The Worrier's thread

Raggit · Wed 02/08/2006 15:25:34

Do you worry constantly?Ã,Â Is your mind filled with "what if" questions?Ã,Â What are your fears?

Share your anxiety here, what you've dealt with, how you got over it, etc.Ã,Â Nothing is too trivial to post about.Ã,Â

I'll start:

I know I worry and obsess about things too much.Ã,Â For instance, I recently came down with a tonsil infection.Ã,Â As soon as my throat started to hurt, the first thing in my mind was, "Oh no, it's cancer!"Ã,Â

Once I got the fever, I knew it wasn't cancer, but then I started worrying about my tonsils swelling up so bad as to block my airway.Ã,Â (Yes, I realize how uncommon that is.)

I went to the doctor, who prescribed antibiotics.Ã,Â I got home, and started reading about it on the internet, and became afraid to take the medication, due to fears of having some rare allergic reaction.Ã,Â

That's the sort of pattern I get into.Ã,Â I start worrying about one thing, and then it just leads to another and another.Ã,Â The worst part is that often my anxiety will create certain symptoms, such as upset stomach, fast heartrate, and shakiness, causing me to believe that something really IS going wrong.Ã,Â A vicious cycle.
(Then I start to worry that I worry too much.)

So, what's bothering you?

limeTree · Wed 02/08/2006 15:33:06

I was in a hospital a lot.
At some point i even urinated blood.But i never thought of it.
I never worried much.I was worried about my mothers overdozed consern about me.
I have been sick for five years meaby.I have a constant temperature.Beside the blood urinating,i had to operate my tonsils and i failed at school because i study harder so everybody in the high school thin i am stupid witch is very different from what others thought of me earlier.
Now i am transferring school,hope to get friends who wont dislike me and hope to start studying again.(Whe i couldnt study i always went on the coputer and made games feeling i am making my life better then studying.)

Nostradamus · Wed 02/08/2006 15:33:56

I have an answer for your "what if" that possess you:

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

I also was the type of guy who constantly asked himself what would happen if I did things differently. But when I saw this movie I understood that you shouldn't ask yourself "what if" because had you did things differently you might have just made things worse. Since then I don't ask myself "what if" anymore. And that's because there is no point. You can't change the past and you never know if you had things differnetly you could have ended up worse.

limeTree · Wed 02/08/2006 15:41:48

The domino effect is too complex and various.
I once neded making some things out out of bordiness.
Something like this:
My wife told me to go buy a bottle of wine,but i was too lazy because i wanted to watch football.
The store i would have gone into had only one bottle left.
A man who camed,bought the last bottle and got drunk,raped someone outside,Hitler was born,killed so manny people who could have gave birth to great scientist that would one day coem up with an idea to save the earth of a great danger.
If only i bought that last bottle.....

ManicMatt · Wed 02/08/2006 17:57:47

I am worrying about the abcess in my tooth and this girl called Louise. I worry too much. It will probably be my own undoing.

Vlad · Wed 02/08/2006 18:10:16

Once, for the hell of it, I cought a small lizard. Just wanted to see if I could. The little thing bit me. I was worried I'd get rabies, a blood infection or that the little bugger was venomous like those Komodo dragons.

Nowadays I usually worry about not getting my work done in time and/or failing exams at the uni. In my free time I'm afraid that I'm not good enough in whatever I do. One of my hobbies is coming up with interesting new complexes and testing them on myself.

Lipaoklipa, no worries, people who get ill a lot and are outcasts tend to become much more sensitive (in the positive way) and intelligent than their classmates (hence the lack of understanding). Your unfortunate experiences may, in the end, have a positive effect on your future life - whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Domino · Sat 05/08/2006 01:46:23

I have GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) which makes me constantly worry all of the time. I also get the What If thinking a.k.a. Catastrophic Thinking.

I have been put on 5mg of Valium (3 times daily) which i pretty much have to use on a daily basis to keep myself relaxed. My doctor prescribed Lexapro for me also, but i haven't taken it yet, but i will. Lexapro is used for treating Depression and Anxiety.

My life is so wonderful isn't it. :'(

Raggit · Sat 05/08/2006 04:02:19

I just developed a new worry this evening. Our microwave just blew up (not literarly) and now the kitchen has that burnt-electrical-stuff oder in it.

To all you electrical buffs out there, is this odor harmful to breath?

Steel Drummer · Sat 05/08/2006 04:22:05

Right now I'm worrying that my game will be a huge downfall. Maybe your excellent voice acting will improve it, Raggit.

R4L · Sat 05/08/2006 04:41:25

I have a phobia of cooking. Seriously. I can't cook something in my house when I am alone b/c im afraid that it will start a fire or I will forget about it and start a fire, and it has happened before. I was home alone for one night, and I was making potatoes on the stove top. I forgot it was on and a fire started in my kitchen. I smelt something burning so I ran in the kitchen and tried to put the fire out. By then, it had grown so large that I had to call the fire department. To this day, I do not cook UNLESS someone is home with me.

