over active imagination
 

i have an over active imagination.

but then it goes to far and i get genuinely scared of what i was thinking about.

i make stories in my head about random things.

the latest one that scares me is that there are mutants that occupy the empty ward upstairs at night time. it started of as a thought, then a story, then i could see it in my head like a film. and now i kind of cant help believing it and get quite scared!

its stupid!
can anyone relate and possibly suggest anything to tone it all down!!

I have had that before. I have to constantly remind myself and have others remind me that I made it up. I don't think it ever went as far as what you have said, though I'm sure it will have for others. For me its more of a constant thought than an escalating one. No idea if that helps any though

I do the same thing. I think up scary situations in my head and it escalates to panic faster than I would like. I just try to avoid thinking of certain topics that I know will trigger me and I find someone to talk to. Often times having someone there to reassure you that it isn't real will help. Also try to catch yourself before it escalates and tell yourself that you want to think about something else and find a distraction to help you do that.
Hope that helps. PM me if you want to talk more specifically :)

Yes. I'll come back to this later.

I have the double edged sword, as it were, of an imagination that allows me deep insight into emotions, can create fiction and poetry and calming fantasied visualisations.. but which can also give me hell, mainly in worrying about other people - the safety of those who care about me, or dread that others are after me. I have an attachment disorder, so... that's the way it goes for me.

I've learned, with the help of my therapist and GP, to not feed my panic. [I did an awesome picture the other summer of 'the anxiety monster!]. This helps to quite a large degree most of the time. It's not perfect, and life will always cause anxieties, especially in those prone to them, and especially to those people to whom bad things have happened in the past.. but it's what we do with these anxieties or which path we take in our minds...

thank you all :)

love bug, thats a good idea about not thinking of things that set it off, although it can be set off sometimes by things i have no control over, like a noise or a word.

Stellata (is your name Katie? sorry) how do you manage to not feed it? i struggle to keep control of it all.

I get this kind of thing too (usually only when I'm staying at my parents these days, oddly) and find that 'mindfulness' helps quite a lot. Also if it's happening when I'm in bed I try to get up and do something distracting for a little while, or if that isn't possible just stay in bed and try counting up in sevens as it occupies the brain space instead.