Hypochondriacs: I Told You I Was Ill! Therapy Retreat For Those With Health Anxiety | Only Human

This film follows a group of sufferers as they stay together at a remote country retreat, miles away from the nearest hospital. There they undertake an intense course of treatment administered by the Maudsley Hospital’s resident therapist, Dr Florian Ruths.
Single mum Laura, 26, is convinced she has terminal cancer. Her problems began when her father died of cancer aged only 44. Now she’s sure she’s got it too and it’s driving her friends mad.
Kevin is 36, and lives in constant fear of contracting HIV. A blood transfusion has triggered an obsessive fear of the AIDS virus, HIV. A drop of blood can send him into a state of extreme panic.
Sarah, aged 40, is convinced that the smallest ache or pain means that she could die at any moment. She is a regular attendee at her local GP’s surgery and seeks constant reassurance from all around her.
Dr Ruths conducts behavioural therapy sessions with Laura, Kevin and Sarah, and sets them exercises designed to challenge their obsessions and change their behaviour.
Jane is 37 and has a slightly more complex case for the therapists. Five years ago she collapsed and ended up in a wheelchair. She has not walked since, despite the fact that doctors cannot find anything wrong with her legs. Her treatment, conducted by her psychiatrist, Dr Lars Hansen, involves her bursting balloons and wheeling herself through the local town dressed as a clown… all in the name of therapy.
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From: Hypochondriacs: I Told You I Was Ill
Content licensed from Century Films Ltd. to Little Dot Studios Network. Any queries, please contact us at: [e-mail]

[@Agostina999]

“I may as well die. If I’m gonna feel like this anyways I may as well have an illness” The defeat, you just feel so tired from worrying, you just go “okay, get it over with”. I don’t even know what I’m afraid of anymore, the anxiety is just doing worse. Watching Laura’s story was like watching the world in my own head.

[@samanthamartin1407]

Me too, thats exactly what I've been thinking lately. I'm just so tired from worrying about death 24/7, the inevitability terrifies me so it's just like, what's the point in keeping on living, just get it over with!!! In the odd moment that I kind of accept death, I find myself completely withdrawing from life, and I don't want to do that either. I have a brief moment of panic and begin fearing death again, and the cycle continues.

[@kahlesjf]

“I told you I was sick.” Best tombstone epitaph.

[@liannebenn2097]

It should have had dates showing the person died aged 99.

[@kahlesjf]

@@liannebenn2097 Yes!

[@samanthahill9367]

@@liannebenn2097 lol nice 1

[@itzisou]

I have lived with severe health anxiety for the past 5 years. It’s debilitating to say the least. The worst thing is that you physically manifest all of the symptoms you are afraid of. The mind is powerful. And in order to get that reassurance from the doctors you actually have to push yourself to go to the doctor and go through multiple tests. I cannot begin to describe how much this illness affects your quality of life. Going to bed and hoping not to wake up in the morning at its worst. It sucks.

[@1corinthians-138]

The problem with this is that after you have constantly gone to the doctor for nothing, the one time you actually do have something they don't believe you. 😀

[@anjabrown7868]

So very true.

[@darkdweller1986]

Ladu

[@annetteslife]

​@darkdweller1986 what do you mean warehouse?

[@classy4ever63]

Its probably more like this. The doctor couldn't figure out what it was, so they gaslit them, mentally labeled them a hypochondriac and ooops something really was wrong

[@Carolina-Girl-214]

The constant seeking of reassurance I totally get it. I'm the same way. It sucks but it's how anxiety can control your mind. I hate it.

[@Robin-uu6eg]

I do the same thing. I've actually lost friends because of it :/

[@Carolina-Girl-214]

@Robin-uu6eg that's really sad because I have friends who have anxiety and I would never turn my back on them. I will give you reassurance anytime you need it. I do have FB but I do have IG if you wanna connect with me on there. That makes me sad for you.

