Can anxiety alone blow up any ailments?

[EbonW]

I don’t normally use forums like these to ask my many questions, mostly find the answer I’m looking for or something hilariously unrelated that is enough to ease my nerves through a few google searches. But I’m not sure how to word this question because everything that came up veered off to anxiety in general.

So can Anxiety alone blow any ailments out of proportion? What I mean is that if I suddenly got a tummy ache or just uncomfortable feeling in my gut, can being anxious about it make it worse and turn it into full blown gastritis, food poisoning, or an allergic reaction?

I was diagnosed with general anxiety when I was in the 11th grade, 7 years ago, And I initially thought it was bogus because she was saying I was fine up until she asked what my sexual orientation was, then immediately diagnosed me with anxiety. I still don’t understand why, but whatever. I don’t think of myself as a hypochondriac, though most who are probably think the same. I don’t understand a lot of things and I don’t like not knowing/understanding so I google symptom after symptom, not to diagnose myself I know better, but just to understand what could mean what or why something happens. I don’t have my mom reassuring me two of these tablets will cure me in a few days anymore since I’m a grown man and moved out.

I’m trying not to make this too long but it’s all related, just explaining why I do what I do. I know anxiety and stress can weaken your immune system, leaving you open to more illnesses and such. I’ve often gotten food poisoning and what I thought was gastritis from both drinking a lot and as little as a sip or two. I’m wondering is all this really happening to me because anxiety is weakening my immune system or is it nothing serious that my anxiety is turning into something serious? Am I really getting sick or just thinking myself into being sick? I keep losing weight and it’s very distressing, I just want to know what it could be so I know what direction to head in. Sorry for the long post, and thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings.

[Paxiled]

Anxiety as a disorder is when you chronically think anxious thoughts.  If you don't do that, you don't have an anxiety disorder.  Physiological ailments caused by anxiety only exist if you actually suffer from chronic anxiety.  Everyone gets nervous about things here and there, and sometimes life throws a lot of stress at us, but that's not a mental illness.  Chronic anxiety is.  It can manifest in many ways, such as OCD, PTSD, GAD, agoraphobia, etc.  All are defined by life being greatly and adversely affected by a self-defeating way of thinking that makes life harder and smaller.  You don't say if you think like this.  GAD, what you said you were diagnosed with, would be a rare diagnosis for an 11 year old, as childhood fears are not usually the same as an adult anxiety disorder.  But that doesn't mean it can't exist, just that at that age, we usually think of it differently.  Googling symptoms is usually a sign of anxiety, as why would someone do that?  It's certainly not enjoyable to see all the things can go wrong with one's health.  If you just have an interest in health, Google isn't the most reliable source for accurate info.  It's very hard on Google to tell where the reliable info is because Google is gamed so what you see isn't scholarly expertise most of the time but sites that advertise and are selling a service and game Google so they come up first.  Some of this info is generally educational, but it's so general it's not that useful.  Now, if you go in 100 pages, you will stumble on something that might go into detail.  So either you're anxious and searching for things that are wrong with you or you have a genuine interest and would be better served in a good library.  Gastritis isn't really a disease state.  It's a symptom involving an inflamed gastric system.  That's true of most of the things that end with itis.  It isn't a diagnosis really.  Basically, you're saying colloquially you get stomach aches sometimes either when you overdo things or eat the wrong things or worry too much, which is very common.  Food poisoning is a disease state that would involve eating something that has bacteria in it that is toxic, and your body gets really really sick in order to evacuate it from your system.  Most likely you're not actually getting that unless you regularly eat rotten food or infected food.  Lots of people with anxiety do have digestive problems.  It's a common symptom.  Lots of people under stress or who are nervous also get stomach problems.  Again, common.  18 isn't a grown man.  Whether humans ever grow up is in question, but 18 is still very young.  It is, however, an age where those of us who are destined to get depression or an anxiety disorder usually start getting it, between 18 and until we reach our 30s.  When you are a grown man you'll see the difference, again assuming anyone ever becomes one.  I'm sure you've seen some pretty old men in the news the last few years who act like toddlers, so experience tells us humans really don't grow up or mature, they just get old.  Can anxiety blow ailments our of proportion?  What's proportionate when it comes to an ailment?  Does for some, doesn't for others.  It would depend on whether something physiological is wrong with you, and weight loss for no reason is an example of something being wrong, or whether you've seen docs and gotten the most thorough exams possible and everything has been ruled out.  Only at that point can we say it's anxiety, but again, only if you chronically are thinking anxious thoughts.  If you are, you need a therapist, but given what you've said here, I'd see a doctor first.