Stress Center Peer Support

Does anyone else feel like a giant sponge? Do you ever read stuff in the paper and think " omg that could happen to me?" or see something on TV and instantly feel anxious because it was something that made you feel uncomfortable? Did you flick over something by accident and now the image is stuck in your head?

Even reading through the posts here, I find myself a little suggestive.. almost to the point where if I read " you need to jump off a bridge " it would make me anxious because I would actually entertain the idea???

Ofcourse I know well enough that this is all suggestive and I try to just ignore it.. but I have always noticed that about my anxiety. I just feel super sensitive to some things and almost like a sponge.. my friends and family know they cannot tell me bad stories about people getting hurt or anything bad because I am too suggestive and I will start to think that whatever they are talking about could/would happen to me!!

anyone else?

Oh my gosh YES that is so me too. I cant even watch movies I used to enjoy once, now. It's funny because I read this post on the OCD forum yesterday and it scared me so much and I was like AHHH what If I start thinking like that??!! I really really wish I was not this way. My big thing is when I read side effects to drugs I think I will most definitely get them. I n fact I started a prescription medicine for my severe pms and I am feeling a lot of derealisation. I'm like is this me or the medicine???!! And I don't know if I'll ever know. I wish I could have confidence and no self doubt. I am full of self doubt )-: My boyfriend can watch/read anything and be fine. He can experience side effects to meds and not think its life threatening or think he is going crazy. Youre not alone with this. I wish I could be my old self again . . and my old self was still had anxiety just not nearly this bad.

Yes,I am also very suggestive to side effects that I read on my perscriptions. Also, when someone I know gets sick, I start to get anxious and panic that I might get sick too. I obsess about it. My sister was just diagnosed with breast cancer last week. I really got anxious about that. I wonder why this is. I think it is all that negative thinking going on in my brain.

Iris1216

Oh yeah! I totally forgot to even mention the thing with medications.. I was on celexa and xanax for about 3 yrs.. I made the #1 hugest mistake I could ever make and actually went off my meds in april.. I was feeling fine and then whammo! A huge attack came back and I thought I was having a stroke.. I knew I had to get back on my medication and was actually thinking that my medication did this to me.. I start thinking that all my nerves jumping are the side effects and I cant even read the description that comes with the medicine because I will INDUCE all the side effects.. I am actually weening myself back onto my medication with 1/2 a pill everyday because I am too scared. I cant even take cold medicine cause it freaks me out too much.

Im so glad I am not alone...Im sorry to hear of your friend with breast cancer, but I can relate, my mom has kidney cancer as we speak and I just have to NOT think about it because I am too suggestive.. I cant even read about her medication side effects...

Some days are fine.. but on my bad days I cannot read or look at anything because I feel like it will stick to me... its almost like if I had a enemy and they wanted to be real mean to me all they would have to do is sit there and tell me that I had whole wack of things wrong with me...I would be a basket case!