Is There Something Wrong With Me? In life, we all see things differently. When there’s something wrong in your body or mind, you want to get to the bottom of it and why you’re feeling this way. One of the ways we do this is to self-diagnose, which makes us feel a sense of control.
Are Your Wondering If There's Something Wrong With You?
What Is Wrong: Something Feels Off People gather information through their senses from the environment with different levels of boldness and sensitivity. It is understandable that when one is surrounded by others whose experience varies from their own in life, they may begin to wonder – “is there something wrong with me?” It is interesting to think about how the differences and similarities between people can lend themselves to attraction or deflection of others or opportunities. We all have an amount of bias that exists due to our own backgrounds and experiences.
Sometimes, this bias can do a good job of steering us towards or away from people who are different or from new experiences and therefore be limited to us. Just like you might feel like something is wrong with your own thoughts and feelings, you can very well think something is wrong with another person’s point of view about the same question or topic. This other person could even be your best friend or other people you have close relationships with. What’s important in life is that you’re aware of your personal feelings and biases that can lead you and the other person to think that way.
You don’t necessarily need to feel guilty or wrong for having them, but it is healthy to be aware of where your own biases lie so that you can make sure that you are not cutting yourself off from experiencing new perspectives just because some part of you has already discounted their potential. Even when having a differing feeling on an issue, or it’s starting to look like you could be wrong, it’s also important to be as respectful of other people’s feelings as possible, especially if it’s with someone you’re very familiar with like your best friend, a family, or a close coworker at your job.
Different Perspectives And How To Navigate Them When someone else has a different perspective than another about a experience they’ve had in life, we can often be quick to judge whose perspective is more “right”. If you are someone who is hard on yourself in this area and you start thinking that your opinion or feelings should not be different from others, you might find yourself wondering if your differences are “wrong”. This is even truer for most people who have heard things from important individuals in their lives that have been invalidating, or if you have been told that your feelings are not correct or did not happen.
Try to remember instead that whatever someone says to you comes from their own biases created from their personal experiences, which nearly everyone you talk to will have. When someone is talking to you, they are telling you about their truth, but your truth could be very different from their perspective, since not everyone the same experiences. You might feel vehemently right about something, but without hearing a different perspective, you might be flawed or completely wrong about an issue. However, regardless of the outcome, you can exercise control of how you respond to your feelings and emotions.
How Are You Supposed To Know If There Is Something Wrong With Me? Some people internalize the belief or feeling that there is something inherently wrong with themselves so deeply that it begins to manifest with physical symptoms and beliefs that there is something wrong happening with their physical body because of these feelings.
Hypochondriasis, or somatic symptom disorder, is a mental health condition where someone manifests, or starts feeling, unrealistic or excessive worries about his or her health, especially about getting a life-threatening disease or health problem. A Harvard Mental Health Letter from November 2009 lists that about one-third of people reporting pain or fatigue at outpatient health clinics do not end up with a physical cause for these complaints, yet they feel something is wrong with them.
It’s important to understand that hypochondria, or constantly feeling something is wrong with one’s health, not a personality disorder, and it primarily has its roots in anxiety and it can be linked to a traumatic past. Essentially, people who struggle with hypochondria and think that bad things are happening to them can be described as having “health anxiety.”
Many of these people have oversensitive nervous systems, making their minute normal body functions more noticeable or detectable. This overactive nervous system, which is typical for anxiety disorders, in turn, contributes to these individuals mistaking these sensations for potential symptoms of an underlying health problem. Like other mental health issues, this process is not something typically under one’s control, in many cases, a person is not conscious that their brain is doing this and causing them to feel that something is always wrong. Their feeling and belief that their body feels off and they have a physical health condition seems totally real to them, and it’s affecting their life.
The feelings of distress that this mental illness causes can impact their daily functioning a great deal to the negative. So, in addition to the symptoms of anxiety, people who feel limited in their lives because of their condition can also develop depression as well.
While the exact causes of this mental health disorder are unknown, some theories are that it could occur from having a history of severe illness, learning the behavior from a parent, having a limited understanding of one’s emotions, or having a history of physical abuse in their life, which can also cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety disorders. Clearly, these are all things that can affect how the brain functions and can impact how we’re feeling at any given moment.
When it feels like there’s something wrong or off in your body, don’t assume you know what it is or try to find explanations as to why it makes sense on your own. It’s best to see a doctor or a mental health professional find out the root cause of your symptoms and why your body feels wrong, receive an answer in the form of a diagnosis, and discover treatment options that can keep you moving forward.
