Hi.

I am suffering from something my therapist describes as "fear of the unknown"

Except it's severe.

I experience periods of intense anxiety, brought about by FEAR of something very bad happening...........usually to me

These thoughts ravage me all the time. From the moment I wake up, until I go to bed.

I once told my therapist : I wish I could sleep forever. When I sleep, I fear nothing. In my dreams, I am someone else : someone stronger, more self-confident.

These fears come out of nowhere mostly. The worst thing is : ANY situation triggers them. Even a seemingly harmless and normal situation ---- at work, in the bus, in the grocery store, whatever. Instead of seeing things as they are, I see things as they COULD BE ---- a situation where I am being rebuked, humiliated, yelled at, abused, insulted, attacked (verbally and physically). As a result, I cant wait to run back to the safety of my apartment, and crawl under a blanket.

The problem is : I am alone in my apartment. So, these thoughts become magnified............and as a result, I can hardly wait to run out again, into the streets, so I wont be alone, but amongst people

Round and round it goes.

I am surprised that I am still able to function as a normal person. I still go to work 5 days a week. I still smile once in a while (although even my colleagues at work are starting to notice something wrong. Especially when they see me standing still in the middle of a room or corridor, and staring into space for half an hour