Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

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:
porridgeisbae · 22/05/2023 17:39

When people talk in a weird voice/accent thinking it's funny.

porridgeisbae · 22/05/2023 17:43

The sound of basket/footballs being bounced on the ground (because at school I was bullied and they'd deliberately aim the ball to hit me.)

Ollifer · 22/05/2023 18:14

Having to open the door to receive a takeaway or shopping delivery, I absolutely hate it

BodegaSushi · 22/05/2023 18:23

Ollifer · 22/05/2023 18:14

Having to open the door to receive a takeaway or shopping delivery, I absolutely hate it

My worst nightmare came true over the weekend. I was in the shower when the buzzer went. I live alone. They were I very quick, I really though I had time for a quick shower Blush

BodegaSushi · 22/05/2023 18:24

Oh and I sometimes have anxiety when I'm putting dishes away that the shelves will all collapse and everything will fall and break. Then I saw a fb post where that actually happened to someone, the whole cupboard just came off the wall 😱

Discwriter · 22/05/2023 19:02

Wind. My DS forcing a burp. Not knowing the parking situation. My dog wanting to go outside after 10pm, I know she'll bark.

BodegaSushi · 22/05/2023 19:13

Oooh and popping champagne/Prosecco. I shake if I have to do it. Usually get someone else

ulcers · 22/05/2023 19:21

Cocteautriplet · 22/05/2023 15:09

Some others I have…

I’ll be having a really lovely chat with a friend over a cup of tea and I think about how awful it would be and how shocked she would feel if I suddenly slapped her or chucked my tea over her! I’ve no idea why this happens and of course I’d never do it but the worry and distraction it causes is so unsettling.

I also start shaking uncontrollably whenever I have to go on to an Hmrc revenue site ..even though I have no reason to worry and pay all my taxes/my self assessment is up to date etc. This one comes from the fact I was put on the wrong tax code once and ended up owing quite a lot of money and it was really stressful. I’m always terrified there will have been another miscalculation at work and that I’ll need to sort out and I find talking to Hmrc very intimidating and confusing!

@Cocteautriplet this is intrusive thoughts and it's a type of OCD. It's more common than you probably think. I have it a lot with my kids. It can be very stressful

thisisasurvivor · 22/05/2023 19:25

My friends fcking DH triggers me so badly

Controlling arse hole

We had her sons party there at the weekend

Shouting at the kids all day
Watching what they were doing
Total clean freak but in the worse possible way

I have to leave or I was going to shout back
And at one point I almost did

TropicalMoon · 22/05/2023 19:26

When I was younger (living at my parents house) it was the house phone ringing that used to make my heart beat faster. The shrill sound, I found it weirdly unnerving, especially if it would be left to ring for ages before anyone answered.
Nowadays, it’s the sound of motorbikes whizzing past and the popping of the exhaust that makes me feel odd. I also don’t like it when I’m driving and can hear an ambulance in the distance, not knowing which direction it’s coming from gives me abit of anxiety.

70sTomboy · 22/05/2023 19:34

Babies/ small children screaming/ crying, I get a fight/ flight reaction. PTSD from PND is behind it. My kids are in their 30s. I'm still getting reactions.

Winederlust · 22/05/2023 19:42

Driving to the supermarket and the thought that someone will get there just before me and take the last of the very specific thing I've gone for.

nutmegnook · 22/05/2023 20:33

BodegaSushi · 22/05/2023 18:24

Oh and I sometimes have anxiety when I'm putting dishes away that the shelves will all collapse and everything will fall and break. Then I saw a fb post where that actually happened to someone, the whole cupboard just came off the wall 😱

Oh wow I have this too!!!

Marvel23 · 22/05/2023 21:26

Andanotherone01 · 21/05/2023 22:36

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

Same. I do Google Street view before I leave for somewhere new but panic I won't find anywhere to park. One of the campuses I work at has very limited parking so this is always stressful. I end up getting there really early to make sure I get a space but will have been worrying about it for days

BodegaSushi · 22/05/2023 21:33

Curtains open when it's dark trigger another anxiety that I'm being stalked/watched.

I'm on the ground floor with glass doors that go out to a little garden (shared communal flats) and I haven't closed the curtains yet.

And now I will have to jump up and shut them very quickly or else a scary man will appear in the windows and try to get in 🫣

BodegaSushi · 22/05/2023 21:37

Oh god and now I'm getting ready for bed more are coming.

A dark strip where a door or cupboard hasn't been shut. Must be shut or eyes will peer from within.

porridgeisbae · 22/05/2023 22:03

The ones where people have a fear they're going to do something socially unacceptable/dangerous are very common, normal, or if very frequent can be part of OCD. I can't do two things at once on my phone lol but for instance there's a phrase for having the thought of deliberately driving the car off the road etc. It's not even seen as abnormal in itself if not frequent (but of course is unnerving.)

porridgeisbae · 22/05/2023 22:13

If someone bends over I can get the fearing going to go up to their bum and pinch it Grin It's not even people I fancy or think have a particularly nice bum or anything. I think it's partly because before I was treated for my bipolar, many years ago, I would do it. I'm lucky I'm not a bloke or I would've probably have got in real trouble.

Thelnebriati · 22/05/2023 22:17

Tangled up bundles of wires triggers massive anxiety, so does using an electric drill. Its just the drill, I can use similar gadgets with no problems.

BadNomad · 22/05/2023 22:18

Opening anything with a ring-pull (might lose a finger)
Closing the car boot door (might lose a hand)
Handling the lid after using the tin opener (might slice an artery open!)
Using a lighter (gas gas gas)
Striking a match (snap snap snap)
Raw meat touching my hands (germs and eye worms)
Peeling a lettuce (creepy crawlies)
Counting cash money in public (pressure)
My dog licking my leg (sensory overload)

DameKatyDenisesClagnuts · 22/05/2023 22:35

Chewing gum. I have dreams about it getting stuck in my mouth

Cakeandslippers · 22/05/2023 22:43

Being the only customer in a restaurant or cafe

TallerThanAverage · 22/05/2023 22:46

I once showed a colleague how to program our MFD (fancy printer) to scan and when I got to the duplex function she had a full blown panic attack.

Caramelsmadfuzzytail · 22/05/2023 22:59

People.
Queues.
Looming shelves in shops.
The book aisle in Sainsbury's.
Unwanted change of mind half way downstairs to which shop I need to go to. Shouty people outside my flat (I live next to a pub).
Unexpected banging.
Public transport.
The bottom half of my local town.
It would appear that my list is longer than even I knew.

bottleofbeer · 23/05/2023 01:42

Enjoy the silence by Depeche mode.

It terrifies me. I shake and if I'm with someone, make them turn it off.

Doesn't take a genius to work out that I heard it while something disturbing happened.