KSea wrote:
Wow (and read Wiki), that sounds like things I do as well...so would this be an example: I have not had to deal w/ this bad lately, but there was a period of time where I'd have like movie-reel images of horror movies (but things I had not even seen) going through my head that I could not stop. And there's def. times I think about exact things you said, and then you get paranoid...but I try to push it away as me just analyzing and thinking deeply on things and then redirect my mind best I can. I don't know if this would be an example either, but sometimes when I'm driving (which I hate and find so scary) if I go over a bridge for example, I start thinking of scenes of people driving off bridges and it becomes so real to me...and I'm like, "All I'd have to do is turn my wheel just a LITTLE to the left and I'd die=that simple--oh my gosh, that's so scary--" It's like death is so close and all it takes is a little turn, mistake or not, and then I'm like, Oh gosh, I'm not going to do that!! ! no no It's weird and hard to explain. I've actually never told ANYONE about this stuff b/c I didn't want to see crazy or them take it the wrong way and think I was suicidal when I'm def. not.
Yeah I get those too! The movie-reel and the bridge thing I can definitely relate to. For me I don't drive but when I'm the passenger I get this urge to jerk the steering wheel. Obviously I would never actually do it but the panic feeling I get from it makes me feel like I could so I have to sit on my hands (I guess that's a way of acting it out). And I can't watch horror movies or crime things like CSI anymore.
What I did that I found helped a bit was writing reasons why I WOULDN'T do those things...like a reminder that I'm not crazy. I also didn't want to tell anyone in case they thought I was crazy or in case they thought I would actually do the things that come into my head. Finally my psychologist diagnosed me and just being labeled help a lot. Being able to identify the thoughts and just think "Oh it's just another OCD thought" helped calm me down. With the movie-reel my psychologist suggested 'changing the channel' so when the 'movie' comes on, you just change it to something peaceful like the beach or whatever makes you feel happy.
Also this type of anxiety disorder is often accompanied by other anxiety disorders. I don't know if AS is a type of anxiety disorder (I don't have it) but I also have Social anxiety disorder.