Distinguishing benzo withdrawal for other illness

Hi everyone, this is a subject that I've struggled with for a long time. I know this is far different and far beyond anything I've gone through in my life but how do I place my finger on how this illness is different than other things I've gone through and assuming other illness out there. If you just look at a lot of the symptoms in a simplified way they could apply to something else. Of course with the fear that this isn't real and continuously worrying that "I'm just like this and won't get better" or I have no Idea what this is what if I'm stuck forever and dealing with it in the wrong way" it interests me quite a bit to see what other think. Thanks

Many of our members have had a multitude of medical tests with most receiving a clean bill of health but this doesn't stop the fear so they go and have them again and again.  It seems to me if we could conquer the fear we could get through this so much easier.  Fear and stress ramp up our symptoms so we become this negative feedback loop that only perpetuates our misery and drives us to believe this is something other than what it is.

 

Why can't we reassure ourselves by saying I wasn't like this before I started benzo's or tried to reduce or eliminate them, why does our mind constantly focus on the negative, why are our coping skills that have gotten us through life absent while going through this?

 

I wish I knew the answers to the questions I'm asking but what I do know is that I thought and felt everything you are and I recovered completely.