What is wrong with my mind?

P

past

New member
I have this fear of my parents dying. When I'm watching a movie/program that shows a parent's death, it gets me thinking about my own parents and I start to get worried. To try to and ease my growing anxiety, I call my parents and if they don't answer or don't return the call, I get really freaked out.

I sit there, thinking of all the possible things that could be happening to them, and I'm unable to relax until I hear that they're ok.

What could this be?

And how can I stop it?
 
Death is a terrible thing and something that causes a lot of people fear and anxiety.
This may sound stupid,but our pet gerbil died a few years ago,and it sent me into the same kind of panic about my husband and my daughter.I started thinking how everyone I love would die and leave me alone.
I would freak everyday just with my husband driving to work.
I would be worried until he called me and told me he made it ok.
I also worried a lot about other things too though.So my doctor put me on Lexapro.I still worried,but not nearly as much.Before I was obsessing over the thoughts night and day.
You could have an anxiety issue,or it could be that you just love your parents and don't want anything to happen to them.
It is the kind of thing that the thought of it freaks most of us out.Normal people can let it go.People with anxiety have trouble doing that.
 
Hey there, I just signed up to say that I share the same anxiety in regarRAB to the death of my own parents. I understand what I fear, but I don't know why I think about it so often..it's irrational (particularly when I was younger and they were only almost 50).

Whenever I see headlines about people dying in car crashes, or fires etc my mind races and I get worried. Out of all the millions and millions of people, why would that headline be about my parents. I know they're stupid thoughts but they just seem to happen..

I do suffer anxiety issues and I suppose this is just part of the bigger picture.

I've come to these forums in the past and always found solace in knowing, and hearing from people that share the same experiences so I hope I've helped in verifying, at the very least, that you're not alone with those thoughts.
 
@ reticent: I appreciate your response, and it does provide some consolation to know that I'm not the only person to have these thoughts. I have had those same thoughts when I see that there's been a deadly accident on the news or in the paper, I just sit there hoping I don't see my mom or dad's car.

@ WhenItRains: I also appreciate your response. Your gerbil story isn't stupid. I've had things like that trigger the bad thoughts. I've been thinking about going to talk to someone, because I sort of fit the bill of someone with anxiety; I obsess over it. Once I start thinking about it, it's very hard for me to stop.
 
Past,that definitely sounRAB like anxiety,and talking to someone about it may really help you a lot.I don't know how you feel about medication.It's not a cure all,but constant worrying can really dampen your life,and certain medications can help with that.
I use to tell myself that these thoughts were preparing me for the inevitable future we all one day face.But no matter how much we obsess,it will never help prepare us.And worrying just causes even more pain.
 
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