To think this is something more serious than anxiety?

[MajorUrsa]

Posting for traffic mostly, I hope that is ok.

Around the age of 18 onwards, maybe once a year my younger brother (now aged 27) would get anxious about something seemingly miniscule for about a week or so and then be generally ok. We (me and my other brother and mum) would always be there to calm him down or be available any time of day or night if wanted to speak it through.
His pattern of thought is as follows:

1. Something happens to trigger it eg. thinking he's driven through a red light and not amber
2. He will get fined or taken to court
3. He will go to prison
4. His reputation and career will be ruined and will struggle for money.

However, my brother has always been a good student, straight As, good degree from reputed university and now has a well paid City job where he seems to be doing well (promotions and bonuses etc) and isn't the shady type or someone who has ever gotten into any type of trouble. His friends are all similar (studious and in good professions). To his bosses or anyone who isn't immediate family, he seems like a successful, happy, sporty guy.

His triggers have included a typo in his coursework and he got so paranoid he spoke to his tutor after handing it in. Tutor of course said it was nothing but then he got worried his degree would be rescinded a year after graduation!

And to come to his most recent anxieties. Over the last few years, every now and again he gets worried someone is hacking him. If his phone so much as heats up, he thinks that is a sign that a hacker is using his phone remotely.. lately he has been nervous about delivery men, the front door being open longer than it should be. Today he went out and bought a new laptop and phone in case his current ones have been hacked. He says he feels scared all the time that something bad is going to happen. He doesn't know the reason. Today he said he felt like he was being watched. He cried because he was so scared. I felt completely useless as nothing we said to make him see a rational perspective was helping. It feels like more and more this isn't anxiety but maybe some kind of paranoia?

It's less anxiety and more fear it seems.

Not a big drinker and no drug use.

Does this sound like a pattern of behaviour or thinking familiar to anyone? Is there anything that helps ease the fear or anxiety?

sorry to hear this, I didn’t want to read and run but it sounds god he’s talking to you. Does he live with anyone or spend a lot of time alone? It sounds like classic anxiety to me but I’m not a doctor. I have found cbt to be a help in the past to manage these kind of responses

In my opinion he needs to see his GP and perhaps see a psychiatrist If he's earning good money he could pay privately to see a psychiatrist.

I think he needs to have a chat with his GP and ask for a referral to the mental health team. I agree this sounds like more than anxiety and is closer to paranoia / delusions which can be a symptom of some MH conditions.

He lives with my mum (still in the family home). He is saving up to buy his own place.

Sorry I should have mentioned in my first post, usually the anxiety last a week or so, but this time it has been a couple of months and can't shake the feeling. He said he thinks someone is out to get him but tries to then rationalise he's just thinking nonsense.

Intrusive thoughts?

Can be a symptom of ocd.

Worth talking to his GP (if you can get in)

Thank you @AltitudeCheck and @username3678

We're hoping he can get an appointment with his GP tomorrow. I'll have a research of private psychiatrists as he isn't a place where he could organise something like that (he is really not his usual self right now)

I think this is known as catastophising. It is a condition associated with extreme anxiety. Therapy is the way forward.

Obsessive compulsive disorder? Isn't that like when someone has a need for things to be perfect or things need to be done a certain way?
I can't think of any quirks he has that are like that.

Bo one can diagnose on MN but he sounds similar to a friend's mum (from many years ago). She had OCD. You'd never know. She had triggers. One similar to your DB was that she'd run someone over on a drive. She'd have to go back and check, then think she hit someone that time. That could go on for ages. I know it's why she stopped driving.

A stranger trigger (and how I found out) was if you brushed against the key in the back door. I'd stayed in their home one weekend when she was away. After going home my friend and her dad turned up in the middle of the night. I had to go to their home (I was around 20) to reassure her DM I was fine.
The key had accidentally been left in the door while they were away. She'd convinced herself I'd brushed against it and it had given me breast cancer. This was all in the space of anoit three days.
This was a professional woman. I'd been friends with her DD for years and had no idea. It only went out of control every few years. Your DB needs to seek help.

It does sound like he has some paranoia. I would want him seen by a GP definitely. Whatever it is it's clearly having a big impact on his quality of life and he needs medical support.

This sounds terrifying for all of you. He's lucky to have his family to support him.

Glad he is getting help. There are lots of techniques that people can be taught to de-escalate these thoughts and feelings, and he needs medical evaluation to judge whether a psychiatrist, psychologist or someone else is the next step.

Definitely worth looking into getting some help privately if you stretch to it, if he ends up on a long NHS waiting list.

Sounds like it is heading towards psychosis so definitely needs to speak to GP or a private psychiatrist asap.

