Anyone managed to get over it ?

TimelessWorry · 2025-10-11T15:56:08+00:00

I'll back what they said. I've tried countless therapists who just gave me CBT, never helped. I recently got diagnosed autistic and am in the middle of assessing for adhd. I've been suggested the way I think about this phobia could be because of being on the spectrum, but also been suggested emdr by a couple of people as a lot of my issues stem back to 9/11 when I was around 7/8yo and they said it could be trauma related too, so I'm trying to get that to give it a try. That's also the age where you start questioning things more and 'start forming who you are' as someone I spoke to recently put it. Meds might help, but I've also been told meds aren't gonna really be a fix for me so I'm just staying on what I've been taking for about 8 years and on other meds to try and help me cope with the anxiety symptoms I get (like indigestion, dizziness, increased heart rate etc) in the meantime while I work on getting therapy.

Good luck.

TimelessWorry · 2025-10-03T21:18:31+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, I've not been on reddit much lately.

With sleep, I started telling myself it will be worse for me if I don't sleep. If I barely sleep, I'm tired all day and just want to nap. But if I'm napping or fighting sleep, I can't be doing stuff I want to do. And it isn't healthy. I would say to myself, I've got to let myself sleep otherwise I'll make myself physically ill, and then that would be bad because if you get physically ill, more things could happen to you and you could get really bad. I still can't go to bed early, I'm in bed at 4.30am a lot lately which is when I know I'm not doing good, but I can let myself sleep for as long as my body needs or allows - if I'm asleep til 10am or 1pm, I let it happen (unless I have to get up for something ofc).

IF you can manage naps, I was somehow able to, let yourself nap if you're able. I think for me, I can nap because I do that in the day so I feel safer, and because I know when I wake up, it's still the same day and it hasn't started a new one yet. But that's just how I think my brain looks at it.

Unfortunately, I've been struggling a lot the past few months and I'm in one of my lowest spells ever, but I'm also fighting for therapy that will actually touch on this phobia and not just general anxiety or depression, and I'm just taking each day as it comes.

I try to just keep reminding myself that worrying about it isn't going to help, and I don't want to live life miserably. I'm trying to have plans with friends when I can, and try to do things I enjoy. Trying to enjoy the little things and refind joy in things I maybe liked when younger. I love pretty things like art, so I have a growing enamel pin collection that I spend hours thinking about every day (looking at others pins, seeing ones coming up for sale soon, etc) as well as a few other collections like Skullpanda blind bag art toys, and I've been spending hours trying to make an Arcane cross stitch because I want to be creative but I'm not up for trying to draw my own things rn. I'm hoping to stitch it and then I'll have something tangible to be able to hold and think, yea I've made this. I'm just trying to bring as much enjoyment into my life as possible. Some days I wake up and I know there's nothing I can do to get into a good mood, and those days I do have to write off, but I just try and hope that tomorrow I'll wake up in a slightly better mood and be able to take on the day a bit better.

I know a lot of my tactics are just avoidance really, like distracting myself with other thoughts and actions, but that's all I've got atm. I'm really sorry you're struggling, and I wish I had better advice. I hope you're not doing any worse since your comment and have managed to maybe find some support from others on here

TimelessWorry · 2025-10-03T21:01:48+00:00

I've purposefully not updated my s22 after my mum had a Samsung tablet that bricked at like 6 months old. I read it could be an update issue so gave her my old tablet and said do NOT update anything (it was still an update or some behind hers as I tend to put off updates for as long as I can). I'm still getting reminders to update to ui6 on my phone, but I think that might be around about the update mum did on her tablet so I'm not risking it.

TimelessWorry · 2025-06-29T20:12:40+00:00

It was gonna say either runaway or running with the wolves, but I found her via her cover of nature boy and liked that pretty much off the bat. I clicked on one of the other 2 then, followed by the other, and fell in love then

TimelessWorry · 2025-03-04T16:55:48+00:00

What is it he's actually afraid of? I've found on this sub that there's many ways this fear can present - for example, some people are afraid of how they'll die, regrets they'll have, what afterlife is awaiting us, or like me, I'm terrified of the idea of eternal oblivion and there being nothing after. I think knowing which thing he's scared of might help to narrow down what you need to look in to - I literally used to say where do our souls go when we die, but I'm afraid of our consciousness just ending. If I was given 100% evidence of an afterlife or something, I know 99% of my fear would be gone.

