I think that I have that thing in your brain when you're constantly paranoid. I mean, it started that I was just very wary of the people on the streets around me and of being in the house alone but now it has escalated too far and I'm not sure what to do. For example, I was walking down my street to go meet my friends and saw a man getting out of a white van and suddenly I got really scared and ran back home and waited a while. Then I went through a phase where I was convinced that my dad wanted to kill me so before I went to bed each night, I would go through my room assessing everything I had deciding whether you could kill someone using it and hid everything that could. Now I'm still terrified of other people on the streets but am scared of people climbing into my bedroom window or hiding in my bedroom, so even during the heat, I have to keep it locked always. I decided to draw the line last night when the light from the hallway cast a triangle of light on my curtains and it looked like the rest of my curtains had been blocked so that the light couldn't shine through. I was convinced that someone had put some material there so that when they climbed in my window, I wouldn't see their silhouette in comparison to the street lights outside. I didn't sleep all night to make sure that no one came into my bedroom.

I know that all my fears are fake but I just can't help myself. and once my mind gets going, I cannot stop it. Do you think I just have really bad heebie jeebies? Do you know how to stop it?

I'm not sure whether or not to call it paranoid. If these incidents constantly happen again and again, then maybe that holds true.
I hope it all works out.

i get that some times. I get it when like if a tap is dripping or im alone in the flat and i hear foot steps upstairs. Maybe its just from too much TV and scary films.

Could be a phobia. Some phobias can be helped with slow, gentle exposure to what frightens you. Usually under some sort of program supervision.

Eg. fear of snakes. Look at a picture of a snake until you're okay with it, then nature program with snakes in it, then hold a rubber snake, go look at one in a zoo. Slowly your fear will fade as you learn it's safe.

I'm not really sure how you could find out if it's agoraphobia.

I hope life becomes a lot less frightening.

Urgh. My house is underneath a flight path and whenever I hear the planes go past in the night I start thinking we're going to get bombed.

Thanks for the help Ashbless. I looked 'agoraphobia' up on google but I'm not too sure I have it. It does hold some similarities though so maybe it's a kind of branch from it.(?)

I'm not too sure what my phobias are so it may be harder to target them but I guess I could just try and sit through the planes and just breathe. Or I could go and look at the aeroplane so that I know it's just a normal one which would target two fears in one because I'm scared of my window at night.

Not saying this is you at all but some illegal recreational chemicals have the nasty side effect of causing paranoia. I'd recommend avoiding playing with them as they may make things a bit worse for you.

I'd have to agree and say it sounds like fear. Maybe fear of death or fear of the unknown. Considering the way things are portrayed in the world today it’s not to surprising that people are afraid.

Best thing for you to do is to try and focus on things you are not afraid of, or try and picture that which you are afraid of in an amusing instance or in a way that is beneficial to you.

When I was a kid I used to be afraid of the gremlins that I thought lived under my bed and I swear one night I saw one of there little reptilian hands come up onto my covers. But anyway one day I just imagined them all having this huge elaborate party... for me, they had cakes and presents and all sorts of stuff for me. As I was 5 at the time I am currently amazed by how my mind worked back then.

Just remember the worst thing you can do is let your fears overwhelm you, and let them control your actions. If that starts it can be a hard thing to try and stop by yourself, if you feel yourself being overwhelmed tell your friends and your family they may surprise you and help you turn your fear around.

Conquering your fears is one of the most satisfying feelings you can have. It makes you feel like someone has just removed a forty pound weight from your back.

Good luck in getting over your fear/paranoia

I think that I have narrowed the main problem down to not being able to see all around me. For example, if I can't see behind me then I'm scared of what's happening behind me. I think that someone's going to grab my neck or something. Also, I'm not scared of strangers when there's lots, just when there's a couple. So I guess in a way that's a kind of fear of open spaces. I think that the aeroplane thing is just linked to my fear of gas masks and such.

Sounds alot like what I have-- anxiety disorder. Get a referral to a therapist. You can go two routes, drug therapy and cognitive behavioural. Personally, I'm about the CB since it involves less drugs.

Anyhow, whatever it is, get it checked out!

I agree with Aria

Definately. If you can't function well in your day-to-day life, you should get a professional opinion, because as clever and brilliant as we all are, we're not doctors. Heh. Do some research, find someone you can talk to. I have a friend who was so paranoid about people coming in through the windows she carried a carving knife around the house with her, even the shower. Now she's scaled back to x-actoes and mace. ^^ It's not good for your health to live in fear. Hope you come out of this happy and healthy, mmkay?

The fear started to scale down a little bit in July but now it's suddenly got horribly bad. I had a couple of friends round to do some cooking and we were sitting in the living room waiting for the things to bake. I went to check on the oven and when I returned they told me someone had been trying to break in through the front windows. Unfortunately, a gust of wind decided to blow on the bush just below the window at that same moment as if someone was hiding inside it. I now can't sit by the front windows if no-one else is in the house. Also, when I come home, I have to sprint and dart about the sides of the road to avoid people. I have covered my room in chimes so that I will wake up if anyone tries to come in.

I think I'll try and find a therapist. It's just, I'm too embarrassed to tell my parents. Maybe I'll find an online therapist.

It does sound awful for you right now - but I also back up Aria and recommend you try cognitive behavioural therapy. I've just started going back to therapy myself to try and find some sort of resolution to my obbsessions and the unnecessary paranoias and fears that go along with them. Like you I know that my stupid rituals and habits aren't going to save me from catastrophe but it can be very hard to break tht cycle of thought once you get into it. Last year I was also receiving therapy for anxiety disorder which tied in closely with my OCD and it does sound from the feelings you're describing as though you may have a fairly aggressive anxiety problem right now, have you experienced any hyperventilating, dizzyness or other similar problems in your stressful situations?

I really hope you can find help and get some peace from this - hang in there 'k?

I have depression, a touch of OCD, and some anxiety disorder... For the past three years, I've been out of work, and spending maybe 80% of my time in my bedroom... I'm finally getting to the point where I'm not nervous and depressed all the time, but now I have trouble going out, and nightmares about the convenient stores I used to work in...

I'm so bad, I've been classified as disabled, and this is largely due to the fact that I ignored the warning signs, and persisted in behavior that antagonised my condition. DON'T let things go for as long as I did. Talk things out with a therapist or counselor, and see a mental health care worker... most centers work on a sliding scale of fees, gearing the rates to income...

I think that you do need proffesional help, please, do yourself a favor, and go to someone who is trained in this sort of thing. Remember, it won't go away on its own.