The most ridiculous/irrational things that trigger anxiety?

[Steph_]

Has anyone ever had their anxiety triggered by something completely ridiculous?

I feel embarrassed even confessing to this because I know how ridiculous it sounds, but I suffer from health anxiety and for the past couple of months have been worried about lung cancer. This was eased a bit after a doctor's visit and I had a couple of really good weeks where I was hardly anxious at all. Then I had a conversation with my dad (who is really spiritual) and he told me he kept smelling the scent of his late father. This immediately sent me on a downward spiral again because I convinced myself my dead grandfather had come for me and that I was going to die. I feel so stupid saying it but I suppose it just goes to show how irrational the anxiety really is and how it finds any excuse to claw its way back in. :shrug:

[Sparkling_Fairy]

I had a huge panic attack today (first in a few weeks) because of the fireplace!
My parents are visiting for a few weeks, and my mom wanted the fireplace on for cozyness. I immediately thought: it'll be too warm, it'll be too warm, it'll be too warm.
It's freezing outside!!!! I was cold all day, but half an hour after lighting that thing I got a full blown panic attack. I wasn't even all that warm, but the thought of the fireplace being on gave me a hot flash, tightness in my chest and a faint feeling. I've been in my bed in my cold bedroom since 20:30 'cause I can't face going downstairs anymore.
Evening playing cards with the parents cut short.

I think anxiety is always irrational.
And yes, I have smelled my dead grandfather's cigarettes before and also wondered if he was there to take me.
Our minds just don't work rational with anxiety and it's annoying as ****!

[Steph_]

It really is so annoying that such a simple thing can set you back. And because you never know when its coming, you constantly feel caught on the back foot. I totally get the being too hot thing btw, that has triggered a panic attack for me many times. And its comforting to know others have experienced the smell of a dead relative and lived to tell the tale!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, many many times. It's a big part of my GAD & OCD and always has been. Aside from physical, mental, emotional triggers, etc I've things like noises on TV or specific adverts, foods, vitamins, family members coming around, sitting in my own home, etc. It's the nature of the beast with a disorder like GAD.

Really is any of that any different to those socially acceptable fears like spiders or heights? No. A tiny hairy insect is nothing to be afraid of, you are a giant that can squash it with ease. Heights are not always dangerous.

The fight or flight process is meant for what out ancestors faced on a daily basis, being eaten or attacked or possibly dragged away by a particularily hairy caveman (or woman :winks:). So, unless it fits into a realistic natural fear, it's some form of irrational fear whether enough to justify a disorder diagnosis or not. The rest is all about how society is centuries behind in understanding the human mind and how we feel.