living in doesn't serve us, okay? In terms of health anxiety, it is not helping us anyway, because we want this gone. Our brain hates uncertainty, it hates not knowing what the bigger picture is. So, of course, you don't want to sit with uncertainty. You want to have that quick fix. Fix your anxiety first, get rid of the symptoms quickly, try this thing, calm this down instantly. And that's why I see you know, people who have been stuck with health anxiety for a long, long time, or even those who haven't, you know, we are looking for a quick fix all the time. And what I want you to recognise, and this is hard, it's a hard pill to swallow, but there isn't a quick fix. And anybody who who says there is, I think you really have to be careful and err on the side of caution around them because I would never claim to have any quick fix. I have a 21-day reset planner that will help you definitely get the wheels in motion. But I'm not saying that after the 21 days, that's it, you you know, you you quit and you go back to how you were. This is a lifestyle change. And if you think about how long it's taken for you to get to this point, you know, you didn't just wake up with health anxiety one day. This has taken a long time. Equally, it's going to take a long time to move through. And that's precisely why I've now changed my program to six months, because I want to hold your hand for that amount of time. And that seems like a really long time. But actually, the way that I work it out is we have four calls in the first month, and then we do one call for the remaining five months. But I'm with you the whole time, holding your hand, as it were, because this thing does take a long time and it is about consistency and repetitiveness and that cycle of going over and over and over. Because don't forget, we're retraining our neural pathway. We're we're going over and changing our wiring again and again and again until it becomes a habit. We're replacing those habits that didn't serve and we're moving forward with the ones that do. So, of course, you want it gone when you when you want to fix that thing, when you want to get rid of that symptom. Um, but by doing those things from urgency, they're not going to calm your system, they're just going to keep it activated because the underlying message is still, this needs to be fixed. Okay, this needs sorting out. I must get this solution for it. So here's the shift that changes everything. And I want you to really hear this. It's not about getting better at finding answers, it's about becoming more comfortable without them. And I know that that can feel hugely uncomfortable to hear because your brain is going to say, Yeah, but what if it is something dangerous and I have avoided it or I have, you know, become blase and what happens if it's something that I should have paid attention to? And that's okay. I'm not saying completely ignore it. I'm saying put a bit of space in between the symptom arriving and your response. And that's all we're doing when obviously if you feel that you need medical attention, you should definitely go. But what I'm asking you to do is to not do that knee-jerk response to fear. And that's where you gain the power back. Okay, if you can put a little bit of a pause in between the symptom and your response, so take a breath, acknowledge it, recognize it, say I have health anxiety, I know my body does weird and wonderful things sometimes, and sit with it. You have the power then. You are in control, as opposed to our subconscious, when it kicks off, when it wants you to check, Google, etc. etc. That's what's going to keep you stuck. So the work is not about getting getting rid of the thought, it's it's about not following it. Okay. It's about pausing and asking yourself, what is the what is my next move here? And then you can ask yourself, you know, what is the response that is going to to move me forwards? Because if it's if it's something that's going to keep me stuck, that is the knee-jerk reaction to fear. But something that's going to move me forward means that I'm in control. So a pause. What do I do instead? Okay. So let's just bring this back into your day-to-day life. So let's say you feel the urge to check, I want you to pause. When you feel the pull to Google, I want you to pause. When your brain says we need answers, we need to figure this out, I want you to pause. I don't want you to analyse it. I don't even really want you to argue with it. I just want you to notice it. And then I want you to choose something different. So come back to what you were doing before that thought. Bring your attention back into the present moment. Let that sensation be there without needing to problem solve it. And I'm not saying that it will feel easy. This is going to feel really alien to you. It's a different way of responding. And because, as we know, in that fast-paced world that we live, we want to have immediate answers. Sitting with uncertainty is something that oh feels so awkward. It isn't going to feel easy at all. Okay. But this is how you retrain your nervous system to understand that you don't need to have that knee-jerk reaction to fear, that you are in control. And so by small repeated moments of choosing safety over urgency, that's where you're going to take the power back. Okay. So instead of asking yourself all day, you know, what is this? Why is this happening? I want you to start changing the questions that you ask yourself. And this is really key to moving forwards. This is where we're going to find some great leaps forward. Because if we can start asking what would help me feel safe right now in this moment, that is the shift. Okay. That question is going to change everything because we are looking for safety in the now. We are looking to feel safe in this moment. You might not feel it, right? Because you've got that symptom and it's shouting and it wants you to find out information. What can I do to help me feel safe right now? Generally, we are talking about grounding and breathing and bringing us into this present moment right now. If you're sat by a window, that's about looking out the window and looking at the cloud formation or the color of the leaf on the tree. It's about bringing you into the moment right now. Okay, and when we can do that, we do feel safer in that moment. And then we just continually do that, be present in that moment, in that moment, in that moment. Eventually our brain is going to get the message. Okay, we are safe in this moment. Because if you think about it, you've been stuck in a loop, constantly trying to figure things out, constantly needing answers. Um, but there is a way through, and that is about responding differently. Remember with health anxiety recovery, if we respond the same way, we are only going to see the same results. Okay, so this is about choosing a different path. And you know, a lot of the things that I teach are small micro changes. You may be thinking, Amy, seriously, like if I just tell myself um I'm safe in this moment, how is that going to help me? But I promise you, try it. Bring yourself back into the present moment all the time, consistently, continually, and you will start to feel better because you've been stuck in a loop. Okay, and that's exactly what it is. Health anxiety is a perpetual loop, it's a habit. Um, it's looking for more answers, it's looking for more information. Um, but what we're doing is we're working on the direction that our effort is going in. Okay, we don't need more answers, we need more safety. And that's exactly what I guide you through in my program, in the work that I do. If you're interested, by the way, in anything that I'm talking about and you would like to go further, um, just to let you know, I have a couple of options to work with me. First of all, is my group coaching program that I run twice weekly. Obviously, that's in the UK. So it's 7:30 pm on a Tuesday and 10 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. Um I have clients all over the world that come to this session. It's a small, friendly group of people who absolutely get it exactly the same as you. They understand you. Aside from that, I run a six month one to one program. It's called Trust and Thrive. I've had some amazing results over the time that I've been doing this. Um, so please feel free to reach out if you'd like further information about that. Um, and I also offer a 20 One day reset, and I have some new uh guides coming out at the moment about different topics. I've just launched one entitled How to Stop Scanning Your Body. So, again, if you want to hear more about that, just send me a message, drop me a DM, send me an email, all my details are included in the show notes here, and I would absolutely love to be able to help you shine a light and move you forward. So, thank you so much for listening. If this episode resonated, please feel free to share it, send it to someone else who may need it, or leave a review. It really does help more people find this work. Thank you, and I'll see you on the next episode.