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

[Verity81]

Sorry to hear you are going through this. Has your therapist given you any tools/skills to help you with your anxiety? Sounds like free floating anxiety or Generalised anxiety, CBT skills would be useful for you. GET.gg Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Self-Help Resources is a good website for techniques.

Originally Posted by Verity81

Sorry to hear you are going through this. Has your therapist given you any tools/skills to help you with your anxiety? Sounds like free floating anxiety or Generalised anxiety, CBT skills would be useful for you.

Thanks, Verity

No, my therapist has not given me any such tools.

I should probably ask him (although, I wonder why he never proposed it)

[Verity81]

Me too although he might work from a more psychodynamic or person centred approach? I think for anxiety a cognitive approach is most effective.

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[live2ski66]

I'm the queen of irrational, un identified paralyzing fears. As most everyone knows I'm supposed to have moved into my outlaws last week. Hasn't happened.

I'm supposed to tow my Pathfinder with the rental truck. I was a paralyzed blithering irrational fear driven person for about four days. Couldn't figure the irrational fear. Decided to write about how I felt and why. I discovered that many years ago, a boyfriend of mine and I were driving back from MI with his mustang. Something happened to the engine of the truck and spewed an oily substance on the pavement. We were on a curved access ramp when this happened. The towed Mustang started fishtailing violently and transferring the movement to the truck. By some miracle my boyfriend at the time got everything under control and stopped both vehicles.

My irrational paralyzing fear came from this event. I had forgotten about it, but my subconscious had not. I kept having visions of my towed vehicle fishtailing and me rolling the rental truck and the towed vehicle.

I did some thought process and diagraming the events and my irrational fear subsided to a regular fear. I'm still afraid, but I'm doing it later today.

Sometimes thinking about the why helps tame the irrational fear.

Good lick!

Thanks live2ski

I wish I could get rid of these fears. They are getting stronger............I am falling farther away from reality

[benson123]

I feel you on the irrational fears. I know for the most part that my fears shouldn't come up as regularly as they do, but I still have the constant thoughts of what could happen. I try to remind myself to live in the present, do not think of things out of my control, and to counter negative thought with positive thoughts but it is a struggle every day and it is very difficult. I am working with a therapist and doing "homework" to get things under control. It is not easy. I think of everything that could go wrong and it will probably be my fault. You are not alone in your feelings.

Originally Posted by benson123

I feel you on the irrational fears. I know for the most part that my fears shouldn't come up as regularly as they do, but I still have the constant thoughts of what could happen. I try to remind myself to live in the present, do not think of things out of my control, and to counter negative thought with positive thoughts but it is a struggle every day and it is very difficult. I am working with a therapist and doing "homework" to get things under control. It is not easy. I think of everything that could go wrong and it will probably be my fault. You are not alone in your feelings.

Benson, that is EXACTLY what I am going through.

I think about what COULD happen.............and no matter what it is, it will be my fault. MY fault..............

Every day, I am thinking of taking an overdose of pills, just to ease the pain, and let go

[Perna]

My husband calls my fear like that, not having an "I don't know" bucket It helps me when I get anxious because I do not understand (yet :-) to remember and think of that way of "containing" the fear. Maybe you can come up with a container with yours and instead of staying stuck thinking about and feeling it, put it in the container and put the container aside so you can go back to functioning. Think of putting it in a freezer or something?

Originally Posted by Perna

My husband calls my fear like that, not having an "I don't know" bucket It helps me when I get anxious because I do not understand (yet :-) to remember and think of that way of "containing" the fear. Maybe you can come up with a container with yours and instead of staying stuck thinking about and feeling it, put it in the container and put the container aside so you can go back to functioning. Think of putting it in a freezer or something?

I tried that It didnt work

I've tried most of the sugested techniques

Nothing works

I feel like.............there is SOMETHING I should do, that I am not doing

Like..........the root of my fears and anxieties lies in ONE THING. And, if I could just have the courage to do it..............my problems will go away



It's silly thinking, I know. But I cant think of anything else

[nniuq]

I have so many irrational fears (mostly about something harming my dog) but some of my fears could be rational- at least I think so which is worse for me than the irrational fears. It's exhausting.

Originally Posted by nniuq

I have so many irrational fears (mostly about something harming my dog) but some of my fears could be rational- at least I think so which is worse for me than the irrational fears. It's exhausting.

I'm in the same boat, nniuq.

I know exactly how you feel

I feel the same about my daughter

I love her soooo much. I cant bear the thought of anyone harming her

[marmaduke]

I've tried most of the sugested techniques
Nothing works
I feel like.............there is SOMETHING I should do, that I am not doing

Maybe you need a different therapist.

Have you tried any meds? Panic & fear is a result of;

"fight or flight" mode in response to something you think is a threat. As your body tries to take in more oxygen your breathing quickens. Your body also releases hormones, such as adrenaline, causing your heart to beat faster and your muscles to tense up.

I have taken beta blockers, very effective in controlling panic attacks, and paroxetine an SSRI for anxiety & OCD together with much self help (I couldn't afford a therapist) positive thinking, mantras repeated many times a day 'I am enough, I am always enough' and I am (almost) normal now, apart from an occasional bad day.

Originally Posted by marmaduke

I've tried most of the sugested techniques
Nothing works
I feel like.............there is SOMETHING I should do, that I am not doing

Maybe you need a different therapist.

Have you tried any meds? Panic & fear is a result of;

"fight or flight" mode in response to something you think is a threat. As your body tries to take in more oxygen your breathing quickens. Your body also releases hormones, such as adrenaline, causing your heart to beat faster and your muscles to tense up.

I have taken beta blockers, very effective in controlling panic attacks, and paroxetine an SSRI for anxiety & OCD together with much self help (I couldn't afford a therapist) positive thinking, mantras repeated many times a day 'I am enough, I am always enough' and I am (almost) normal now, apart from an occasional bad day.

I see a therapist once a week. It's expensive, but I have no choice

I started taking meds last month. I realized that I couldnt do without them

[avlady]

I am happy i found this post i get anxious about things that may happen, not things going on in the moment. My counselor is coming over in 1 hour so i can talk to her about it.

Originally Posted by avlady

I am happy i found this post i get anxious about things that may happen, not things going on in the moment. My counselor is coming over in 1 hour so i can talk to her about it.

I totally feel the same way

I am seeing my counselor/therapist next week

until then....................