Self

10 Things That Make Anxious People Even More Anxious

Photo: Josep Suria/ Shutterstock
woman on couch

Every morning, I deal with anxiety.

I leave for work out through the kitchen door. I lock the door and then jiggle the handle about three times before I'm convinced the door is locked, and no one is going to break in while my mom is babysitting my daughter.

There are three dogs in the house, so it's not like anyone in their right mind would pick my house to break into. But people are crazy; that's why they do things like break into homes.

Of course, in order to even break through the kitchen door, this imaginary perpetrator would need to open the back gate, which would alarm the dogs and probably send the perpetrator on the run.

But wait, the gate is a whole other source of anxiety for me every day. I need to push it about ten times while peeking over the fence to make sure the latch is down, and none of the dogs are going to escape and run away while I’m not there.

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If that were to happen, I'd go into panic mode, alert the police and local shelter, make flyers, distribute them to every house in the neighborhood, and create a Facebook page to find my dog.

If more than one dog got out at a time, who would I chase first? Which dog is easier to catch? Which could survive on its own easier for a few days if I couldn't track it down? We live near a lake. What if the dogs got lost in the woods?

This is my life every day with OCD and anxiety. And it's exhausting.

I know I'm not alone, though. Anxious people of the world deal with fears such as these, and much more, all the time. Our minds are like greyhounds mid-race, always speeding around and looping back to start. And we're tired of it!

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Here are 10 things that make anxious people even more anxious:

1. People breaking into their homes

This one seems like a more normal thing to be worried about. 

2. Their pets running away

Again, it's a daily struggle.

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3. The health of themselves, friends, and family

Is it really just something minor, or an early symptom of some dreaded disease? We'll want to Google it, but that will just make things much worse in our minds.

4. Making a drastic change in their appearance

We really want to chop our locks or go blonde, but what if we end up looking like a "before" picture of a reality makeover show? Sadly, this has happened to me. 

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5. Money

It seems like every time you get on your feet, something knocks you back down. Will you ever get ahead?

6. Car accidents and/or getting lost while driving

I refuse to drive on most major highways because of this.

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7. Safety of their kids

My husband, former captain of the high school swim team and lifeguard, can't wait to take our almost one-year-old daughter swimming this summer. I, on the other hand, am researching every type of infant floating device and draining her baby bathtub so there’s hardly any water inside. He thinks he's taking the dogs in the lake, too, but I bet you can imagine where my mind is going with that one.

8. Finding forever love

Why didn't your date respond to your "I had a great time tonight" text?  #SinglePeopleAnxiety

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9. Sending client emails

What if you hit "send" and there's a typo? Or if you accidentally copied and pasted a link to a funny YouTube video that was meant for your co-workers? Or, if you attached the wrong document and now the CEO is reading the cover letter you were sent in hopes of landing a new job? Gah!

10. World events

This is beyond our control but we're going to stress every time we drive through the Lincoln Tunnel or fly in a plane because you never know what terrible event might happen. Let's get real. 

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Joelle Speranza is an author, lifestyle writer, and publicist who has been published in Oprah Daily, Insider, HuffPost, MindBodyGreen, Today.com Parenting Community, LittleThings, and more.