why so many strange and irrational thoughts?

[Cheeky220]

Why do we think of so many strange and irrational things? Im going through Depersonalisation at the moment and i seem to be scared of everything! I seem to sit and think up so many scary thoughts about the universe and what is life and how each day is different and we cant see ahead. and they seem to be scaring the living daylights out of me. Will these stop?? or am i going completely mad?!?:wacko:

[swirledpeacat]

Ok first of all you are not going mad, someone once told me that if you can think you are going mad, you arn't, only mad people don't know they are mad!

These thoughts are completely normal for an anxiety sufferer, espically as you are going through depersonalisation at the mo.

These thoughts will stop in time, have you been to your gp or seen a counsellor at all about your anxiety?

[Missy69]

Hi Cheeky,
I get these quite often, and yes they will stop, but im afraid its the same old story, try to pay them as liitle attention as posiible. It does really work but it takes time, i use to think i was going crazy, but i now when i get them , i just think to myself, oh here it goes again and then just let it pass, just really try to take the thought then let it go, dont see into it or sit worrying about it, apparently its just a tired mind, and a tired mind doesnt need more worry. Just let then come and go. It really works for me.

Good luck

[Carol27]

Hi I am too getting the most bizarre strange and terrifying thoughts since withdrawal from meds. I am so scared of them and worried sick they aren't part of anxiety, i got scared around halloween and hate spiders anyway then saw pictures of them in shop windows and all of a sudden the bizarre thought i am a spider came into my head, scared me so much and it keeps coming and making me panic, i am scared as it seems too bizarre to be anxiety and petrified that even if anxiety goes i will still be thinking it, can anyone advise, i'm constantly cryi g and panicking about it because the content is so strange, i can't imagine anyone else thinking stuff like this, love Carol

[Yvonne]

Loads of people get intrusive thoughts with anxiety. They are horrible but not real. I had some intrusive thoughts when I was in Seroxat withdrawal and they are upsetting. I had this thought that I wanted to put my foot right down on the accellerator of the car and it scared me to death.

These thoughts are not real - just something else anx sends to scare us.

[Cherbear]

You're not mad!! I cannot begin to describe the crazy thoughts I get of what could happen, it's like my mind is in an episode of 24!! I think everything bad is going to happen, so know exactly how you feel x

[jill]

Hi Cheeky :D:hugs:

You have had some great advice allready, as always

I am sorry to hear what you are going through hun, my heart goes out to you.:hugs:I know how DAME hard it is to understand panic, anxiety.

Symptoms of panic, anxiety ARE very scary, but hunny, YOU ARE NOT going mad, please don;t think this, Mmm, when I was acute, I thought I was going Mad, untill I found this great site.

There are lots of threads on this great site about thoughts. Thougts ARE a symptom of anxiety.

I found this on the web, hope it can be of some help to you hun and help you understand things a little more.

http://www.panic-and-anxiety-attacks.com/intrusive-thoughts.html

Things WILL stop hunny, but you have to try DAME hard to stop fearing your thoughts, fear feeds anxiety, panic.

YOU TAKE CARE

LOVE JILLXX

[Anzie2008]

Hi :)
Just wanted to say that I too have been suffering with really ridiculous anxious, intrusive thoughts of late!! Whilst I have always been "anxious", these scary thoughts were new and totally irrational; they didn't make sense at all, didn't fit in with my outlook on life at all. They were completely off-base.

Thing is, I was away on holiday at the time & wasn't keeping busy enough... I feel much better when I'm around my friends, down the pub, horseriding; things I enjoy!!!!! When I'm out and have a sudden intrusive thought, I find it much easier to cope with.
When I'm alone, or just in the house, I let the thoughts take over and trust me, that is one thing you do not want to do!! However, fighting them, as people will often tell you on here, does not work & they're right!! It's best to take a new view on these thoughts... do not indulge them, don't believe they are going to happen or will always have a hold over you because I promise, they won't!! I've started telling myself to stop being silly when it happens, I've just ended up saying to myself: "Ok, irrational stupid thought, stay strong...", and I've taken deep breaths and focussed on my surroundings. When I feel calmer, I take another deep breath & picture my friends & family etc.

It usually works for me but it does take a lot of practise!! Sometimes you will have a horrible thought that continues to linger. Persevere. It's honestly worth it & you feel like you've really achieved something when you manage to let it go !!!! It's amazing :)

I hope this helps a little bit :)
So many people struggle with this, and I've had some horrendous moments with my thoughts, so if you wanna pm me, please feel free :) xxx

[Richd]

Hey Cheeky, I know what you're on about and it most definitely IS anxiety. I'm the same, been dealing with depersonalisation feelings on and off for about 4 years now, they eased off when I was on meds, but since coming off them they came back again...

But I'm dealing with them now, for instance, today I've felt so bad, since this morning I've had these thoughts going round in my head that I can't breathe properly, that I need to make myself breath and that it won't just happen automatically anymore, or that I'm gonna swallow my tongue, or that I've got a real big pressure feeling in my skull.

But I know none of that is real, it's all purely in my head! Besides those thoughts I went and got my haircut, bought fish and chips for my family, and went into town and got myself some new clothes, and I survived the whole thing, never once did I stop breathing, even in the periods of time where I forgot I was supposed to be making myself breath (where I breathed automatically), and never once did I swallow my tongue, or the supposed pressure in my skull caused me to faint.

The depersonalisation feelings are horrible as well, those feelings maybe won't just dissapear, you might have to rationalise them a bit, keep telling yourself that there is nothing else, that this is reality regardless of what your thoughts are telling you, that nothing's gonna slip away, that you're here and you're now and that's not gonna change no matter how much you think.

I read somewhere about a kit they used to recommend people suffering from depersonalisation used, which included a photo or possession of a close loved one, and a piece of hard material such as metal or sandpaper. I wouldn't do that myself, but something I took from it, whenever you feel that way, just chat to a loved one if you can, or find some material such as a cold piece of metal, or a hard wall, and just feel it. It sounds odd, but it reinforces in your mind that you are in reality. Ha, I just had to touch the wall in front of me after writing that. How weird are we? lol.

Like someone else said, I think my personal problem is that I don't have loads going on in my life at the moment, and so where most people's default thoughts might be about relationships, work, or money... I'm not in a relationship, and don't have any on the horizon, my work is so mind numbing there's nothing to think about, and my money situation is fine... so my default thoughts tend to just collapse in on themselves and I worry about breathing and whether this life is real or some massive sensurround.

But yeah, it will pass, I can handle all of this so much better now, I even get days, or periods of days, where the thoughts barely enter my head, and when they do I don't indulge them. Today is purely a glitch, and even then when I get these glitches I come here to put it all into perspective again.

Hope you can get some comfort from that :D

Take care, Richey x