Bad 'signs'

[Jamol]

Hi!

So brief bio, I've had anxiety of some degree as long as I can remember, and it is largely health anxiety, but in the last 6 months it has changed completely.

In January I found out my partner was pregnant, which I am over the moon about. However it wasn't long before I was obsessing over them chemicals she uses for work ( she is a cleaner) , googling for hours then possible effects. So I read that regular use is linked to rising cars of autism, and this has since taken over my life worrying that my unborn child has autism.

I seem to be consumed with anxiety and worry for a few days, and then I'm ok for a week or two and then worry etc etc. Every time my partner mentions work it reignites the worry in my head. HOWEVER, I am now experiencing my anxiety in forms I haven't previously. For example, I was recently told I will be having a work experience student under my supervision at work next week, and that he has autism. Now, my mind immediately took that as a 'sign' that my child will have autism. I have managed to get to a place where I accept it's just a coincidence, but I was wondering if anyone else gets this happen to them?

[Rick(amateur)]

I can only say I have similar experiences in that a bunch of foreign issues happen roughly around the same time. A lot of the time, my mind tries to connect them together even if there's no connection there whatsoever. It's definitely an overwhelming experience and learning to cope with it initially isn't easy. I feel there are stages people get through before they're ready to tackle the problem head on.

All I can say is to take things a step at a time. Trying to juggle everything at once normally doesn't work well unless you've been juggling these things for awhile. Have you tried talking with your partner about this? Seems like a topic that you two should discuss and see if something could be worked out. Worrying about the future is quite normal since it's uncertain. Having someone to talk about these problems, especially someone else who is also directly affected, could do a lot of good for you. :)

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yep, I've been through stuff like this with having Magical Thinking in my OCD.

There are plenty of thread around about things like this e.g. TomT's ones or some I've seen about keywords seen on TV being linked back to a fear.

It's just the anxious mind jumping to find a reason to be fearful and ignoring probably the many other coincidences that we see all the time.