Not everything is an anxiety symptom. That has to be acknowledged. Right now you may be absolutely terrified that you might “miss” something that really is medically dangerous. I understand. I promise, as you get better and move forward in recovery, you will regain your ability to more accurately assess your health and make more rational health decisions.
So what is the role of a doctor in the recovery process? When should you get medically checked? Is that going backwards in recovery? Is seeing a doctor “against the rules”? Let’s answer some of these questions.
Everyone has a different tolerance level for medical and health uncertainty. We all know perfectly “normal” people that see doctors more often and are a bit more cautious and proactive about health monitoring than others. We also all know normal people that will literally wait until their arms have fallen off before calling a doctor. The range is wide here for sure, so there is no right answer when it comes to when you should see a doctor or get something checked out.
As a general rule of thumb and in my opinion, I think that frequency and repetition are the key factors for us here.
You may be someone that wants to get every new pain checked out. I can’t tell you to not do that. You get to make that choice. I can also assure you that going to see a doctor is not “cheating” nor is it against the rules of recovery. I’m surprised at the number of people that describe being legitimately sick who are afraid to go see a doctor because they are afraid that will mean they are going backwards in recovery. There’s no reason to cough up a lung, blow your nose, and run a fever for days on end without help if you want it. You are not breaking any rules by taking care of yourself!
The same rules apply for injury. If you spend all day chopping wood and wind up with back spasms or painful tendonitis, there is no recovery rule that says you should not get medical attention. Nobody is telling you to “float” through actual injury or pain.
Anxiety, recovery, illness, and injury can sometimes coexist. You can be recovering and sick at the same time. More than one thing can and usually does happen at the same time.
That being said, what I can do is to ask you to look at how often you are getting the same things checked out. How often do you access medical services to address the same complaint? Are you in the habit of seeking second, third, or sixth opinions? Are you stuck on the idea that doctors and tests could be wrong? Do you have a problem accepting the “all clear” from a doctor for more than a few hours or days?
You can also look at your ability — or lack of ability — to generalize across contexts. If the pain in your left hip was the result of bad posture at your desk chair, can you consider this when your right hip hurts, or will you immediately run to get checked for bone cancer?
Finally, I might suggest that you take a look at why you are accessing medical care and medical services. Are you calling your doctor because you are impaired in some way, or are you calling because you are afraid that you might be impaired or might become impaired? Sick and injured people — in general — know when they are sick and injured and act accordingly. They do not anticipate sickness or injury and try to catch it before it’s actually happening. Are you doing that?
Just one more thing. Your health anxiety and your fear may already be demanding that you run to the comments section for this post to tell me that “something might really be wrong and that should be checked out!” Let me answer that in advance by simply saying … OK.
I won’t ever argue with your health anxiety and your fear because that argument is what keeps it alive and I’m not in that business.
Hey it’s Monday and that means that today at 2 PM Eastern I’ll do my “Recovery Monday” livestream on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Come join in!
116. When Is It OK To Get Medically Checked?