Becoming a Hypochondriac

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Nursing school is making me a nervous wreck. Not because of all the studying--I'm handing it okay so far. But learning about diseases and health problems in detail is driving me crazy, because I keep thinking "OMG MY MOM/BOYFRIEND/NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR/THAT DUDE ON THE CORNER/I TOTALLY HAVE THIS" about new diseases and abnormalities every day. And germs? My god! To me lately, everything has pathogens on it. I went from being messy all my life to sanitizing things in my house constantly because I can't stop thinking about the many people I know who are sick and how germs live on surfaces for this long and yadda yadda yadda. lol

My school itself is probably contributing to this, considering that we are expected to Lysol our desks every class and use hand sanitizer every time we go in or out of the classroom. It's not a rule, but HIGHLY suggested, and people give you funny looks if you don't do it. Plus swine flu is running rampant in the towns around us, and three people in my class have had it so far...:down:

Anybody else get like this when they first started nursing school? :lol_hitti

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Specializes in TCU.

I am the opposite, I hardly ever go to the doctor anymore unless I know it's bacterial. I just rest and take care of myself so it doesn't get worse. And over use of antibacterial stuff leads to resistance in bacteria, makes the little bugger's stronger, I just wash my hands when needed (unless I am in a clinical setting). I am a smoker (nothing I am proud of and will be quitting when I graduate) and I got the flu shot and didn't get sick last year at all (I usually get sick at least once a flu season). I have just become more aware of my health habits (minus smoking) and eat better, rest when I become run down!!

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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it's had positive effects, too---I'm becoming way more health conscious about what I eat overall, as well as my general body mechanics and such. And I haven't been going to the doctor, just panicking internally, lol. Maybe I'm just OCD. (there I go diagnosing myself again!)

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

i think it's perfectly normal to go through periods of hypochondriac behavior and outlook when you're a student and the good news is that it does gradually lessen and that it will go away eventually. really it will. you're just being flooded with sooo much information all at once that it's hard not to imagine all sorts of terrible things. but you know what? i never contracted any terrible, horrible, awful, too terrible to talk about disease or malady as a student nurse or taking care of patients afterward -- except scabies when i worked in a shelter -- and those were easy to clear up.

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

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I come up with a new diagnosis for myself every week. :p

I know a lot of other students who are the same way. We get many laughs from everyone's self-diagnoses.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

Wait are you trying to tell me that if I have some bowel issues it isn't colon cancer, or my headaches aren't brain tumors and me gaining some weight isn't hypothyroidism and my leg cramp isn't from hypokalemia :stone

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I thought this was funny cause I was JUST talking about this the other day! Im a messy person and always will be...BUT..I do the same thing when it comes to trying to 'diagnose' myself and people around me. My friend says shes always thirsty- I tell her she may be diabetic and then worry that she needs to get that checked out...my moms cholesterol/vit d deficiency/early stage osteoporosis...my dads heart...my boyfriends hairy mole may be skin cancer...I also can think of at least 3 different kinds of cancers that i could possibly have at this very moment. Its insane, and I know it- it's just that we are overloaded with knowledge of diseases and symptoms of so many different things- not to mention the disguisting pictures that our Nursing books are loaded with...really dont want any of that mess. I thing this too shall pass...hahaha:smokin:

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
wait are you trying to tell me that if i have some bowel issues it isn't colon cancer, or my headaches aren't brain tumors and me gaining some weight isn't hypothyroidism and my leg cramp isn't from hypokalemia :stone

probably not!!

i just knew i had oral cancer. just knew it. absolutely! positively! unequivocally!

remember i had never smoked, didn't drink at all, no snuff or chewing tobacco hx.

when i went home over christmas break, i was panicky and scared. when my grandparents

came for dinner, i took my dentist grandfather aside and fell completely apart! he said, given

my lack "of a decent bad habit or vice" plus my age, there was no chance i had oral cancer. he

looked inside my mouth and under my tongue. my tumor? a piece of plaque.

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I was like that all the time for a long time-- stemmed from a childhood of reading my mom's nursing texts and spending time in my step-dad's ER.

It messed me up for a while, but I got over it.

Watching med dramas made me hypochondriac for a while, too, so for me, a lot of prayer combined with logic helped.

I think it is pretty typical for anyone who is learning about disease processes to go through. If you start to get anxious, breathe. Seriously -- deep breaths and oxygen can help break a little anxiety swell.

Hang in there.

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