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Help with Irrational Fear?
I've got this really bad problem with fear, its been going on for a few years now but its getting worse, there have been no noteworthy changes in my life, if anything its gotten a bit better.
Occasionally, usually at night and especially when i'm alone, i'll start getting scared. At first its unfocused fear but soon my mind starts wandering to completely unreasonable situations, sometimes things that would never logically happen, and other times things that couldn't physically happen, but during the fear i actually believe that these things might happen. The exact scenarios vary, but usually they involve me being tortured and sometimes killed, either realistically or supernaturally. I try to drive one scenario out of my head but its quickly replaces with another.
At the worst of times it takes all the mental effort i have to keep myself from breaking down and afterward, i usually feel really mentally exhausted.
Does anyone know what could be causing this, and how i could stop it?
2 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
I believe you are suffering from anxiety. Although you mention that there have been no new or "noteworthy" changes in your life recently--did you not know that anxiety can be the result of a situation from your past, or projected anxiety about a future experience? In any case, what I believe is happening is that you either can't (for subconscious reasons) or won't, face up to what is really bothering you, so your mind has created these awful mental scenarios as being a way of replacing what you really fear, (and potentially solving) with something totally awful that you consider completely "unsolvable". Knowledge is power--especially over the unknown factors in our lives. Sit quietly, with a pen and paper--and allow yourself to fear the worst possible REAL scenario you could face right now in life. Is it going broke? Being alone? Not being able to make a difficult decision? Whatever it really is--allow it to come to your mind, and then write it down. Next, research and brainstorm ways to overcome this issue. Being proactive in your own defense of the things you fear in life is the best and most surefire way of developing coping skills and confidence. I promise you that by facing your inner fears head on, you will become stronger and more able to head off this type of crippling anxiety in the future. Be strong!
- Anonymous5 years ago
I have a *complete* irrational fear of stuffed animals. Not cuddly toys but ones that a taxidermist has stuffed. This fear is so severe that I have a panic attack if I so much as see one and feel like I am going to faint. I won't even go into a place if I think there will be one inside. This fear has also extended to museums as this is where most stuffed animals are kept, so now I can barely enter museums without turning into a shaking wreck. I walked into a restaurant the other night and there was a stuffed chicken, I almost turned on my heels and walked out had it not been for 6 other people who wanted to eat at said restaurant. I spent the whole time during the meal looking warily around me to see if there were any other stuffed animals. So yeah that is my completely irrational fear.
