Very worked up, please reply if you can relate

[rollergirl]

Hi all. I've posted a few times before but not in a while. Ok, so this is where I'm at....I'm from Australia but currently holidaying in Hawaii with a male friend who I'm very close to, yet the other day I called him by my exes name just once! Awkward. Anyway I obviously have had terrible health anxiety for over 10 years and this just got me thinking that maybe at 37 (female) I'm getting some brain deterioration/ dementia/ Alzheimer's etc. since I did it I've been concentrating hard not to let it happen again and now I keep repeating my friends name in my head but the exes name always pops on aswell and I'm scared to talk incase I slip up again which feels like will be the end of me. I've had bad GAD also since the first slip up which I don't normally get. Is this repeating of both names in my head a sign of a brain disease? It's really got me and I've tried breathing but the feeling of fear and dread is overwhelming and the name repeating is getting worse. I'm just trying to repeat my friends name so I don't forget it but the exes name repeats aswell! Please has anyone repeated names like this in their head? Why would I forget my friends name and call him my exes name when I know who he is. Now I find myself looking at him a feeling like I have to say his name or I'll get confused. Is this just anxiety playing tricks on me?

[cattttt]

Yes, it''s anxiety playing tricks on you. Getting a name wrong can happen to anyone, it's not a big deal. Did your friend know it was your exes name? Even if he did, he might not even have noticed, or be upset by it. Men don't get upset in the same way that we do. If you carry on getting wound up about it, you're more likely to get it wrong again. Try replacing the names with something else in your mind ( picture of a flower, your home, whatever). Every time you catch yourself repeating the name, take yourself to that image and try to hold it there. Difficult, but it can be done.