thoughts or reality

[still_learning]

Does anyone here ever confuse obsessive thoughts with reality, but know what is really the truth. The more obsessed you get over something, the more confusing things get?

[nomorepanic]

Hi and welcome

This is from the symptoms page on this website ...

The Fears: going crazy, of dying, of impending doom, of normal things, unusual feelings and emotions, unusually frightening thoughts or feelings

What you feel:

You suddenly become afraid that you might lose your mind or that you are not able to think. You may also feel that you are not able to remember things as easily as you once did. Sometimes you become afraid of having a nervous breakdown. You also may have periods of 'crazy' thoughts that frighten you, or those thoughts ‘just pop up’ are bothersome by the content.

You fear that what you have is terminal and nobody knows. You may also fear that the chest pains are a deadly heart attack or that the shooting pains in your head are the result of a tumour or aneurysm. You feel that any one of the symptoms you experience are life threatening. You feel an intense fear when you think of dying, or you may think of it more often than normal, or can’t get it out of your mind.

You feel as though something extremely bad is going to happen but you are not sure what. You may also feel as though your world is coming to an end.

You may become afraid of something that you had normally thought was not fearful. It may be a sudden fear of being alone, a fear of inanimate objects moving or talking, or an unsubstantiated fear for your safety to name a few (the fear that you may hurt someone or yourself when using a household knife is common. For example: you fear that you may uncontrollably stab a child, mate or yourself when using a kitchen knife).

You may feel that now you are frightened or have fearful feelings about almost everything, even things that have no real reason to feel that way do. Even small challenges well up fear in you, and seem difficult or destined to doom or failure.

What causes this:
An over stimulated nervous system can alter our feelings, impressions, thoughts and sensations involuntarily (by itself), because it is so interconnected with the brain. In addition, high stress biology produces increased feelings of fear and anxiety as a side effect. When you couple these heightened levels of fear and anxiety with randomly altered moods and thoughts, it becomes clear how these distressing and bizarre thoughts can seem so frightening, confusing and real. Simply stated, when the brain and nervous system are stressed, they can play tricks on your perceptions.

When these symptoms first appear, they often shake the individual’s composure. Further episodes can erode their confidence leading the individual to question their sanity and stability. With the growing apprehension and concern over their questionable mental state, added anxiety increases the already high levels of stress biology which in turn produces more fear and more anxious thinking. If left unaddressed, these symptoms and the concern about them can become entrenched.

In this situation, it is important to remember that both the increased fear AND irrational thoughts are symptoms of an over stimulated nervous system. Despite how real these feelings may seem, they are false impressions caused by high stress biology. They are not signs of serious mental illness. They are symptoms only.

To remedy this, when the symptoms appear:

Recognize that these irrational fears are caused by the over stimulated nervous system and are symptoms only, not a serious mental illness.
Do your best to remain calm, since added fear only compounds the symptoms.
Thought stop or thought swap to change your self talk about what you are feeling.
Make sure you are giving your nervous system ample rest.
Accept the fact that these symptoms will come and go until your nervous system has received sufficient rest.
Remember that you have the choice on what to do with each thought that comes along. You can dismiss, change, or act on them. You do so by choice.



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