Constantly inventing things to worry about

[Greg316]

Has anybody dealt with this? Im constantly finding new things to worry about, like my mind is running away from itself. Im on vacation right now, and driving around Im worried im going to drive my family off a bridge on accident, or have a panic attack while driving and wreck, or have to use the bathroom in the car where there are no bathrooms, or that my ankles looks swollen and I have heart failure. Ive never had this before, my mind knows it isnt real, but the thoughts keep popping into my head. Its very annoying as its something that has never happened before. Something so simple as my sister saying "can you hold your newphew real quick" sends me into a minor panic because I might accidentally drop him or something.

[NoPoet]

Yes, this is the "white noise" that anxiety throws out to shield itself from you. They are intrusive thoughts. I'm actually surprised you have only developed these now because so many people complain about them and have experienced them for years.

Intrusive thoughts are part of being human. We have loads of them, good and bad, every day. Some thoughts seem so upsetting or shocking we end up focusing on them. This is what's happening to you.

The good news: this is one of the most common symptoms of anxiety. The thoughts are shocking and alien because they're not what you really want to be thinking about - they are not your beliefs, not your "secret inner self" coming out.

Your imagination is like a dog with a stick. If you try to throw a bad thought away your mind will retrieve it and bring it back to you.

The first thing to do is, next time you have one of these thoughts, let it happen. Don't push it away in horror or shame. It's your imagination exploring possibilities. Once it's done this, once you no longer have emotional reactions to the thoughts, they will gradually either stop coming or blend into the background.

[dale12345]

Anxiety tends to make you a fatalist . Everything is the end of the world I am exactly the same way . It's anxiety talking to you .

[Mermaid16]

I found that labelling them 'intrusive thoughts' when they happened also helped. If I had a recurring throught, I would just think to myself 'intrusive thought', not give it any credit and keep on with what I was doing.

[Greg316]

Its not so much the thoughts that are scary, its the accompanying panic feeling. The heart pounding, shallow breathing "im about to have a panic attack" feeling. If they were just thoughts, I think I could ignore them.

[Kuatir]

If you can deal with the thoughts then the accompanying feelings won't come. NoPoet pretty much nailed it on the head, it takes time though.