Imagination own worst enemy?

[Cupofpoison]

Hey all,

I find that I suffer my panic attacks when my imagination runs away with me. It's like, whenever I'm put into a situation, or really, whenever a situation or scenario is even suggested to me, I start imagining the worst possible sequence of events. I used to joke that this was the way I always was able to do things because things could always be worse. But now I'm really so tired of being afraid of everything.

Does anyone else experience this? Anyone have any suggestions for overcoming this?

Thanks,

- Jamberry


Don't let life get the best of you; instead, give life your best.

[kellym]

my imagination runs away with me all he time, like i keep thinking i have cheated on my boyfriend because i was drunk and forgot most of the night, it started with what if i slept with someone in the toilets and has now ended in i know i must have done something, people are always telling me to just forget about it but i just cant, you will no doubt find ways to help you deal with this from his forum i find it helps a great deal to know that your not the only one.

[dave01]

Hi yeah i get this too, it almost seems like my mind is primed just waiting for something to get anxious or to worry about, even the most silliest of things i make into the worst case scenario.
Don't really have any answers at all to be honest, but your not alone.

Take care.
Dave

d.jones

[Elle]

I think this is probably more common than most of us think. Some people admit to it whilst others keep it quiet and bottled up inside of them. Worst case scenario thoughts must occur in practically everyone's brain but some are better at booting them out. They stick in the minds of some, however, and end up as never ending loops. Therein lies the agony. Chemical imbalance may lie at the heart of it. Poor diet can exacerbate it. Monosodium glutamate makes me really edgy and my face flushes. There's too much rubbish in our food and it really doesn't help.

Elle

[Insomniac]

Thats what anxiety is.... we all imagine the worst. It rarely happens I've found. The panic is our body believing our "what ifs" and preparing for fight or flight.

I find that reminding myself to breathe sensibly helps I used to think - oh no here comes the panic, then get anxious in case it gets worse... which of course makes it worse. Now I think, oh look, I'm getting tense, feeling dizzy - so I can tell I'm getting anxious and I start my breathing exercise of exhaling for slightly longer than inhale which rebalances your oxygen levels. Also gives me something to concentrate on.

The Home page here has lots of helpful suggestions. :D Hope this helps,


Lisa.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

[KOKO23CAT]

read it and weep!

my life is full of catastrophies, most of which never happened

[spuds]

In CBT they call this 'catastrophising' or 'catastrophic thinking' - it is just a bad habit really, but it is very difficult to stop. I was always a worrier, but now I just jump straight to the worse possible outcome in every situation, even non-threatening, perfectly normal ones that can be easily resolved. It's very annoying because I feel that my logic has deserted me. It's also often called ANTs - automatic negative thoughts. I printed out these pages and used to read them through when I was really anxious:

http://www.anxietynetwork.com/helpcope.html#helpcop1