Treatment for Somatoform Disorders
People can overcome the experience that their bodies are ill when they are not. Some effective approaches to treating these mental health conditions include:
Cognitive behavioral therapy from a mental health professional can help people find ways to reframe their thoughts and gain emotional control of their situation, breaking what can become a self-fulfilling cycle of pain and despair in their lives. For example, some specific techniques used to treat symptoms of anxiety and depression include relaxation training, problem-solving, visualization, exercise, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, and breathing techniques Antidepressant medications aren’t just for depression; they are also used to treat somatoform disorders, with limited research about their effectiveness on the There is more conclusive research that talk therapies are effective, although some people report improvement from antidepressants in their treatment regimen. Long-term person-centered therapy. Interestingly, some research shows that a person suffering from this mental health condition does not necessarily need to confront that it is a psychological condition in order to improve. Improvement sometimes happens when they have support, encouragement, and new life skills to use to cope with their distress and promote a positive growth mindset. Making self care time, which can involve many of the techniques mentioned above, can help reduce anxiety if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Your self care time can also involve spending time on hobbies and other activities that you enjoy, so try to get some fresh air, incorporate diet and exercise into your lifestyle if you haven't already and live life on your own terms as this can improve how you feel about yourself. Make a self care to do list for yourself as this can also help keep you on the right track and moving forward. Getting an Outside Perspective Our nervous system varies in both experiencing and reacting to sensory stimuli, essentially the process of taking in information from the world and making meaning of it in our brain. Knowing and connecting to your own internal experiences and understanding what is normal for you is the only way to advance towards self-actualization and living your best possible life, regardless if someone else thinks your feelings and opinions are wrong.
Some people choose to seek therapy to help with this process of personal growth and start feeling better about themselves. BetterHelp is an online platform created with the goal of connecting mental health professionals to those in need of expanding their knowledge of themselves. The helpful counselors on the platform who will answer your questions are licensed and held to the same standards of experience, confidentiality, and non-judgment as mental health professionals in more traditional settings. Getting therapy online from a licensed mental health professional just comes with the added benefit of convenience and affordability which can make your life easier if you struggle with your mental health.
Are Your Wondering If There's Something Wrong With You?
Talking with a therapist can help you recognize which of your behaviors are maladaptive (meaning not serving you in the best way) that you may wish to change, for example, substance use and addiction, and which behaviors are productive, helpful, and serving you in your life, such as getting exercise. Maladaptive behaviors are not indicators that something is wrong with you or that you’re necessarily doing bad things to yourself, but a therapist can help you identify which ones are not helping you and your life and could be part of why you’re feeling wrong or off about yourself. By identifying them, you can fight to make positive change.
The fact of the matter is that everyone is born unique and while being surrounded by “different others” can make you feel as if you are abnormal or that something is wrong with you, knowledge is power – knowing more about your personality can empower you to make great changes in your life. Making the effort to spend time talking to a mental health professional and receiving therapy may even help you embrace your differences, the things that make you uniquely you, and greater appreciate the differences in others too that you’ll encounter in your daily life.
You might not understand what’s troubling you, but when you see an online therapist because you’re feeling that something is wrong, you’ll have an opportunity to discuss the issues you’re facing in your mind and body and find helpful and effective coping skills for them. They’re not going to assume they know the source of your pain and why you struggle. They want to help you figure out what’s going on with your emotions so you can improve your mental health and live a fulfilling, happy life. Read below for some reviews of BetterHelp counselors, from people experiencing similar issues.
Counselor Reviews “I used to really fall to pieces during a fight in my relationship due to a lack of self-esteem, shoulder the blame, and think there was something wrong with me but I’m better able to be in my relationship now because I have a stronger sense of self and able to see what’s mine and what’s not. Tracy is such a wonderful mix of natural compassion and steadiness. She is amazing at deep listening and asking the right questions to help me sort things out.”
“Absolutely brilliant! He helped me out of a pretty dark place and was nothing but helpful! For men who are looking for a counselor who understands what it is like to be a man in today’s world with a family, with kids and responsibilities, job, etc, I was extremely impressed with his ability to get down to it and understand what I was talking about. He’s great at getting to the root of the issue too. No need to slog through 8,000 words to find out what point he’s trying to make. He has a knack for asking exactly the right question in about 2-3 sentences. If you’re looking for a counselor who isn’t the typical counselor, he’s your guy!”
Conclusion It’s difficult to know what the source of our pain is at times and why our brain can cause us to feel a certain way. However, you’re not alone in this. You can work with an online counselor or therapist and dig deeper to find the connection between your mind and body, address your feelings and emotions, and make a strategy or to-do list to help improve your overall health and change your life for the better.
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