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Hypochondria therapy validity?
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Hypochondria therapy validity?

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Hypochondria therapy validity?

  • Post
    • November 8, 2019 at 1:10 am
    alxvm
    Participant
      Hi, first of all, thank you very much for all the support you provide in this forum.

      This will seem like an AA introduction. My name is Alex and I have a problem with hypochondria. I recently had a very large mole removed from my head by recommendation of a very good dermatologist. However, shortly after recovery, my family and friends prepared a mild intervention for me to stop worrying about unfounded fears of illness, and willingly ended up going to therapy.

      Long story short: I was strongly suggested to ignore all my symptoms unless they signaled a clear emergency. Nevertheless, me being me, I couldn’t do anything but monitor the most prominent moles in my body after the mole removal surgery. I’ve found some changes in a mole that I have above the right inguinal region. However, everyone, including my therapist, keep telling me it’s nothing and that if I go to the dermatologist, I’ve lost my battle against hypochondria.

      Should this changes worry me? Any other suggestions from fellow hypochondriacs here?

      If you are curious, the photos I’ve taken can be seen here:

      http://imgbox.com/AK8WbdU4
      http://imgbox.com/3TQ8U0ol
      http://imgbox.com/BpAijJA7
      http://imgbox.com/zZgqE17Z
      http://imgbox.com/ycjUInWS

      Thank you very much, for your time, attention, and feedback.

      Warm regards,

      -Alex

    Viewing 1 reply thread
    • Replies
        • November 8, 2019 at 4:24 am
        Julie in SoCal
        Participant
          HI Alex,

          I’m not a hypochondriac, but I can get fixated on stuff too. For what it’s worth, I’ve tried to live with an “unless the doctor says it’s something, it’s nothing” approach.

          Unless your therapist is schooled in dermatology, it doesn’t seem like good advice to ignore stuff. I would think a better plan would be to go to the derm, listen to what they have to say and take their expert advice either to do something about your mole or not. How is going to the derm losing?

          Wishing you peace! Shalom,
          Julie

            • November 8, 2019 at 10:22 pm
            alxvm
            Participant
              I don’t know how you can lose that battle. You are right, I should ‘surrender’, borrow your great philosophy of “unless the doctor says it’s something, it’s nothing”, and make an appointment to see the dermatologist. Thank you very much for your kind and sensible input. Wish you all the best.
              • November 9, 2019 at 8:26 am
              MelMel
              Participant
                I completely agree with Julie. Correct information at the right time is crucial and prevention is the key. By being aware and seeing an excellent dermatologist, which you apparently already have, you are being proactive. You have nothing to worry about until they tell you otherwise.
                Melanie
              • November 8, 2019 at 1:42 pm
              Hukill
              Participant
                My mother in law had severe hypochondria so I understand your worry about moles. I have about 50,000 freckles but no moles so I have many freckles that I watch. I do see a derm every 3 montha and have to get naked and get everything searched. If the mole you had removed was not melanoma I would not stress out over them. Stressing over your moles is not going to keep melanoma away. Like me, just weekly after a shower look and see if there is any change in them.
                  • November 8, 2019 at 10:29 pm
                  alxvm
                  Participant
                    The hypochondriac mother in law is a classic 🙂 It is a little bit more tedious to check 50,000 spots in your skin, than to worry about 1 spot in your skin. I saw a change, so I’ll just go to the derm. Thank you very much for your time and for putting things into perspective. Wish you all the best.
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