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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suffer With Sickness Phobia, Hesitation To Try New Foods. How Can I Get Over The Habit?

Hi.. I have a big phobia of sickness.. Being sick.. Others being sick... Seeing sick.. Others saying they for feel good! I know what I am doing but I seem to always convince myself that I m going to be sick so I feel sick and get all panicked. I don t sleep well when this happens, I sleep with at least 4 pillows so that I m upright... I ve stopped trying new foods as I m worried they will make me ill, I don t drink alcohol anyway or if I have say 1 glass I m instantly in the panic stage! I just don t know what to do to control this as its really getting me down and upset! I feel like it controls my life.. I was going to try hypnotherapy but didn t know what was best.. Any advice?
Thu, 3 Jan 2013
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Psychiatrist 's  Response
Hello,
I am sure you are distressed by your thought of getting sick and from your write up i guess that it has been there since quite long. This form of anxiety disorder wherein one is not able to control his thoughts which are recurrent and where patient himself feels most of the times that the thoughts are more or less baseless, it is called as obsessive compulsive disorder. But please understand, before we can zero-in on the diagnosis, it will always be advisable to have yourself examined by a mental health professional. There are plenty of drugs like fluoxetine, clomipramine, fluozemine, risperidone and many others which can help you along with behavioural therapy.
Hope I am able to solve your concerns. Have a nice day.
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Psychiatrist Dr. Sundar Gnanavel's  Response
Hello....
Thanks for your query. Recurrent, intrusive thoughts of being sick can occur in various anxiety disorders including obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as well as neurotic disorders like somatoform disorders/ hypochondriasis. Hence you require a thorough psychiatric evaluation for the same prior to initiation of any anti-anxiety or anti-obsessive drugs. Also psychotherapy (eg cognitive behavioural therapy) might be beneficial to you. Hope you found the information useful.
Regards
Dr Sundar Gnanavel
Psychiatrist
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Suffer With Sickness Phobia, Hesitation To Try New Foods. How Can I Get Over The Habit?

Hello, I am sure you are distressed by your thought of getting sick and from your write up i guess that it has been there since quite long. This form of anxiety disorder wherein one is not able to control his thoughts which are recurrent and where patient himself feels most of the times that the thoughts are more or less baseless, it is called as obsessive compulsive disorder. But please understand, before we can zero-in on the diagnosis, it will always be advisable to have yourself examined by a mental health professional. There are plenty of drugs like fluoxetine, clomipramine, fluozemine, risperidone and many others which can help you along with behavioural therapy. Hope I am able to solve your concerns. Have a nice day.