OCD can manifest in many ways. It is mainly represented in the media as obsessive cleaning. Intrusive thoughts are a big one though.

I have OCD. I often find my thoughts terrify me.

We have a lot of anxiety in the family but it looks nothing like this. I think a trip to a psychiatrist would be a good idea.

Getting access to a psychiatrist on the NHS is very difficult but you should have a psychosis service in your local area which will be much better funded than other teams and you should be able to self-refer and get a fairly swift answer. If that doesn't work then paying privately would be a very good idea.

If you google "nhs psychosis service" then you will find out if you have one locally.

Rather than share my (potentially wrong) armchair diagnosis, I think...you've taken a huge step c.o "voicing" concerns.
You won't necessarily be very popular,(bro/fam..etc) that doesn't invalidate a thing you've said.
I can only suggest you ask speak to family GP
IF still is such a thing? Or contact practice mh nurse. /One of the 'man' orientated mental health charity/services.
He is clearly, repeat distressed. You(all) aware so start there. Advocate(find some)for him
I know what I suspect...but you all need support, diagnosis..n rest.good luck x

Hello there, I am really sorry to hear that your brother is struggling. If it helps, I just wanted to add that these feelings sound quite similar to something that I went through a few years ago and I was surprised to be diagnosed with OCD and depression. I was constantly convinced that I had hit a cyclist or had run someone over to the point where I had to retrace my steps, so to speak, to make sure I hadn't hurt someone. When I finally saw a doctor and a mental health professional, it was explained to me that these are often symptoms of OCD or crippling anxiety. I saw a brilliant mental health therapist who helped me so much. She explained so much to me about "magic thinking" and intrusive thoughts, and I can honestly say that she saved me. I know everyone is different, but from my experience, it sounds to me as if your brother needs at the very least someone professional to talk to. Wishing him and your family all the very best.

My brother was very similar to this. I dragged him off to the GP as I was worried it was starting to head towards possible psychosis. He was referred to a psychosis specialist but never diagnosed with more than anxiety. I think it's worth checking out and getting help earlier rather than later though. If he has a tendency to something more than anxiety, then earlier treatment is better than later.

Not to undermine a previous poster, but anxiety and depression in a close family member looks exactly like what you described. They are on a lot of medication which helps keep things at bay somewhat but got to the point where there were unable to work (constantly checking and re-checking things) and unable to drive for the same reasons mentioned before. Counselling/CBT was offered but unfortunately they weren’t receptive to it.

Could well be OCD, or possibly even Schizophrenia.
Definitely needs to see their GP for referral to mental health services.

I had anxiety manifest a bit like this. I truly believed that if I didn't do certain things and wasn't successful then certain specific tragedies would befall my family. Eventually I had a therapy called ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, through the NHS. I also got a coil but that won't be any use to your brother. There is a self help book about ACT, called something like The Happiness Trap.
I've been psychologicaliy better for years, I'm posting in the middle of the night because I'm up feeling poorly!

I initially thought OCD which I think is obsessive thoughts in its pure sense (but am not trying to diagnose your brother over the internet) I'm so sorry it sounds so stressful please do get him to the GP, some medication and therapy might hopefully make a huge difference

To me it sounds like a form of OCD called rumination OCD with intrusive thoughts. I’d see a mental health specialist. CBT or a mild anti depressant could help a lot. I’ve had this at times through my life-it’s horrible.

I don't think you're being unreasonable in worrying that this is serious but I do want to say, without being overly critical at a time when you're so worried, that "just" anxiety is a bit of misnomer. I see this conflation between "feeling anxious" and having an anxiety disorder a lot on mumsnet these days leading to comments like "we all feel anxious sometimes, they need to learn to cope" etc. Not saying this is what you're saying OP, but an anxiety disorder IS serious. GAD and similar isn't just worry, it is the experience of intense and debilitating fear, in some ways not that different from what your brother is experiencing, though his condition may have other elements as you say. Anxiety, as a clinical condition, IS fear, or has always been for me, and it can destroy lives.

I hope he is able to get the help he needs, it's good he has you looking out for him.

It doesn't always present like that. Depending on the compulsion. Someone with fear of germs will be obsessively cleaning and organising but there are many compulsive thoughts that have nothing to do with cleaning. Most notably, I remember working with someone who was terrified of sexually abusing his young family member. He had no history of of sex offending, not attraction to young people, no sexual thoughts towards the family member. He had compulsive fears of doing it for no objective reason whatsoever. The fears went away after a course of medication.

Having said that, your brother's thoughts can also be a sign of a more serious mental disorder. He needs to see a psychiatrist ASAP.