London/tubes and fears of terrorist attacks

[Bluebll]

Hi All,

New to the forum (oops, just seen that I missed a crucial vowel in my username!).

I'm really, really, struggling at the moment with fears about being caught up in a terrorist attack on the underground - I work in central London and am becoming increasingly anxious and paranoid. I suffer from OCD and have for the past 8 years, but managed to pretty much overcome it and have been a lot better the last 2 years.

However, I'm at the point now where I literally don't know how I'm going to get to work on Monday. I want to quit my job so I can find a company closer to home not in central London but really need the money and we're in the process of buying a house! It's got so bad that I get really early trains/tubes in the morning, as in my mind an attack is more likely in rush hour. I'm just convinced something is going to happen and I'll never see my husband again, have children together etc. It's sending me crazy and I don't know what to do :-(

I can't get a bus as it will take an extra 40 minutes and the same for walking - plus walking would mean going past all of the major tourist areas and that scares me too. Whilst I know all this is extreme - part of me thinks this is logical/rationale?!

Has anyone suffered something similar or got any advice?

[Autumn4]

Hi I think we all feel some anxiety re terrorist attacks. The reality is that it could be anywhere at home or abroad & we either have to hide in a bunker in the middle of nowhere or decide we are all in this together with the same risks. My daughter said that she didn't want to go abroad on holiday but the 2nd World war showed how people carried on with air raids on a regular basis. Maybe we take strength from all the people who carried on during the war against far greater odds. I do understand your anxiety & I can feel it also but it helps me to think about all the people who carried on with life during the war.

[unusualreality]

Thanks for your post, i don't feel so alone reading it.

I have had a healthy fear of the Underground for years, I used to live in London, and was once stuck in a tunnel for an hour. This was during a bomb scare when the IRA was bombing london, it was horrid. I tried my breathing techniques etc, and i came through.

I was on the Underground during the London bombings! on another Line, not near Kings Cross, however that was my destination and as usual i was running half an hour late....

I have been trying to work on my fear of the Underground for years, and totally relate to you! I don't have any advice, just sharing to make you feel less alone ( hopefully). sometimes now when I come into London, I have no choice to use the Underground; I usually do it outside of rush hour when there is less people, this helps, or i take the bus. And although it adds another 30 minutes to my journey, if i navigate it well, its no huge deal....

I know I have panic 'issues', however, I think its healthy sometimes to have a certain fear of some things - My sister was about to go on Holiday to Tunisia, i persuaded her to go to Spain, thankfully i did.!

good luck, and i hope that you look into using the Bus , or using other healthy techniques. Your not alone....

hugs

[Bluebll]

Thank you both for your really kind replies. Gosh, I'm such an emotional mess that my eyes are welling up at how welcoming this forum is!

I can't imagine how strong you must be to have been so close to the bombings unusual reality and still manage to get the tube and I think that would make any anxiety you have completely justified (unlike mine). Yes, I will look at buses, but then an extra 40 minutes makes my commute nearly 2 hours!! Plus, buses aren't immune..... It's just awful, spending the journey scanning for big bags, nervous commuters - I don't want to be like that :-( I'm also scared of changing my routine - I imagine the irony of me avoiding the tube and then being caught up in something elsewhere. Again, re-reading this, I sound like I'm completing losing it!

Autumn4, thank you, I totally agree with your thinking and that's what my rational brain tells me in calmer moments. People during the war, and current conflicts are so brave and face a much greater chance of something awful happening and still carry on. Makes me feel very pathetic!:weep:

[nomorepanic]

Hi and :welcome:

If you wanted your forum name to be bluebell then that is taken but I can change it to anything else if you like?

[Carnation]

Hi and Welcome. :)

I live in London. I Use to use the tube to go to work in Central London.
If there are any attacks, they are likely to be a big event somewhere and not necessarily commuters.
Years ago there were many threats at Train Stations by another body of Terrorists, that also included Pubs and Post Boxes.
The best thing is to keep your Mind occupied when travelling like reading or doing a crossword.
If you think about it logically. You are safer on a train than in a car. And you are safer in your place of work than a big public event.
Don't hinder your dreams and future over this. Keep focused, think logically and keep the Mind away from these thoughts.
My Father worked in London for 40 years and was a Builder at very prominent places for a hit, such as The Houses of Parliament, St. Pauls, The Bank of England, Buckingham Palace, and he was fine.
So, don't let this freak you out. :hugs:

[dorabella]

I've lived in London for over twenty years and remember the 7/7 day when I missed being caught up in the Russell Square underground bombing because I was running 10 minutes late and didn't catch my usual time train - the one that got blown up. It is too easy, living in a city like this, to let yourself get caught up in such thoughts.

If someone is going to wreak havoc with a bomb then they will do it without warning, and it comes down to to the simple fact that you may be unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was lucky in 2005 - but I just don't dwell on it. I refuse to let myself be afraid to set foot outside my front door. Just go about your business and don't concentrate on the what if's......

[MyNameIsTerry]

I've lived in London for over twenty years and remember the 7/7 day when I missed being caught up in the Russell Square underground bombing because I was running 10 minutes late and didn't catch my usual time train - the one that got blown up. It is too easy, living in a city like this, to let yourself get caught up in such thoughts.

If someone is going to wreak havoc with a bomb then they will do it without warning, and it comes down to to the simple fact that you may be unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was lucky in 2005 - but I just don't dwell on it. I refuse to let myself be afraid to set foot outside my front door. Just go about your business and don't concentrate on the what if's......

A situation that seems could go two ways; worry & rumination or thinking how lucky you are, appreciating what you have and living your life to the full. Good choice how you dealt with it.

[unusualreality]

Thank you both for your really kind replies. Gosh, I'm such an emotional mess that my eyes are welling up at how welcoming this forum is!

I can't imagine how strong you must be to have been so close to the bombings unusual reality and still manage to get the tube and I think that would make any anxiety you have completely justified (unlike mine). Yes, I will look at buses, but then an extra 40 minutes makes my commute nearly 2 hours!! Plus, buses aren't immune..... It's just awful, spending the journey scanning for big bags, nervous commuters - I don't want to be like that :-( I'm also scared of changing my routine - I imagine the irony of me avoiding the tube and then being caught up in something elsewhere. Again, re-reading this, I sound like I'm completing losing it!

Autumn4, thank you, I totally agree with your thinking and that's what my rational brain tells me in calmer moments. People during the war, and current conflicts are so brave and face a much greater chance of something awful happening and still carry on. Makes me feel very pathetic!:weep:

You are not loosing it at all! thank you so much for opening up!

I work in Radio and have 2 Radio Shows, I chose to move out of London for various reasons, but top of the list was crime and pollution.
I have been attacked, by a man at a train station.
I now live in a lovely vibrant city and have not looked back, its not as large as london , however, less Polluted.

If you have dear friends and family who know you more than us on this forum perhaps have a sensible and logical and practical chat with them, if one day you feel it is right to re-locate or move jobs go for it......

Yes it was a weird time for me in London,and being around all the problems, with terrorism and crime. Now when i go back i can have fun, as i either drive or take the bus....

London at night is lovely. big hugs to you

[MyNameIsTerry]

With a subject so extreme I think most people have thoughts/feelings of a similiar nature and its more about how you deal with them as already said so well by others on here.

In my city there have been several arrests in recent years. We had several recently from the Met operation to track down people distributing paraphanalia and we even had a doctor arrested, who I think was connected to the Glasgow airport incident.

I live on the edge of an Asian community and there has been osme tension felt but its a passing thing and people seem to just treat each other a people mostly.