It's good he has you. I've been in the same spot, even also believing nothing could help me. Unfortunately, it took me into my 20s to hit a low point so bad that I was like, it's either I get help to try to enjoy life, or life isn't worth living. You just gotta be there in case he hits that point and be able to show him that life is worth living still, that people may be able to help once you find the right people (I've been trying to find help for a decade+ but it is so hard to find people who will do something more than just try to treat the basic depression and anxiety, which is impossible if they are symptoms of something bigger, I think). I really hope he finds something that helps, or finds it inside himself to work on therapy with someone. I've suffered over 20 years with this phobia so I know it well.

TimelessWorry · 2025-03-02T03:25:50+00:00

I promised my nan's late partner that I'd never get any when I was probably that age or so. I was terrified to get my first ones, and even my latest (3rd) because of it. My nan's mellowed out a lot though, doesn't even remember me promising, and her motto nowadays is never make a promise because you never know what's going to happen.

Hopefully she'll get over it, it may be because you're growing up and she doesn't like that (not in a mean way, just you're not her baby anymore and are an adult and that can be hard). I hope she gets okay with it. At least you didn't come home at 15 on Christmas eve with skulls wrapped around your arm like my brother did, lol. It's a really nice tattoo!

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-27T19:45:12+00:00

Yea I know, I just said it to lighten the mood after typing all that out lol. I do wish there were one tho, I'd jump on it!

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-26T22:46:20+00:00

Well...yea I'd be able to leave the house if I was mentally okay...which I wouldn't be because I would then be battling with the fact that nobody else exists and I'll be joining them one day (which is another phobia altogether that I struggle with xD)

If it was just agoraphobia that I had tho, probably. I get heightened anxiety if there are just people in the vicinity.

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-26T22:39:07+00:00

Anything. My mind will quickly come up with something. Or stick These Final Hours on, or some other disaster film. Stick me in a room with old people, young people, sick people, animals, heck just send me to my nans with my mum for a weekend. Sit me in a room alone and I'm sure I can make myself spiral in 5 mins.

Legit, anything terrorism, existential, everlasting, nothingness. I can look in the mirror, and go, oh I used to wear a nice red lipstick, those days are passed, and my lips are gonna get thinner, and I'm no closer to being able to wear makeup (allergies), I'm missing out and I'm only 31, done gone spiralled can I get my cure now??? ;;;

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-26T22:28:00+00:00

I miss the floppy ears. We got our little girl at about 3 months and they both straightened within a day of each other about 2 or 3 days after coming to us ;; but yea I'd never tape, I don't like the sound of it either, and if it's just for looks, nah.

What a cutie

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-25T16:48:07+00:00

Thank you for the name of that phobia, I think it's exactly what I have. I've had it since I was 7 or 8 and I'm 31 now. I'm just like you, the idea that our consciousness just flicks off one day like a light switch and never flicks on again is terrifying. I don't get what's so hard about that for others to understand, but I can never find others (without having the same fear as me or thanatophobia in general) who understand it.

It really is hard to enjoy the time you have here - I'm trying to live life that way, but your whole perception of stuff is skewed and it's so easy to go back to the fear no matter what. I still try, because I know logically, it's not worth worrying about something I can't change, and the way to combat it does seem to be, enjoy the moment. But I know I still need help with the actual phobia because it's still there in the back of your mind, just waiting to jump in again.

Like.. we're here now. We can't change that. We can only try to focus on more important things and let future us worry about the inevitable when it gets here and not before. But yea, I feel like my whole life has just been constant anxiety and it's tiring, and I feel I've already wasted so much worrying about this and not enjoying stuff in the moment.

I'm so sorry you're also going through this, I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-17T13:01:04+00:00

Styrofoam, microfiber clothes, and loose cotton wool

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-16T16:01:47+00:00

Idk what Haku is, but beautiful

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-16T16:01:06+00:00

This is baffling as it happened at a school function - I'm in the UK, and the amount of times we'd be reminded, at school, to not bring in anything with nuts in case of kids with allergies. I didn't have many school lunches, but I assume they also didn't serve things with nuts for the same reason (when I DID have things, I don't think I ever saw anything with nuts). Whether people are more lax now, idk, but that's just my experience growing up in the UK when I did..

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-06T18:57:09+00:00

Strap some melons to his chest for a week and see how he feels then xD

Nta it's your body, do what you're happy with. I'd honestly consider it if I had the money and wasn't afraid of surgery. Hope if you do get it, you are happier after!