[@lyaby1628]

When I try to relax I feel like my heart will stop

[@Happydays14385]

Same! Going to sleep is the worst for me. I'm afraid my heart will stop

[@kettybjor9484]

Life is difficult and complicated but each and every one of us have to somehow untangle ourselves from the anxieties and live.

[@slim9978]

How

[@tonyj6605]

I'm constantly thinking I'm dying of all kinds of illness I live in a nightmare

[@precious9155]

hey i’m suffering with this too. thinking of you and i hope you’re still hanging in there

[@annetteslife]

I have a friend who has hypocondria and fakes having panic attacks , as well as faking seizures,when she knows is pissing those who have true anxiety and or Sensory processing disorders as well as epilepsy. If she has a simple rash she freaks. This past summer she had a heat rash under her boobs and she panicked. I told her that is a heat rash and it is very common and that all she can do is sprinkle scent free talcum powder on. I have SPD and have issues with extreme and excessive noise, the program i go to has a quiet room but haven't been able to have access to that room because the hypochondriac client is always in it. Because of excessive noise by the time i am home my anxiety is through the roof. I find that some hypochondriacs to be very selfish toward others. If these people continue to go to doctors for nonexistent illnesses , by the time they are in a true critical emergency they are not going to be taken seriously and that is very scary

[@EmilyEverglot]

With Jane you don't get to tell someone that other people's opinions of them are their problem not hers then force her into a situation where you want her to be forced to literally be a clown in other people's opinion of her. Jane needs to find someone who actually knows wtf they're doing!!

[@slim9978]

I have health anxiety and looking at this makes me realize how crazy i am😊

[@Acidjazzr]

Nah fr me too 😂

[@brocktoon8]

I wish this was a series. Please make this a series!

[@Dexy83]

These kind of therapy videos are the best!

[@Babygorl1209]

My mom has health anxiety and I hate that now I, in my 30s, am also developing it. I feel helpless.

[@str1987]

I wonder if Americans have less hypochondriacs because healthcare is so expensive there...

[@carlyunderwood1303]

American people have the same amount of hypochondriac problems. They just don't to the Dr. And then stress more,this creating stress related problems.

[@TweakDaFreak]

I think we prob have the same amount but because of the drug epidemic most people are just wrote off as drug seeker's and also mentally ill. It took me and my mother like 7-8 yrs to finally be diagnosed with tourettes syndrome in my small town. It's sad how people get treated weather they have health anxiety or not.

[@friendformationbot]

we do not have fewer hypochondriacs, but we do have more *actually* sick people due to the lack of national healthcare.

[@thehoop74]

No I'm worse than this woman. I go to Drs all the time sadly

[@maidenaholic]

I think most of them are high on valium that they don't even notice

[@rayleenharris922]

Im so excited for all them.they are extremely brave.

[@thehoop74]

The fear of AIDS is common especially with transfusions but now blood is tested severely for any disease. And if I worried about that, after 1 not to mention 3 tests were negative I would move on to my next worrying symptom

[@smarie3874]

I have a rare genetic condition (EDS 3/Mast Cell Activation/POTS). I went undiagnosed for 20+ years with docs, friends and teachers thinking I had health anxiety. Turns out I was actually sick. I hate how society focuses on the very few hypochondriacs and doesn’t give much attention to rare diseases. Many docs had made up their mind I was fine but had a mental health issue just because the most common tests were ok.

[@GiraffeLoverJen]

Same here too. I've spent most of my life struggling with various health issues. Finally, at 40 years old, I was diagnosed with EDS, MCAS & POTS. Most of my life my symptoms were blamed on anxiety and depression.

[@possumfriend2335]

Yep, I was injured by medication (Cipro) and when the standard tests came back within normal that was that and I'm sure it was noted that I was nutty or malingering despite the doctor initially noting I was visibly inflamed, and could not longer walk without pain and was hobbled over from one visit to the next. He didn't do any more investigating even though I asked could I be reacting to the antibiotic. Of course when I searched online myself I found hundreds of thousands of people being treated similarly after being crippled by this class of antibiotic. Six months after my appointment being brushed off and wished well with my sudden new unexplained disability, the FDA held a meeting in which they had to admit this drug causes a permanent disability and that it was being over-prescribed. 😐

[@IZaubermausI]

We had ab 8-year-journey until EDS was diagnosed at my daughter….

