Is this anxiety?

[reservoircats]

Hello all,
I have not posted before but am getting concerned about some thoughts I'm having and that have been going on for the last 6 months and wanted to know if anyone has ever experienced anything similar. An FYI: i have previously taken antidepressants for a short period of depression over 3 years ago, I took them for 3 months before stopping as I was paranoid that they were changing my personality. All members of my direct family apart from my mother have had depression.
Recently I have been having bad thoughts about what people think of me and irrational things that could potentially happen. For example, I worry that the fish tank will explode spontaneously and I will need to pick my fish off the floor to save them. Also, that at any moment a bomb will explode through the patio doors and I will be left alone. Similarly, that when I cross the road that I will be ran over or that I am always at risk of a horrendous car crash whenever I drive despite passing first time and never being in an Incident. Also, I constantly have thoughts that my colleagues hate me and think I am stupid, despite having no straight forward reason to think this. I am fine in social situations so I know it's not social anxiety but I do feel like everyone talks behind my back even though I've never had any proof of this. Another example is that I think that my boyfriends family secretly all hate me and don't approve of me or that my housemate secretly hates me and bitches about me to his girlfriend. I don't know why I think these things and I don't think this is normal, I cannot think of ways that the thoughts influence my behaviour other than getting nervous before meeting new people and that I try quite hard to please people. The only thing I can think of is that in an argument last year my mum said to me that no one will ever love me for who I am and they only are with me for my looks, which is a comment that has stayed with me for obvious reasons. Maybe these thoughts have stemmed from that comment. Are these intrusive thoughts what anxiety is? Can anyone relate?

It can be a manifestation of anxiety, or OCD.

(If you’re aware of the irrationality of the thoughts but they keep popping up, then it’s unlikely to be a psychotic episode.)

This sort of thing is quite responsive to treatment. I suggest you see your GP and discuss this - they may give you a trial of other ADs (they all have very different effects) and perhaps some talking therapy. I found intensive psychotherapy very useful, but I doubt that’s available on the NHS :/

Sounds similar to mine - scared that ill faint on a tube and be robbed, scared that ill fall pin the supermarket and hit mqy head, scared that a nearby building will collapse - i think theyre intrusive thoughts caused by anxiety.

Thank you both. It is nice to know I'm not alone.

Zaurek- may I asked what helped you control the thoughts?

Very similar things going on in my head at the moment. I'm lucky that my anxiety doesn't seem to progress to depressive episodes but it flares up when I'm tired or stressed. I always try to think of what is more likely to happen, so rather than "what will happen if I crash the car" try and picture what you'll do when you have got to your destination. I'm not explaining it very well but its all about thinking more realistic thoughts. Hope that makes sense!

@FantasticMissFox that does help actually, I will try and think of solutions when I have these irrational thoughts and then hopefully they shouldn't happen so often.
Think I need to go to my GP really.