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Original poster

What is the strangest thing that triggers your anxiety?

172 replies

MullerInk · 21/05/2023 16:43

For me it's when we are having a garden day, walking in and out of the garden to the kitchen. It makes me feel so sick with worry@

OP posts:
novacancy3 · 21/05/2023 21:48

A windy day or night. I find it really unsettling.

Original poster
MullerInk · 21/05/2023 21:49

Internet banking make me really anxious. I think it comes from years of being skint. I go to great lengths to avoid paying for things via the app even though I know I've got the funds to cover day to stuff but I will go to extreme lengths to pay in cash rather than on my phone.

OP posts:
Tessisme · 21/05/2023 21:51

Em3978 · 21/05/2023 17:41

My phone ringing 😕

Yes, me too. I change my ringtone quite a lot because I can't stand how I connect the sound with stress and anxiety. I also think I can hear it when it isn't even ringing!

Esjolaol · 21/05/2023 21:53

My phone ringing …I didn’t get to my phone in time the day my Mum died suddenly and it was the paramedics trying to contact me ! Now my heart races every time it rings 🤦‍♀️

PrancerandDancer · 21/05/2023 21:54

Some one sitting behind me on the bus or the cinema.
I always try to get aisle seats too as I worry about being able to get out

Thursdayafternoon · 21/05/2023 21:55

Walking/ driving over bridges. I always think I’m going to randomly throw my purse over of jump!

Bearpawk · 21/05/2023 21:56

MullerInk · 21/05/2023 16:43

For me it's when we are having a garden day, walking in and out of the garden to the kitchen. It makes me feel so sick with worry@

Can you expand on this ? Do you think something will happen in the house when you're in the garden?

TattiePants · 21/05/2023 21:56

Putting fuel into the car makes me very anxious. Twice in a 5 year period i filled the tank of a diesel car with petrol and no matter how often I check, I panic that I’ll do it again. The first time I was sleep deprived with a newborn and the second I was under a lot of work stress and my mind just seems to go into autopilot.

Nettlestea · 21/05/2023 21:57

Crossing level crossings, I feel trapped if I’m on the opposite side to where I want to go and I have to wait for a train to pass by.

YouAndMeAndThem · 21/05/2023 21:58

Once I started to think about my triggers, it made.me realise how silly a lot of these are and people who don't suffer from anxiety are so lucky to get to live life without these fears!!

  • getting post
  • phone ringing
  • going to work after a few days off
  • not answering the door, but then there being no 'sorry we missed you' card
  • sirens in the distance
  • any reports of local car accidents

So many more!

YouAndMeAndThem · 21/05/2023 22:00

Oh another one, if my phone alarm is too aggressive, has to be a nice sing song tone!

Thursdayafternoon · 21/05/2023 22:00

Also cotton wool 🤢🤮.
I have a medical condition that means I need my blood checking every three months. The nurses always think I’m odd when I sit happily smiling and chatting through the needle part and then start cowering/ screeching/ retching when they come at me with the cotton wool.

MavisStrop · 21/05/2023 22:05

Playground duty - kids running around and all the potential clashes / falls!

Also things like paddling pools - running on the patio and into the house and potential slips! I put a lot of towels down...

coloursquare · 21/05/2023 22:07

Blood pressure cuff!

Watchthedoormat · 21/05/2023 22:10

Hearing an emergency services siren. At that sound I am absolutely certain it means a member of my family is in danger (or worse).
Traffic slowing makes me panic that I'm going to come across an accident and I panic, again worrying a member of my family is involved.
Taking dog for a walk- worry we will come across an off-lead dog who isn't very friendly.
Phones charging overnight- anxious it'll blow up 🤔

NewPinkJacket · 21/05/2023 22:24

saltrock123 · 21/05/2023 17:01

Stairs/steps without handrails.

OMG this is me! Shock

I don't suffer with anxiety and in general I'm not a very anxious person but I simply can NOT walk up/down stairs without holding a handrail, and I can't look when so many people do in a train station.

Also the Oscars and other award ceremonies where women walk up/down steps with huge stilettos and really long dresses, and there's NO handrail 🙈🙈

GG1986 · 21/05/2023 22:25

Helicopters above my house!

bossybloss · 21/05/2023 22:30

amylou8 · 21/05/2023 18:15

Me too, although it's more disgust than anxiety, and people that don't have it simply don't get how you can find something as innocent as a shower head so utterly revolting.

I get anxious when I know there aren't any toilets!

Show quote history

I have this though not too badly. It’s usually natural things such as lotus flower seed head. I think it’s called trypophobia. I also hate clusters of things such as sunflower seeds.

autumnlights · 21/05/2023 22:31

Getting shopping in from the car

HeartshapedFox · 21/05/2023 22:36

Slatted / open stairs, I’m not sure if they have a proper name! Basically stairs that consist of separate planks set into the wall with nothing else connecting them. Make me feel sick.

Andanotherone01 · 21/05/2023 22:36

Finding somewhere to park the car. I definitely overthink that on a daily basis

junebirthdaygirl · 21/05/2023 22:37

A sharp pain in my head/ leg etc. Think this is it and get overwhelmed by anxiety although the last 100 times it happened l was obviously fine.
I used to get that murky Summer evening anxiety but that's gone.

Upallnightfeeding · 21/05/2023 22:38

AllOfThemWitches · 21/05/2023 18:05

Changing weather

This is what I was going to put, and dressing incorrectly for it. No idea why!

silverbubbles · 21/05/2023 22:39

certain peoples birthdays and christmas

butinneverdo · 21/05/2023 22:39

Hearing people on the phone at night while km trying to sleep. My mum used to call rape crisis at night when I was tiny little, youngest I remember I was 4, end up hysterical and I’d have to calm her down. Used to sit on the stairs and wait. My flatmates frequently talk in the corridor at night and it reminds me and I can’t settle.