Influence of Others

The book "It's Not All in Your Head," by Dr's Gordan Asmundson and Steven Taylor, poses the question of to what degree the media influences our belief in the possibility we have a disease, on page 29. In 2003 the media focused heavily on reporting the danger of bioterrorism and SARS. symptoms of which were reported to be increase coughing and fever. As indicated by Asmundson and Taylor, such reports resulted in an increase in the general population's vigilance toward our own respiratory health. More interestingly, they report -as determined through their own research- people with heightened illness concern were more likely than those without heightened illness concern to attribute a regular cough to a more serious infection such as an anthrax infection, or the SARS virus. This is only one example of the manner in which the media can affect how much attention we pay to our bodily noises and feelings.

In Admundson and Taylor's book, they discuss what expert Dr. Arthur Barsky calls an, "amplifying somatic style" found in many people who worry a lot about having a serious disease. They say, "This style is characterized by the tendency to attend to and be bothered by a wide range of bodily sensations that aren't generally related to disease. This amplifying somatic style is believed to be a trait that may be biologically based or a product of learning during the early years of childhood." (Pg 31 of "It's Not All in Your Head") If you are wondering if your style of thinking about illness fits Dr. Barsky's description, talk to your doctor and to family and friends. Ask them to help you limit your media intake, and try to shield yourself from potentially distressing reports about illness in the news.

Paying attention to your body can be helpful in catching something before it becomes serious. However, if your doctor has assured you that a bodily sign is not related to a disease but instead to normal bodily functioning, you may have an amplifying somatic style. If so, and you find that you are getting agitated over media reports related to illness, then make sure to take special care to limit your intake of media outlets until you can seek help from family, friends, or a professional mental health specialist. A professional will be able to help you consider the ways in which you learned about illness as a child affect the way you perceive the media reports now, as well as determine ways to help moderate your worry.

Every day we are bombarded with new reports of bird flu, TB and all sorts of other epidemics crossing the world. When evaluating ourselves for an illness that we've heard about in the media, we must try to keep in mind that every time we notice something remarkable going on with our bodies, it may be an indication that we are simply paying more attention to our bodies than we usually would be. It is all too easy to attribute the warning signs listed on the news programs to our own bodies, and all we have to do is pay too close attention. We must keep in mind that oftentimes these "alarming" symptoms we feel are "false alarms;" that is to say, harmless sensations that prompt worry. (ERD)