Fear of Hurting Other People? Posted: 08-20-04 00:22am
Okay, here's the deal.
I've been suffering from anxiety since
last october. Since then, i've had many
irrational thoughts that have lead to
panic attacks and such. I've noticed most
of my thoughts and the anxiety that
follows originates from things i've heard
about on tv or other people mentioning
things. The first thing I was afraid of
was brain tumor, as I heard the symptoms
on a tv show, and the same thing with
heart attack and stroke. I'd feel the
most minor feeling similar to the above
fears, and then think i'm having problems
with them.
Anyway, this most recent fear is somewhat
similar. It's also completely idiotic. I
sat down and watched the movie "secret
window", and to make a long story short,
the guy is almost exactly like me in every
way (just the way he looks, he's a writer,
he smokes, etc.) and he goes insane and
becomes a killer.
Ever since I saw the movie, i've been
having the most strange fears of just
losing control and harming someone I love,
or one of our pets. It's not even that I
have a compusion to do it or actually feel
like i'm going to go crazy and do it, it's
just that the thought pops into my head
what if I were to lose control and do
something irrational, and that thought
makes me sick and I feel ill, distusted,
and scared that i'd even think about it.
And just to stress this, I do not feel
like i'm actually going to do something
that sick, I just get scared at the mere
thought.
Has anyone else had a similar fear? I
just want to know that i'm not alone.
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qt3
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Posts: 264
Posted: 08-20-04 12:03pm
Hi unified-
i have never had the fear of physically
hurting anyone but I can give you advice
what you had to say in your first
paragraph here about worrying and brain
tumors etc. I was convinced I had just
about every serious ailment under the sun
for many years. Every time I heard about
a new disease and its symptoms, I thought
I had it. I have since learned that it
has little to do with the symptoms and
everything to do with the way I was
thinking about the symptoms. Cbt has
since changed my life. It's all about
using the tools to learn to think more
clearly and accurately about things and
once you do your anxiety, panic and
depression will begin disappear. My
favorite starter book on cbt is "been
there, done that? Do this! By sam obitz
and many universities offer cbt programs
for little or no charge so you may want to
call the ones in your area. Good luck!
Q
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Dan1234
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Posts: 6 Location: Illinois
Posted: 09-06-04 20:08pm
Yeah, know what your talking about.
I've had random, irrational thoughts about
hurting a family member. I normally
carry around a pocket knife because I work
in my yard often. There might be a tree
limb or branch in the way or something, so
I just flip it out and cut it off and keep
on mowing or whatever i'm doing. But I
remember once I had a random thought about
hurting a family member with it... When I
know i'll never do it. Ever. I was
kinda freaked out because I would never do
that... And had simular feelings like
you had. Your not alone. =)
