Sense of Imending doom

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All of a sudden I have had a sense of impending doom wash over me, I have had them before, but never this strong.

I should be happy, my life is actually going well and I have alot to be happy about but I can't shake this feeling.

Before this, I wasn't overly worried about anything and I can't work out what doom I feel is coming. It seems as if there was no trigger.

Is it possible it's a delayed reaction from many un happy years? I'm finally happy and my brain doesn't want to let it just be? Something always went wrong, so why should this be any different? But I really have no reason to believe anything in my life is going to go wrong, but I do.

I can't explain it with logic, it almost feels as if I just won't wake up tomorrow or a bad event has already happened and I will get the bad news soon.

Anyone else ever experienced anything like this?

I would think it's natural to have a sense that something bad will happen when things are good. Sounds to me more like conditioning from the past, fear of not wanting that to happen and basic worry that it will not last.

If you start to get to where you feel like harming anything as a result, then see someone. If it gets to where you can't do anything out of fear, then see someone. But a basic fear as you described seems completely normal.

I've had something very similar for a long time. I have very little to worry about, I'm relatively healthy, I have a safe place to live and a very stable income, nobody's threatening me, and I have lots of time to do what I like with. Yet most of the time I have an unshakeable feeling that I'm somehow about to lose it all because of something or other that I've not done in a timely manner.

I don't know where such feelings came from. I suspect it's something to do with all those years I spent in the workplace with the implicit threat of losing my livelihood if I didn't satisfy the management's ever-increasing, vague expectations. Also my mother used to worry a lot about the slightest potential danger, so maybe I've inherited that. I don't know what to do about it, except to keep telling myself I'm safe, and to wait and hope that it wears off in time.

This is very common. When I went into rehab about 20 years ago, this was discussed extensively.

Over time, your mind and even body has been trained a certain way over many years. And, the fact that you mention specifically, "...because of something or other that I've not done in a timely manner" points to that.

After 20 years, I still get that feeling sometimes. Of course, it's not helped by executive function issues that remind me of the 'bad old days' in that sometimes, things still slip through when I get focused on things.

On the rehab viewpoint, it is a transient thing because, if you apply yourself, you can emerge from from those bad habits.

As for being an Aspie, I think it is harder to try to break what the body and mind are doing naturally for itself.

One is self imposed idiocy and has no sense of being 'natural'. The other is imposed upon you and feels natural because it's what your mind and body are doing on its own.

That's what's happening now. After nearly 20 years, those coping mechanisms that were taught (Rehab) or self-developed (Conditioning as a child, self realized mechanisms, etc) are breaking down. The rehab did teach many good things. But it only treated the surface symptoms. I now have to get to the root of everything and treat the cause....whatever that may be.

I had this strongly in the months leading up to a major surgery I had mid last year. The surgery was going to make things much better for me physically and psychologically, and I had this intense feeling that I wouldn't make it. I'd die before the surgery, before I could find any relief from my problems. It increased the closer the surgery date got to the point where I wouldn't drive at all, convinced I was going to die in a car wreck (statistically the most likely way for me to die.)
I think this might be normal for someone whose life experiences have left them consistently screwed. You can't believe something good might actually happen to you, so your brain decides that it can't, and something awful therefore has to happen first.
Reconditioning may help - proving to yourself that good things can in fact happen, until you start to get used to the idea and the impending doom issue fades with alternate experience. I still get it sometimes, in flashes, mostly when I have a moment where life is just beautiful. A second later I get a flash of fearing that I'll drop dead right there because I had that thought. It's irrational in a way, but an understandable deviation of mind for someone whose experiences have taught them to only accept bad news.

I've noticed that about the hyper-focus thing before, that in a sense my fear is a very real one, i.e. my brain wiring is prone to get me into trouble and I need to be vigilant to make sure nothing important gets overlooked. I think it's important to challenge the gut reaction of anxiety, to examine it and show it up for what it is, rather than to just push it away.

I had CBT for a similar issue in 2014 - it was identified as "living too much in the immediate present" which led to me over-planning for every eventuality but still having the doom-laden feeling floating around - the CBT was pretty ineffective (the therapist didn't seem to relate to my ASD at all and saw it a reason the therapy would/did not work).

Still have the occasional "Doom Wave" and put my head in my hands then try and attach the feelings to potential negative events that are in the near future. Having a vivid imagination doesn't help.

I had this feeling during my past years of abuse. I was like who going to touch me next. In a sense of heightened awareness, but There was none the less a reason. I can't help you on this one. My time is almost up soon I have to get ready for math this is all, I can say At the Moment.

That's why treating the actual cause and not just the symptom is important. Look, I didn't just wake up in October and put all this together. It's been a long, long process. About 2007 I started to notice things that were not getting better. I couldn't put it together for many, many years.

I am not irresponsible. But, I do lose track of things when I get, like you, hyperfocused. I also lose track of things when I have to work around people because of the amount of input. Things that made sense when looked through one lens actually makes much more sense when applied through this lens I am now looking through.

Here is an example: You're short with people because you're not high.

No, I'm short with people because of communication issues. Just discovered this is because of sensory processing issues as well as the inability to filter out things and am just real blunt. I was ALWAYS like this. Long before I started to depend on drugs or even use them.

But, wait, you're educated, great vocabulary, you can't have communication issues. So, you're just not communicating because 'you really don't want to.'

You can't focus because your high.

No, I can focus with incredible precision and detail. Even while I was high. It's what helped me pass for so long as a functional addict. It's also what has helped mask things for 55 years. I just can't focus on the things that are not in my special interest areas. If I get intrigued with a problem for whatever reason, I can focus like you wouldn't believe. Even while I was active. So, a lot of things do get by me still.

If you treat only a symptom by way of any process, without treating the cause, it's a lot of time wasted. And, when you're 55 and in not the best health (The one thing I will always have to deal with because of the abuse I put my body through), I ain't got time for another 20 years of self search just to live day to day.

Reconditioning does work if it's done properly. And, it's not always comfortable being made to do what is absolutely horrible to you.

But, I do hope over time that you and others will be able to recondition your expectations, either through therapy or on your own, to accept that things can be better and that things, no matter how you prepare, will still go bad.

I get that sense sometimes as part of a panic attack. I had no idea that that was what it was until I saw a psychiatrist.

I think that is a good distinction too. Panic attacks can lead to my meltdowns. But, I think, for me, that is different from being at home, comfortable and feeling impending doom vs. being out and crushed and being panicked.

Do you have panic attacks at home and it's quiet or only when out amongst people?

I used to have panic attacks. At one point I felt "anxious" and a "dread" about something but I didn't know what. My psychiatrist named it "Anticipatory Anxiety". I guess they have a name for everything these days.

Yeah, We should add this to our massive list of symptoms, lol.

OP: I'm pretty sure it is not a panic attack, as it to long lasting.

The last year of my life has been completely different to the last 10, which was full of abuse both physical and mental. Mind games, being used, being lied to, being taken advantage of, There was crap around every corner and the list could go on...

In contrast the last year has seen all of that turn around. I am no longer abused, things are better than I could have imagined, I have a girl (nt) by my side who actually cares and while she doesn't always understand me, she does her best to, we don't fight, we are there for each other, she is very supportive and I trust her completely.

And it has been great, yet this feeling lingers... maybe not as strong as last night but it's still at the forefront of my mind.

Is my brain attempting to sabotage my happiness as it was convinced I would never find it?

For Example, I have a sense of impending doom, because I'm on a unapproved website at school. Though they really need better blocking programs.

I think I know what you are talking about, it's a fear that's very much internal for me but I can't figure out WHAT I'm afraid of.