weird anxiety about people becoming unresponsive- anyone else?

[emily67]

I have a weird fear about people becoming unresponsive

that is to say

my fear is that I am talking to someone (anyone), they could be completely healthy- but I will still worry that at any moment, they are just going to stop responding- and I'm going to have to call 999 to get help for them.

this extends to people sleeping as well. if someone is sleeping by me, I litirally can't cope with it, and I'll go over to them (even if I don't know them), and start shaking them violently to get some kind of response out of them-then I'll go and call the ambulance, or start to call them, then have that person wake up and tell me they are fine.

this isn't really too much of a problem, because for the most part, I keep myself to myself ( I'll just do my own thing), but when I am with someone and start acting like that, they find it really weird (I don't blame them!)

has anyone else got this fear or had it?

hope I explained it okay!

---------- Post added at 11:47 ---------- Previous post was at 11:45 ----------

I suppose my fear isn't entirely weird, I mean- for one, their is the possibility of overheating, and secondly, their is the possibility (well, it will happen to us all), that they will die in front of me

[ana]

It sounds like you're afraid of losing people. I have separation anxiety and I always fear something bad will happen to the people I care about. Your fear manifests as thoughts about them becoming ill in front of you, and mine manifests more as something happening to them when I'm not around. I believe it's essentially the same thing.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Within the diagnostic criteria for GAD they actually mention a HA type problem of worrying about the health of others.

I would get this about my parents, intrusive thoughts about them stopping breathing. Like all intrusive thoughts it's a matter of reducing the overreaction to them and stopping any compulsive activity like how you wake them up. It's only adding importance to an irrational obsession just as someone who fears they may harm a loved one hides the knives just in case.