I am hoping someone can please help me. I have terrible anxiety and worry about everything. My mind never stops. If someone happens out of the norm, i will think about it and think about it until I drive myself crazy. The latest thing is my very good friend had cancer about a year ago.It was pretty bad but he is one year out now and doing well. Anyway I worry about the cancer coming back ALL the time.I sit and play it out in my head that the cancer came back and I can actually see myself at his funeral. I know I have the ability to stop this but I don't know how.Can someone please help me.My husband says this is called catastrophic thinking and I need professional help but I have been to 2 different doctors in the past and they really did nothing for me.I have been on lexapro and zoloft too. Any suggestions? Is there a medication for this or do I need to retrain myself to think differently.I have been this way forever but since the cancer thing, it is worse.Please help. :confused:

ocd?
see http://www.healthboards.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=95

Definitelly sounds like OCD- the pure obsessional type. "Catastrophic thinking" is a very common symptom. Don't worry- I have it, too, so if you ever want to talk or have any questions, feel free to ask. God bless. :angel:
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

Gatsby,
Thats exactly what my hubby said I have. WHAT do you do about it?How do you stop it? Thanks for the reply, I feel like I am going crazy!~I try hard to stop but I can't!!!!

lbp35- I'm glad that I was able to help and that you can relate, but unfortunately, pure obsessionals are hard to treat b/c we don't have any noticeable compulsions, but many are helped with Zoloft and other SSRI's in conjunction with Cognitive Behaviorial Therapy (CBT). Sadly, I don't know if CBT is going to help me (I start in two weeks) because most OCD-ers have one major concern like blasphemous obsessions, contamination fears, or rechecking the door lock very often, but my worries and number of a certain obsession changes week to week, or sometimes, even day to day. My therapist says I'm a "moving target," and once he nails one point down, something else jumps up and takes prevalence...If you have any questions, feel free to ask! God bless! :angel:
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

OMG you sound like me! I am always obsessing about something too. And its always the worst case cenario. Like this thing with my friend, thats the issue right now.I know its okay to worry about cancer recurrence but this non stop. And I play it out in my head over & over until I actually see myself at his funeral. :eek: How screwed up is that? But before that it was health issues and I worried all the time but it was always the worst case! I would read everything about that certain illness on the internet or in medical books whatever I could get my hands on.It seems like once I deal with one thing, its another. I got a book about CBT once, I read it over & over. It didn't do much for me. I hope you have good luck with it.The zoloft seemed like it helped at first then I bumped my dosage up to 2 times a day then I felt like it wasn't working so I quit that too. :nono: I don't know. I hate when people just say "quit worrying". If I could, I would. Is this learned behavior, genetic or something I started on my own???I really need help with this. Thanks for answering! :)