Hi

I'm new! What an interesting forum!!

I live in the Uk and 13 years ago my then boyfriend and I were involved in a serious train crash in the US. we got out with no physical injuries but it did take a long time to 'get over' - if you ever do. It was a terrible accident which seemed to involve every worse case scenario you could imagine - it happened at night, the train ended up in a river and on fire and we had to wait 3 hours in the middle of nowhere to be rescued.

I feel 'ok' now and live a 'normal' life most of the time:crazy-eye but i would be very interested to know if anyone else suffers from accute anxiety as a result of a traumatic accident / event? i think this is the main issue i still have (I did have counselling directly after the event and covered all the usual ... guilt, fear etc .. but this seems to be one symptom that won't go away!

Basically I have an inability to rationalise events involving people i love / care about. My main problem is with my husband! If he is late home, or if i am unsure where he is i am overcome with irrational panic that he must be dead. i am so convinced that something terrible must have happened that i have to force myself not to panic. i've been pacing round the house in sheer terror if i can't get hold of him and i know its totally irrational. one of my worst moments was when we were on holiday. he'd woken up early and fancied a run around the lake we were staying next to. i woke up to find him not there - convinced myself he must have slept walked and drowned - by the time he returned (barely 20 mins later) i was beside myself. Most people would feel mild irritation if their partner was a little late home - i'm simply overcome with fear and panic!

i can also feel the same way about friends, family etc. if a friend is late i'm convinced they are dead or seriously injured on route. when my dad had a recurring mouth ulcer i convinced myself he had cancer and would die ... the list goes on! I think the absolute worst about every situation.

i'd really like to know if anyone has any 'strategies' for overcoming this behaviour. its not taking over my life or anything (except on the days i'm sure everyones died!!) but on a serious note i am thinking of the future and know that i would be unable to cope with having a family until i knew i could control my panic - i'd just be a nightmare mother and would never ever let my children out anywhere without freaking out - which obviously would not be good!:redface:

anyway - sorry for the long intro - it would be great to get some other thoughts / experiences on this :crazy-eye

Hi Apple, and welcome aboard.

Train crash... wow, that would have been quite scary and traumatic, especially at night and in a location unbeknown to you, which just sends every sense into overload and uncertainty. The really great news is that you got counselling, and fought through many of your issues, which is really outstanding to hear. Congratulations on being very proactive in that aspect.

Anxiety! Anxiety is caused by exactly what you have described yourself doing. The problem is, is that your obviously working out that you need to tell yourself what reality is vs. what you have made up and assumed within your own mind, but your not believing it, hence the mass anxiety is still current.

This is all about thinking styles, patterns and your thought perceptions. If you haven't already found this piece about unhelpful thinking styles, then you probably should read it, as it is directly related to what your experiencing.

By the sound of things, you pretty much know what you are doing wrong, but just can't stop yourself doing it. So denial isn't an issue, which is already a great milestone for you. Basically all you can do is arm yourself with as much information and education on anxiety you possibly can, constantly read content, even re-read until your 100% that you know it, then just work on applying it. A counsellor may of already told you that most of the problem lay within your mind now, and that only you can fix you from this point on! Information and education really is the key, then actually applying that information and self-education is the hard part, and that takes time, so don't beat yourself up about it.

You have suffered a significant trauma from a life threatening accident, and only time with education can now heal you from your last concerns and problems. You will never actually get over what happened, but more come to terms with it, that it has happened and you can't change it, and now move forward with life and slowly learn to control the symptoms, being anxiety for you, more specifically panick attacks. I have posted some possibly useful resources and information below for you to consider, and hope it helps you.