[@friendformationbot]

same here. dysautonomic conditions like POTS, MCAS, and the related syndromes do not show up on basic tests because nothing about the patients's blood levels or inner chemistry is amiss. the problem is in how the patient's body is failing to function normally even in the absence of deficiencies and physical injuries. treatment has to be symptom-based and centered around the subjective experience of the patient

[@jixer1956]

Health anxiety is common. The diseases you guys have are rare. Therefore, doctors will think of HA before they think of POTS, EDS, or MCAS if all the routine tests come back normal.

[@B_Bodziak]

"There's got to be a reason for a tummy ache,.". Yeah, it's called stressing because you constantly think you have a deadly illness.

[@maidenaholic]

It's a terrible illness.. mine is about heart attacks, brain haemorrhage and blood clots.. although, i have had 2 heart attacks already and it doesn't help.

[@chilenapromedioRU]

I'm sorry you have to went through that. I hope you try therapy if you hasn't already. Is not uncommon to feel extreme anxiety about something that already has happened to us before and even though I have never experienced a heart attack, thankfully, I have experienced many panic attacks and I struggle with GAD, I've read medical articles that state that panic attacks can be confused by patients for heart attacks, if they have experienced one before.

[@Robin-uu6eg]

This has been my life for 17 years. My symptoms change all the time. It sucks.

[@Wait4uuuu]

Thanks

[@chilenapromedioRU]

Since childhood I struggle with asthma, allergies and a very sensitive skin that according to my dermatologist it's not a condition, just very low melanin. My brother has the same issue to different degrees. I was bullied as a kid and called "hypochondriac", funny how children back then knew that term but didn't understand how a child couldn't run or be exposed under the sun without getting blisters because of health conditions. Eventually it stops but a close friend was the one who called me "hypochondriac". I hated that because she was my close friend. She knew about other issues during my teens and twenties like retroverted uterus, a "benign" brain tumour that caused me so much suffering for 10 years because of the symptoms without knowing what were causing them, well she finally shut up when she was proven about the brain tumour, which I don't discuss with anyone outside my closest support system because of people like her. I kind of knew what her problem was and she apologised and told me it was because of her mum, she had struggled with phases similar to hypochondria in her life and that affected my friend. I didn't like to talk with her about my mental health issues like depression, GAD, etc, exactly because she wouldn't understand. People is so weird. My acquaintance call me "crazy" behind my back, but they come and ask me about clonazepan when they're over stressed and think a GP may prescribe them some, or want to know how to know when someone may be depressed.

[@redplayboy3751]

everytime I get a massive panic attack I watching this video and it make my heart rate goes slow rather than talking to my parents

[@Kimberly4ChristSalvation]

I just accept that I have anxiety and I never want to talk to people and especially doctors about feeling ill again. I will tell them I'm doing great and then just stop talking about it. I just I'm doing this as a way to protect myself because people constantly tell me that my health anxiety is just imaginary. So I'll just be quiet and keep to myself.

[@rayleenharris922]

God love the girl with the migraine. It was way too funny when the camera was not on her saying i can't put it in my mouth 😂😂hysterical. I know she will get passed

[@tomservo75]

I don't know if I have health anxiety necessarily. The way it seems to manifest in these people is constantly worrying about a variety of illnesses that they don't or never had. What if it's a case where I actually DID have illness X, had it successfully treated, but constantly worry about recurring, in other words it's no longer generalized but focused on one specific illness. I don't usually see that addressed. That all being said, that woman in the beginning has it much worse than I do.

[@friendformationbot]

thats PTSD!

