OCD

[mark86]

Hi.  I wonder if anyone else has experienced similar symptoms of irrational worry.  I keep thinking of my heart constantly and worry that continuous thoughts of my heart will make it stop firing properly and cause death.  What I wonder is if recurring thoughts can stop your heart?  It's a fear of having recurring thoghts that keep the thought in my head.  But if I know that thinking about the heart does not alone make it stop, then I will be ok.
Thanks,
Mark

[poohbear2026]

I also suffer from this problem.  I am constantly obsessing about my pvcs and pacs.  I have had a few that felt like my heart actually stopped for a second or two and I would get faint feeling but then it would pass in a few seconds.   I have had all kinds of test and they tell me I am fine.  But when it is actually happening I think that all the drs are wrong and my heart is going to stop.

Anita

[spade22]

"What I wonder is if recurring thoughts can stop your heart? "

The answer is no.  As sugarpea states, your heart beating is an automatic process which means you dont have the ability to stop it from beating.  And the proof is in the pudding - it hasnt stopped yet despite your recurring thoughts.

[sugarpea013]

Hey there,

I'm sorry to hear about your worries. Your heart beating is an automatic process. Whether you want it to or not, you can not will it to stop. However, if you are stressing out enough you can sometimes bring on palpatations where your heart may feel like it's fluttering. Although bothersome and sometimes scary, it's not going to hurt you. It's hard to break the cycle of worry. You just have to take your worries as they come, and ask yourself "why am I thinking this?", and then remind yourself that it is irrational.

Best wishes mark!