Its funny, I was on this forum too when it happened. Damn you CJ and your "AGS" bullshit

j/k

SmootH · Sat 05/08/2006 05:11:00

When I was a younger man, I had lots of "what if"s. Luckily for me (and for you) wikipedia has a list of them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_What_If%3F_issues

Radiant · Sat 05/08/2006 10:47:38

I'm so worried about what's hapenin' today, in the middle east, you know
And I'm worried about the baggage retrieval system they've got at Heathrow
I'm so worried about the fashions today, I don't think they're good for your feet
And I'm so worried about the shows on TV that sometimes they want to repeat

Nacho · Sat 05/08/2006 11:29:42

Do phobias count? because I have phobia to cockroaches... Now I manage it and I can kill them using a spray if they're in my home, or avoid them if they are in my garage, when I go to pick my motorbike, but some years ago I just got out of the place, no matter if I had to leave the bike there and pick a taxi... It was really annoying.

Raggit · Sat 05/08/2006 14:44:55

I'm thinking I have OCD. I know it runs in my family. I was fortunate enough to come across a book called "Brain Lock."

It's an amazing book about OCD and a self-directed four step therapy that is helping me:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060987111/102-6738349-4341744?v=glance&n=283155

Anyway, I got so freaked out last night about that microwave, I dialed poison control to ask them about the odors. To my relief, they said it wasn't dangerous, but might make you a little sick to your stomach if you breath it too much.

After that, I started having difficulty sleeping due to a fear that I would quit breathing. (Amazingly, I'm not making this up.)

LGM · Sat 05/08/2006 16:16:55

I used to have that for a month or so. I would always think breathing was a stress on my body and that my brain would just stop doing it after awhile. It sucked. I used to worry about cancer and appendicities and all that junk when I was younger. Every pain I had was blown into something big. Now most of that is gone. I rarely take medicine and my job is somewhat dangerous. So yea, I don't worry too much anymore.

Although my mother is always worrying about something. It drives me insane.

Raggit · Sat 05/08/2006 16:35:37

lgm,

Did it go in cycles? Like you'd worry for a few monthes, then it'd clear up and come back later? Or did you mean you had it for just a month and that's it.

I have it in cycles.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sat 05/08/2006 19:10:47

What you are describing Raggit is less OCD and more Thantophobia, a fear of anything that could result in your death. If it was restricted only to diseases and physical ailments I would suggest it to be hypochondria (what I have), but as you've explained a fear of microwave fumes it goes beyond that. Granted, you may have OCD along with Thantophobia, but your descriptions seem to indicate an exaggerated and unrealistic fear of dying. In my case, education about diseases and their actual behavior tends to help rather than hurt, but for some people it is the opposite. Also, some fear is natural and some is not. When a new disease is filtering around and there is no cure, a certain degree of alarm is understandable; we are only human afterall. It's when you take that fear to an extreme and harp on it until you imagine symptoms manifesting that you have a problem.

Unfortunately, I can't really recommend a psychiatrist as I've found that with most phobias and such, the only cure can come from within. I think the book you mention is a good step, though it will remain a constant battle to keep those thoughts in check and differentiate between a real crisis and an imagined one. As someone who knows what you are going through, I wish you the best in getting a handle on it.

Raggit · Sun 06/08/2006 02:05:55

Quote from: ProgZmax on Sat 05/08/2006 19:10:47
What you are describing Raggit is less OCD and more Thantophobia, a fear of anything that could result in your death.Ã,Â If it was restricted only to diseases and physical ailments I would suggest it to be hypochondria (what I have), but as you've explained a fear of microwave fumes it goes beyond that.Ã,Â Granted, you may have OCD along with Thantophobia, but your descriptions seem to indicate an exaggerated and unrealistic fear of dying.Ã,Â Ã,Â In my case, education about diseases and their actual behavior tends to help rather than hurt, but for some people it is the opposite.

With just Thantophobia itself, would the anxiety pass after realizing I have no real symptoms, or would it continue to gnaw at me?Ã,Â I think that's where my OCD comes in, I cannot shake the feeling that I'm about to die or some other nonsense.Ã,Â

Sometimes studying diseases helps me, sometimes it does not and only makes it worse.Ã,Â But I'd rather know too much than not enough.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 06/08/2006 02:21:41

Yes, I would say that the anxiety would persist because somewhere in your mind you are wondering if the symptoms just have yet to show, etc. OCD certainly makes it even more difficult to relax, though.

Darth Mandarb · Sun 06/08/2006 15:01:56

I'm a HUGE hypochondriac.

I frickin' hate it. It comes and goes. Recently I've been dealing with it again.

I call it the "worse case" disease. I get some tiny little symptom and immediately it's the worst thing it could possibly be. For instance ... the last week or so I've been getting lots of little muscle spasms (in my hands, shoulders, and legs mostly). So I immediately assume it's something like MS, or Parkinson's disease. I know FULL well that the odds of this are 1 in 100,000 (or something rediculous like that) but it doesn't erase the fear and worry. It never occurs to me that it's probably just stress, and then stressing out over it just makes it worse, and then it gets worse and worse and it snowballs into the big issue ...

It's such an annoying condition to have ... because I'm well aware that I have it and that I'm making huge issues out of nothing, yet it still continues to happen. My family and friends all tease me about it (which doesn't help, though I'm sure they think it will). It's mostly annoying because it can really prevent you from enjoying living which, after all is said and done, is the only thing that is important.

In the end, for me at least, it's a simple fact of mind over matter. I convince myself to stop being such a pathetic wussy and "man up" as I call it. It usually works ... until, 10 minutes later, I get another muscle spasm and the process repeats itself ...