Becca, Please continue to work through the sessions in our Panic Program. Thanks for posting your concerns about OCD. Remember, it is hard not to diagnose ourselves. If you think you are OCD please seek assessment from your healthcare provider. Take care and we hope to hear from you again soon. Melanie ________________________________ The Panic Center Support Team

OCD is short for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is categorized as a type of anxiety disorder that is characterized by obsessive or persistent thoughts, images, or impulses that cause marked distress and anxiety. In order to get rid or stop these obsessive impulses or thoughts, people often develop compulsions, which are rituals or behaviors that must be performed in order to reduce the obsessions. Often times the obsessions and compulsions become time consuming, cause more anxiety and distress, and impair social, occupational, or school functioning (just had a class over this and other anxiety disorder). This site can help you get a hold of those obsessive thoughts and be rational about them instead of letting them control you. I hope this helps and good luck ;)

hey everyone, im becca & im new on here. i have been reading your posts and you all have described all of my feelings.i do the exact same thing. but i keep seeing the phrase OCD, what is that? i have never heard of it but everything you have described is me right down to a tee.i am getting ready for my 2nd session and i think, so far it really does make sense that these are just thoughts and some way i can control them intead of them controling me,(i hope) any thoughts on this will be greatly appriciated, thanks becca

Hi David, et all, I really do think that anxiety, thoughts stem from fear. If we all try to be less fearful, that may turn things around. Whenever I have these thoughts, I tell myself, "I am fine I am not scared I am in control I'm good!" Replacing the negative thought with a positive one seems to work pretty well :) Hugs and Support, Beth

Thanks Gal. Those words really helped. You know, since making my post a couple of days ago I have gradually been feeling better. I am always busy anyway, but now I am busy with more confidence. I worked an extra 2.5 hours tonight. I am minutes away from getting on my exercise bike. We're going camping this weekend. OCD is so horrible, but it does not have to dominate everything. I think if more were done to help people with OCD, more of us would benefit from it. I do know natural supplimentation helps. Anyway, just wanted to say thank you for such a strong and helpful post. I want to thank everyone who has posted on this thread. I think one of my main mistakes in fearing death is running away from the fear and not actually accepting it, facing it, and moving on. I sometimes try and figure out a way for immortality. I know it sounds silly or it may not, but I am sure people throughout history have had the same thoughts and fears. I've done some reading on it. OK, time for some stretching and my bike. I am a fitness nut and am currently studying to be a personal trainer for extra mone for my family. David

Gal, That's a pretty great strategy! Thanks for sharing. It sounds like your starting to make some progress in challenging those anxious thoughts. Keep it up! Danielle ______________________ The PC Support Team

