Is this an omen? Crows and black cats....

[AngryFeet]

This may sound a bit mental but I am anxious at the moment anyway and this has got me worried. Last week I kept seeing a black cat sitting in my garden. I said to myself if that cat is still there later I am going to die (I am a bit weird about death and get very anxious about it). It was still there an hour later. It was there again the next day then the day after I saw it crossing the road outside my house late at night. Not seen it since.

Today I was going to the GP and next to the cornfield was a crow looking straight at me. When I came out it was in the field and looked at me again.

Freaking out about it

I know I sound mental sorry.

Are you all ignoring me because I am mental?

Cats of all colours are liable to sit and stare (someone had on a thread recently about one sitting on her bin I think, apparently its Cat Chess or some such). Its just normal cat behaviour, and black is a common cat colour.

Crows are bold intelligent birds. Why shouldn't it look at you?

No, they aren't omens, they are animals being animals.

OK, maybe you should start another thread to see if anyone can help you with whatever you're anxious about which is making you feel ill at ease?

Hope you're feeling a bit less freaked now.

A black cat lives down the road from me and we always have visiting crows in the area. They're just animals and nothing to worry about. Both are very common creatures and can occur anywhere

That sort of thinking is referered to as 'magical thinking' in councelling terms, it is very, very bad for your head.

Have you sought any help for your anxiety?

Yes I see a counsellor every 2 weeks - I suffer from various anxieties. I was a born worrier and would often think my parents were going to kill me if we ever had a row and weird stuff like that . Never heard of that term though - will chat to my counsellor when I see her next week. Thanks :)

I have terrible anxiety too, after years and years of various talking therapies the only thing that has really started to help is CBT.

I think in my case a lot of person centered therapy was too induldgent and made me wallow even more whcih only increased my anxiety, in the end I got sick of trying to work out why I am like this (have had anxious tendencies since childhood) and decided I needed something to help me live the rest of my life, or I wasn't going to have any time left.

CBT is alot more brutal but I have found it highly effective, 18 months and I am not better, but I am much improved.

It concentrates on stopping all the behaviours and thoughs which create a vicious circle for your anxiety, magical thinking is a big one for many sufferers, for example, I used to have to greet and salute every magpie I saw, no matter how stupid I looked, or something terrible would happen, I stopped, nothing did. It slowly changes the rules that you live by and makes the world a less scary place.

Thanks for your messages. Unfortunately I got up this morning and when I looked out my kitchen window there was a crow in my garden :( Massively freaked out now....

Honey, there are crows and cars everywhere! Try to recognise that they are just common animals and it really isn't anything to for you to be concerned with

Sorry, cats.

I keep reading stuff on the net that says people kept seeing a lone crow and someone in their family died a few days later :(

There is quite often a crow sitting in my garden staring at me. And at least two black cats which are always prowling through the area, and they stare a lot too

• I think you need to focus on dealing with these anxieties. As WildThings says, maybe something like CBT which attacks the specific symptoms might help you more than trying to get to the bottom of why you are anxious. If you have felt this way since childhood, it may take a lot of resolving. But dealing with specifics like this might help you get from day to day without freaking out.

Angry - I've never read anything like that on the net. Because I don't go looking at that sort of superstitious nonsense. I'm sorry, but you really need to try to stop looking at things that feed your fears.

Its not doing you any good. Here's something different for you to read - I
have seen lots of lone crows in my lifetime. Such sightings have never coincided with the deaths of anyone I know. Please note 'coincided' - people who have heard a silly superstition will notice coincidences. The only death causally correlated with the sighting of a crow is the previous death of some poor bunny or whatever.

Crows are always on their own though - it's one of the noticable things about crows vs rooks. Rooks are always in a group, crows are pretty much always alone. It has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not someone is going to die in your family.

What happens is that people develop superstitions, then look for them. And they see them - the human brain looks for patterns and "explanations" of things, and struggles with the idea that two things can happen at the same time and not be connected.

It sounds like you've started making connections that just aren't there, and so you worry about them and notcie them.

Please try to understand that this is not real, even if people have posted on the internet that they saw crows and someone died. They probably also saw lots of Jack Russel terriers, and blue VW Golfs during that period, but they don't remember those because they weren't looking out for them and worrying about them.

Here is what the RSPB website says about crows, which makes it clear that seeing a lone crow in your garden is really not remarkable:

Overview
The all-black carrion crow is one of the cleverest, most adaptable of our birds. It is often quite fearless, although it can be wary of man. They are fairly solitary, usually found alone or in pairs. The closely related hooded crow has recently been split as a separate species. Carrion crows will come to gardens for food and although often cautious initially, they soon learn when it is safe, and will return repeatedly to take advantage of whatever is on offer.

Where to see them
Found almost everywhere, from the centre of cities to upland moorlands, and from woodlands to seashore.

When to see them
All year round.

What they eat
Carrion, insects, worms, seeds, fruit and any scraps.

Poor you. It is horrible when anxiety tips into obsessions and then feeling like you are 'seeing' things. If you start looking up 'omens' or 'signs' on the net though, there will be one for almost everything and the meanings will also vary wildly, for eg in one country a certain bird would be unlucky but lucky in another.

Lots of people consider themselves superstitious and would doff their cap to a magpie or won't walk under a ladder or whatever, but once you move beyond that and start thinking that things are a 'sign' to you then you will just cause yourself lots of stress as you will almost be looking for them.

I agree with the others about something like CBT being helpful here. It is often an anxiety issue and can be very upsetting. If it is affecting your daily life then maybe speak to your gp? Have you had help for your anxiety before?

Angryfeet I really know where you are because I was there once too, and it took 18 months of CBT to sort my head out. Basically I came to realise that I had been brought up by someone who had a very strong superstitious belief pattern and this imprinted itself onto me at a very early age, less that 5, probably by three years old .... because it formed part of my very earliest imprinting memory it was very difficult to undo, but it can be done, and I managed it with the help of a great therapist. Now I am absolutely evangelical about stamping on ANY superstitioun said to, or by one of my children. I teach them that superstitions are rubbish, and they believe me. It does not need to go on to another generation! You were taught this, that;s all, and you can unlearn it. I won't tell you what all my superstitions were in case yo pick up on those too, but they were very very similar. You were impregnated with this rubbish, you are hypersensitive to it, and you need support to get rid of it, that's all. NOTHING bad is going to happen, however much you believe that it could.

sorry about typos.. tired

A black cat keeps following me everywhere! Can't even to to the loo. Yes it's my cat and he is black and keeps getting under my feet.
Now if a crow was following me everywhere then I'd freak out