Hi everyone,

I really need some insight on these feelings that I continue to have. I have come a long way since my attacks came back a couple of months ago. I haven't had a "panic attack" in about a month. I have even actually felt happy more days than not.

This however, is the problem. I can not shake this fear that something bad is going to happen either to me or to someone I love. I guess it's called doom and gloom. When I'm not dealing with this anxiety issue I live life and appreciate what I have. Now though, I can't snap out of this fear. I don't have it all the time but when I do it's pretty intense.

I have no reason to feel this way. I have a pretty good life. I guess I'm afraid that some terrible thing is going to happen and take it all away from me.

Now, what I need help with is how to get past this and really live each day to it's fullest. I can't imagine living like this for the rest of my life. Does anyone else live like this?

I have so much to be thankful for and I want this fear to go away. I have made much progress on turning my negative thoughts into positive ones. I just can't fix this problem. It would be so nice to not be so afraid and not to prepare for the worst all of the time.

I could go on and on about this. I hope that I have made sense here. I would really appreciate any feedback. Thanks for listening.

Take Care,
Vic

Vic,

Your gloom and doom thoughts fall into the category of Obsessive Scary Thoughts. Do you have Lucinda�s tape series on Attacking Anxiety? Have you listened to the tape covering that issue? It helped me to realize a couple of things. That just because you have the bad thoughts doesn�t mean those things will happen. It�s more of a reminder of how important that issue is to you. Perhaps you are sensing how much you care for those you have scary thoughts about and the thought of being without them is panicking. There�s no good in worrying about that which we have no control over. Worry does not empty tomorrow of its troubles. It empties today of its strength. I am Christian so when I have thoughts like that I pray about it and ask God to watch over them. I hope that helps in some way.

Vic, I really understand what you're saying. I worry obsessively about something happening to my sister who is a single mother of 2. I'm not sure, even, what I worry about sometimes. I worry about her back going out on her (which it has before) and how she's going to do things. When I worry about her, then I start to worry about myself. I really hurt my back about 4 years ago, and now that's my big worry for my family, that it'll happen to them.

I'm on week 2 of the program, and I'm starting to learn to live for the day. I constantly worry about the future, how much worse things could get etc. I sometimes try to imagine the worst in the hopes that if it did happen, I could deal with it. Now, I'm trying to change that. I get up and say, today is going to be a good day. I'm ok today, my family is ok today. It sure isn't easy, but it's taken me 37 years to program my mind to think negatively, it's going to take awhile to turn it around. I'm on my way though! Good luck!!!

Hi angelvoice and dutchy,

Thank you for replying. I appreciate the feedback. I know what my fears are, I just don't know how to not think about them. My husband travels a lot and I am always afraid that he will get hurt in his travels. I know I'm wasting a lot of time with this but the entire time he is gone it's all I can think about. When he gets back I'm ok. I know I can't control what happens but again I can't help worrying about him.

The other worry is my parents they are getting older and I worry a lot about them getting sick or dying. I am very close to them. I know it's a fact of life but I can't stop worrying about this either.

This may be a learned behavior as my father constantly worried about his family when I was younger. I just want to learn how to change my thinking if that is even possible. My worrying doesn't cause an attack it just causes me discomfort. I do ask God to watch over them but I still can't stop the worry.

Thanks again for responding. Both of you take care and good luck as well.

Vic