Can anyone relate to these or am I being selfish?

[Uncertain27]

1. Worrying that wars are imminent, and/or that current wars are going to escalate suddenly and end up with nuclear attacks. Especially Iran, because it says online that if it gets attacked, WW3 will happen. When I heard that the Boston bomber may have been Russian I was having a tiny freak-out that the Cold War would start again, like that's all we need as well as North Korea, Syria, China and Japan, etc. :wacko:
I'm also somewhat worried about nuclear accidents and climate change. There was a small fire at a power plant in England the other day and someone on a forum posted "Nuclear power station explodes - major incident" (thanks for that -not!) which it wasn't. I was freaking out and shut all the upstairs windows just incase!
:sofa:

2. Generally convinced I will be shouted at and blamed for things that are not my fault, and also that I will upset people.
I'm sometimes frightened to answer the home phone incase someone has died or whatever and I will have to tell everyone. That scares me partly because people will be upset and it will be my fault (although I know it wouldn't really because they'd find out sooner or later), and also that my Dad will use it to shout at me, then others will say I'm being disrespectful to the dead if I stand up for myself.
This actually happened a few weeks ago even though I wasn't answering it after 6PM normally, because the person called about three seconds after I'd put the phone down from trying to contact my group all afternoon, so I naturally assumed it was them finally calling back. I was worrying about it so much after that, I didn't answer three calls from the unemployment programme I'm on, and they threatened to make the Jobcentre give me a sanction because of it. I mentioned this to my mum and she said it was selfish and making everything about me, so it probably is I suppose.

[messianictalmud]

I wouldn't say your selfish, but would ask if some pof the things you hsve mentioned like not picking up the phone is more about your fears and how your respond to them. Also I would make an appointment to see your personal advisor at Jobcentre Plus and explain to them how your feeling and that G.A.D makes you unable to answer the phone due to extreme anxiety.

[BobbyDog]

I think to say you are selfish is a really cruel and hurtful comment. People with anxiety usually have low self esteem, me included. We need people to be kind and gentle, not expecting them to understand, but to be respectful of our feelings.
Try and let the programme you are doing know that your anxiety is bad and you were too anxious to answer the phone, get someone else to call for you if you can while you are in the room to give consent.

[shakey1961]

Hi. I hope you don't mind me saying, but your worries made me smile. Not a smile thinking you're strange and off your head, but a smile that I understand and can relate a bit to you, but also that when you stop and think about it rationally you realise they're silly.

First of all, I don't see "wars" just suddenly escalating. In the present climate of Korea that's just propaganda for their population. If they were to try and start anything the US and other countries would crush them easily, to be honest it would be like stepping on an ant! As for Iran, they're not even I the news (that I've seen) so they don't seem to be causing trouble. Rest assured, our embassies and governments will be watching them, it's just we don't get to hear about it.

Also, I think people get worried cos of the technology available to us. Go back just 30 years and we didn't have the internet, no computers (well not of the like we have today), no 24 hour television and News. We are bombarded with news from BBC and Sky at anytime of the day or night and you can probably find out everything you want to know from the internet. We get so much of it, you can think everything is worse than it actually is.

And as for the nuclear power plant incident - where was the power plant in relation to you, was it close or many many miles away? I don't think closing your windows will have much effect if it blew up and took your house with it.

Why should someone have died when the phone rings? While I can't say it won't happen, the chances of it are very remote. And remember you're not to blame for everything that happens in this world.

Do you have caller ID on your phone line? That would enable you to see who is calling before you picked it up, then you'd know if it was the jobcentre. Do you have a mobile phone? If so, give everyone you want to know, the number of your mobile, then when it rings it will show you who is calling, except those who show as unknown, but even with that, if you only have one person who comes up as unknown you will have a good guess at who it is. When I used to get calls form the jobcentre they showed as unknown so I sort of knew it was them.

Finally, when you feel ok, sit down and think about how you've been and have a giggle thinking how silly you can be sometimes! I do it! I roar with laughter after an event when I think of the stupid things I've done and how pointless they were and wouldn't have had any bearing on the outcome.

I hope I've been useful and I hope you feel better soon.

[Uncertain27]

I wouldn't say your selfish, but would ask if some pof the things you hsve mentioned like not picking up the phone is more about your fears and how your respond to them. Also I would make an appointment to see your personal advisor at Jobcentre Plus and explain to them how your feeling and that G.A.D makes you unable to answer the phone due to extreme anxiety.
Thanks, I do answer the phone mostly but just feel slightly nervous when I hear it ringing, apart from if it's very late at night. I was only ignoring it for a couple of weeks after something like that actually happened! :scared15: Advisors have been told many times to ring my mobile anyway because I'm often out in the afternoons but they won't, apart from when I tell them my Internet is down, then they email me! :glare:

---------- Post added at 22:13 ---------- Previous post was at 19:22 ----------



And as for the nuclear power plant incident - where was the power plant in relation to you, was it close or many many miles away? I don't think closing your windows will have much effect if it blew up and took your house with it.

It was about 200 miles away, I closed the windows incase there was radiation leaking out of it. Obviously if it blew up my house I would know about it lol. :)


Finally, when you feel ok, sit down and think about how you've been and have a giggle thinking how silly you can be sometimes! I do it! I roar with laughter after an event when I think of the stupid things I've done and how pointless they were and wouldn't have had any bearing on the outcome.

I hope I've been useful and I hope you feel better soon.
You have been useful, I do that especially when it's something really ridiculous. The other day I was reading in bed and started worrying about a sharp pain in my ribs that got worse over 10-15 minutes, when I sat up to see if there was a lump or anything, I realised I'd just been laying on the end of my phone charger! :blush: