Anxiety over my best friend dying
Hey, everyone. I have an online best friend who's really busy with university right now, so he might take hours to reply. Every time that happens, I get so much anxiety over the thought that he might be dead. He doesn't have any health issues, so there's no reason for me to think he might suddenly pass away, but I still do. When this happens I can't breathe properly or do anything else until he texts or I see he's online. Every morning feels awful until he texts because I worry he might have died during the night.
Has anyone gone through the same thing? Is there a way to make it better?
@courageousEyes5088 Hello! I have also experienced strong anxiety over things like that. I have found that sometimes even understanding that the anxiety isn't rational doesn't necessarily help. But when I studied psychology and neuroscience a bit, it started to make more sense. You describe your anxiety as being physical in some ways, which is really how phobias and other fears tend to work. Underneath the logical brain (cortex) there is a "reptile brain" that handles basic life functions and fight/flight/freeze responses. This part of your brain is closely connected with your somatic nervous system, so it can produce physical anxiety responses without "permission" from your cortex, so to speak.
What you're going through is really difficult and frustrating. I have shared a similar experience, but everyone is different in terms of their unique responses and best coping practices, and i wouldn't want to make your situation worse by giving advice about coping skills that might make you even more uncomfortable or frustrated. Is there any times that the anxiety does not seem to be present, even for a moment and what are you doing at those times? Have you ever had other fears you were able to handle, and how did you handle those?
I hope things improve for you soon, stay strong and keep reaching out!
