I've suffered from recurring depression and pretty much constant anxiety for as long as I can remember and ever since I got really sick (depression) again in the beginning of September last year, I've experienced a drastic increase in health anxiety. In a way I really understand that because when I got sick this time I started to experience a lot of physical symptoms that worried (and worries) me.

It's strange because I know that I'm probably "just" anxious, depressed and exhausted but my brain keeps telling me I probably have or will get some kind of disease that will kill me (I mostly worry about cancer). It feels a little bit like OCD because I get intrusive thoughts about getting or having cancer, I check my body for symptoms, and I seek reassurance by calling my mum to tell her about my worries and hearing her (she's a nurse) tell me it's probably "just" my anxiety. I know health anxiety and OCD are separate conditions, I'm just saying my health anxiety reminds me of OCD. I've always had a tendency to ruminate and getting stuck on things and I also have a lot of compulsive behaviours (I used to be diagnosed with OCD until I was diagnosed with autism that, along with other kinds of anxiety, better accounts for my problems).

Anyway, do any of you deal with health anxiety as well and what do you do to calm yourself down? How do I stop being afraid of dying (it's "strange" how I've contemplated suicide a lot since I got depressed again but I'm terrified of dying in a way I can't control myself)? I have an appointment with my doctor on Wednesday to discuss my medication (I'm on Sertraline), sick leave from grad school, and some other things and I'm thinking that maybe I should bring this up as well. I think my health anxiety will probably go away once I start feeling better (once the depression subsides and I don't experience as many physical symptoms), but do you think I should ask for help with my health anxiety anyway?