[@B_Bodziak]

This is one of the worst things to be born of the internet. My mother used to Google a few random, but "normal" symptoms, like fatigue, mild headache, constipation etc and she'd decide she had Muscular Sclerosis

[@lavenderoh]

That's not even a thing, so we know you don't know what you're talking about 😂 it's multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy.

[@B_Bodziak]

The only one who has an actual point 8s the guy who had a blood transfusion. My cousin was a hemophiliac and a transfusion did give him HIV/AIDS but that was in the 80s when screening blood was not routine.

[@celestialcircledance]

They all have a point because nothing can be guaranteed and if its not HIV it will probably be Coved instead or something ele waiting to bite you !

[@dramatriangle]

I found myself wondering out loud why he wasn't using disposable gloves when he washed the dishes, then. He could be taking standard precautions if it were a legitimate concern. I think this is definitely more of a mental health issue for them and it makes sense that every fear had an origin. The transfusion, the parent dying young, the physical manifestations of anxiety.

[@taviakristoff9800]

So am i😢😮😢😢

[@c.stinson]

I could never live with someone like this.

[@Ray.M.12345]

They can't help it.

[@slim9978]

For me I cannot go to the dr

[@Robin-uu6eg]

Same

[@azalianz1570]

He made her where a clown suit 😮😮😮😮

[@TransitAngst]

Wait hold up...her legs don't work...but she's getting into the driver's seat?

[@bcx1138]

this place is for anyone who diagnoses themself by google searches

[@Odd-Vegan-Singing-TFOL]

I think it would be Google ?

[@graysonwalker]

Maybe they would understand pain if they were tased

[@B_Bodziak]

Attention is what these folks need, but there will never be enough attention that will work.

[@hollydaugherty2620]

Health anxiety disorder, formerly known as hypochondriasis, has zero to do with attention. It’s as attention-seeking as OCD, which it bears a great resemblance to with its checking behaviors and reassurance cycles. Where’d you get your psychiatry degree, exactly?

[@cvayyart3963]

Finally found a solution to my HIV with Dr Abiola herbal tea on youtube

[@B_Bodziak]

@@hollydaugherty2620 You can't see that all 4 of them need constant reassurance that they're not actually dying ?

[@caratstayzen7]

As someone who's studying psychology and was diagnosed with OCD at the age of 17, I can say that disorders like this have nothing to do with attention-seeking. I was undiagnosed and started showing signs of OCD at the age of 9. For my whole life, I needed reassurance and I still do at times. It's one of my compulsions that I do in order to reduce my anxiety that's associated with an obsession. I never ask for reassurance for attention but rather so that I don't go crazy. And I'm pretty sure it works the same way for the people in this video.

[@bluebeeren]

@@B_Bodziak Psychotherapy is what they need, it's a disorder after all.

[@LilMan-bj8wx]

One of the many ways humans express their selfish nature.

[@vondahe]

Or subconsciously seek attention.

[@MaRiAm936]

​@@vondahe exactly

[@cassandraknight8804]

It does seem kind of selfish in comparison to those who are seriously physically I’ll

[@thehoop74]

It's not selfish!!!!! It's a real fear!!!!!! It's not done on purpose

[@Odd-Vegan-Singing-TFOL]

And you think being a hypocondriac isn't being ill? Do you think they choose to have those life ruining intrusive thoughts, do you think they want their life to be ruined?

[@maidenaholic]

They are ill.. it's a very serious illness in fact..

[@semisweet322]

Watch out with judging people. You might develop it and then see what it feels like!

[@vondahe]

This does not exist in Africa. Classic first world problem.

[@lovingmayberry307]

I can guarantee you there are some people, however few, in EVERY country in the world who believe they have a medical condition when they do not.

[@santaclaus723]

​@@lovingmayberry307 it's a fear of death in all actuality. We all fear death at some point. Some more than others and they can't help it.

[@Odd-Vegan-Singing-TFOL]

So? A lot of mental illnesses happen due to enviromental factors. What is the point of your point?