THE THOUGHTS!!!! IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE THOUGHTS MOST OF US WOULD NOT BE HERE. I AM 33 I SUFFER FROM OCD AND PANIC DISORDER ALONG WITH A FEW PHOBIAS I HAVE HAD THIS GOING STRONG FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS BUT HAVE HAD SMALL ISSUES WITH IT FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS! I DO NOT DRIVE SCARED TO DEATH TO DO SO! AND HAVENT FOR A FEW YEARS!!! BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY I KNOW THE FEELINGS THE THOUGHTS ARE SO REAL WE HAVE TO CHALLANGE THOSE THOUGHTS HOW REAL ARE THEY?? IS WHAT WE ARE FEELING REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN?? (IM NOT SURE BUT I DO KNOW AT TIMES THEY SURE FEEL LIKE THEY ARE) BUT IN ALL REALITY WHAT WE ARE FEARING NEVER HAPPENS!!! MY MAJOR FEAR IS NOT DIEING HOW EVER I FEAR PASSING OUT GET HURT OR HURTING SOMEONE ELSE WHEN DRIVING HENCE WHY I DONT DRIVE!! HOWEVER I HAVE FOUND IN THE LAST TEN YEARS I HAVE NOT PASSED OUT NOT ONE SINGLE TIME HMMMMMMMM THAT MAY BE TELLING US SOMETHING BUT IT DOESNT STOP THOSE THOUGHTS!!!!THE AWFUL FEELING OF PANIC!!! BUT KNOWING THIS DOES HELP!!!! WE CAN FIND PEACE WITH IN OUR SELFS ON THESE ISSUES WE HAVE THIS CONSTANT WORRY THESE THOUGHTS (im still looking for my peace to some degree) BUT THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER LIFE IS GETTING BACK TO NORMAL(whatever that may be) MY BIGGEST THING IS RIGHT AWAY WHEN THESE THOUGHTS START I TRY TO DO SOMETHING TO GET MY MIND OFF THE THOUGHTS MAKE A PHONE CALL,GET UP WALK AROUND FOR A FEW, A FEW DEEP BREATHS GET ON LINE HERE AND WRITE A POST THAT GOES ON AND ON HOPING THERE SOME SENCE BEING MADE OF IT!!! MAKE YOURSELF A GOAL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT DEATH FOR 5 MINUTES A DAY AFTER YOUR FIVE MINUTES EVERYTIME YOU THINK ABOUT IT TELL YOURSELF YOU HAVE HAD YOUR TIME ON THAT THOUGHT AND MOVE ON AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS GIVE YOURSELF 4 MINUTES THEN 3 AND SO ON TILL THE THOUGHT OF DEATH IS JUST A TOTAL WASTE OF YOUR TIME I DO BELIEVE WE AS HUMANS DO THINK OF DEATH AND THE WHATS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN IM GONE GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW SO TO SPEAK GET EVERYTHING YOU NEED DONE DONE LIKE A WILL,A LIVING WILL,MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LIFE INSURANCE YOUR FAMILY WILL NEED IN YOUR PASSING IF ALL IS IN ORDER YOUR THOUGHTS WILL SUBSIDE FOR ALL THE ISSUES AT HAND ARE DONE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING IS TAKING CARE OF THERE IS NO WHAT IFS!!!!!! EASE THE THOUGHTS SOME AND MOST OF ALL ALWAYS SMILE NO MATTER WHAT IS HANDED TO

Thanks to all who responded so far. I appreciate it and have gained some from the posts. Thoughts of and fearing death are frequent with a lot of people, but when you have OCD, they sometimes rule the moment or moments while you're experiencing the thoughts. I know it's all about anxiety cycles and a lot of it is chemical, like de javu or the common cold, but when you mix OCD in that's when it's hard. I find that OCD is bad after a panic attack, and can also cause them. It's almost like the chicken and the egg theory, but less funny. Believe me, if I could just put up a LARGE RED-STOP SIGN to stop these thoughts I would. I wish it were that easy. A few weeks ago I was not thinking of this 24/7, but I had a panic attack about a week and a half ago after thinking too hard and that's where it seemed to start back up again. I guess I can just chalk all this up to anxiety cycles. I like bicycles better. ;-) This also is sort of an agorophobic thing as well, because I feel very good at home, but sometimes going to work is very difficult. I cried a bit this morning and this seemed to clear my head a little. My wife told me she felt I was bottling up too much anxiety and it had to come out. She was right. Thanks again, and I look forward to hearing any other thoughts on this topic. David

Hey there, I read your post. I hate the uncontrollable thoughts. They are the worst part of my anxiety and what gives me anxiety. I don't really fear death but I have other uncontrollable thoughts. It makes me feel like I will never be the same again. I am working with a psychologist right now which is helping. He always reminds me that my thoughts are just thoughs but somehow I just can't let them go. Maybe if I practice and really believe that they are just thoughts and thats it then maybe they will go away. However, sometimes I feel if I just let the thoughts past then I don't care about what I am thinking about and then I get nervous again. It is a visous cycle. I wish I could be more help to you. I do know that when I am really busy the thoughts aren't as bad. How about you?

Hi wrestler1, Thanks for sharing this insight into how your thoughts here with us. This will make an interesting discussion. You are not alone in experiencing these types of fears. We look forward to hearing from others. Casey ___________________________________ The Panic Center Support Team