Darkness Shines
Gold Member
I've always considered myself to be very much on the low end of anxiety symptoms for someone with PTSD. I have no problem going out and doing things, talking with strangers, going into new and unknown situations. I don't think I've ever had a full-scale panic attack, at least not in the dramatic fashion I've seen others have.
But there is one behavior into which I seem to channel all my anxiety most of the time. I obsessively, compulsively, constantly worry about my family and close friends. I could wall-paper the whole interior space of a sky-scraper with the text messages I send asking "Where R U?" "R U OK?" It makes me come off as very controlling, like I'm tracking everyone's movements and activities, but it's really not that I care about what they're doing, I just want to know that they're all right and that nothing bad has happened to them.
Logically I know that just because a friend has been out of contact for 12 hours, or just because my husband is 15 minutes late getting home, does not mean that they're dead or dying. However, knowing the thoughts are crazy and surely wrong does exactly nothing to make me feel better. The anxiety, and my certainty that something has gone wrong, just grows and grows until I hear from the person in question.
I know I must drive people mental doing this. My husband doesn't seem to mind the constant texting and calling, but I know I annoy other friends with it.
Can you think of any way to curb this behavior? At what point is it 'normal' to start worrying about someone?
But there is one behavior into which I seem to channel all my anxiety most of the time. I obsessively, compulsively, constantly worry about my family and close friends. I could wall-paper the whole interior space of a sky-scraper with the text messages I send asking "Where R U?" "R U OK?" It makes me come off as very controlling, like I'm tracking everyone's movements and activities, but it's really not that I care about what they're doing, I just want to know that they're all right and that nothing bad has happened to them.
Logically I know that just because a friend has been out of contact for 12 hours, or just because my husband is 15 minutes late getting home, does not mean that they're dead or dying. However, knowing the thoughts are crazy and surely wrong does exactly nothing to make me feel better. The anxiety, and my certainty that something has gone wrong, just grows and grows until I hear from the person in question.
I know I must drive people mental doing this. My husband doesn't seem to mind the constant texting and calling, but I know I annoy other friends with it.
Can you think of any way to curb this behavior? At what point is it 'normal' to start worrying about someone?