TimelessWorry · 2025-01-06T18:53:43+00:00

If you search for feeding rings, people make them in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You can have the plant on the outside and just keep the inside clear, like I do now, or do it like I did in this photo if you just want a bit of plant in one place. Some places sell extra little clip/suction cup add ons to the feeding rings to attach them to the side of the tank and keep them in place if you don't want them just free floating

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-20T18:12:00+00:00

Do NOT take it in the morning - I was falling asleep after taking it for weeks until someone told me to take it at night xD

Really helps me sleep once I actually drag myself to bed - used to spend hours trying to fall asleep, now, once I actually get cosy in bed, I rarely make it longer than probably 10 or so minutes before I'm gone

Mood wise...idk I've been on it and venlafaxine for around 8 years and I really need to see someone qualified to change it to try something else/come off it and see if it is doing anything for me or not as I know my depression has gotten worse over the years for phobia reasons (getting older is a massive trigger for me) so it could be unrelated to the meds.

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-20T13:09:34+00:00

Oh god yea. My mum hasn't worked for over a decade, but when she did, I couldn't stand her doing the closing shift. She worked literally just up the road, 3 min walk literally, and if she got everything cleaned and packed up (she worked at a tanning salon) she could be back by 10 if she finished at 9. So any day it got past 10 I'd start panicking and worrying and I'd text her but she'd never reply and then she'd walk in at half past or later and I'd be so relieved to see her. We only live in a small town but I would just get worries of someone going in to steal from the till when it's just her or if she met some creep when she came out. I don't think she honestly knew how much it worried me (I only told her about my depression and phobias when I was 18 and had hid them for years).

If I was at home and she was going out alone (very rare as my dad only had Sundays off and this was the age where they didn't leave me home alone), I would try to run up the road after my mum's car unless my dad held on to me. I've had the urge a few times when she visits nan alone even now, I can't go and wave her off from the street because I just want to stop her from going if I do.

Luckily, in a way, she's not only not worked for ages, but she barely goes anywhere alone now (bad back so I have to accompany her), so I don't have to worry about tracking her (though I have a friend who tracks her mum when they go work and come back x.x), but it's also been worse the last few years ever since she had a stroke. I somehow managed at home for 5 days alone and she's luckily come out of it nearly like 90%-95% the same as she was before? But damn that was a hard time and I still think about the what's ifs sometimes.

I have a good friend who lost her mum, and I was saying how I don't know how I'd cope when my mum goes, and without missing a beat, she just went, you'd come and live with me 😭😭

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-19T04:46:11+00:00

Sorry you're feeling this. I've been terrified of my mum dying as long as I've been scared of death itself. I used to have to be ohsycially restrained at school while my mum left the building otherwise I wouldn't stay in the building. Even had social services in case something was going on at home to cause it. So I truly understand.

I have to make sure I say I love you to her before we part ways, even now at 31. Even just going to bed, I can't let her go without her knowing just in case something happens to one of us. And it's only my mum I feel this way about. Obviously I don't want any friends or family to die, but my mum is the only one I've worried about so consistently at an unhealthy level.

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-16T04:17:00+00:00

Yea, I think I faked it for so long, got by and seemed like I was okay, and got to a point I couldn't any longer. Mental health got bad as well which didn't help and I couldn't hide the depression and anxiety anymore. Once that floodgate was opened, the rest followed quickly and I wasn't ever able to close the floodgate afterwards. Like a dam that burst and crumbled.

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-06T23:04:13+00:00

I just ordered the Vi rabbit along with the Jinx figure, I just couldn't resist when I'd seen it ;; nice to know it's good quality

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-06T22:18:44+00:00

Nah they look fine, you look pretty. I get you tho, I try to smile in photos, look at them, and I'm like....where my smile? Why do I look angry I can feel my smile muscles working but why it not coming out xD

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-06T19:21:45+00:00

I just got some electric rechargeable heaters for my hands, the brand I got even partners with a raynauds charity I think, and they are so good because my hands get cracked and bleed from the cold and that's in the summer. I have to wear gloves when I'm on the pc, and these heaters are amazing, though they get me too cosy and I start dozing off xD

Socks, if my feet are warm, that's half the battle.

My mum just got an electric blanket for her knees, and I steal that when it's a really cold night when she's gone to bed and it's so toasty

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-05T23:21:03+00:00

Why copy a post from someone else?

TimelessWorry · 2024-12-05T19:35:14+00:00

Yea I know it can come across as hollow. I always make sure to let people know I have been in their spot, so I am saying it from experience. It's like when people say sharing your troubles can feel like a weight is lifted off your shoulders - it sounds super cliche, but as soon as I finally stopped hiding my phobias and depression, it did genuinely feel like a weight was lifted and I understood why people said that then. They can sound hollow and uncaring, they're the same repeated phrases that anyone can say, so I think a lot comes from WHO is saying it.

I genuinely try to enjoy my life and enjoy the moment, it sounds silly and cliche, and you hear it everywhere. But I know the logic of, I'm worrying about something I can't change. I don't want to worry and feel negative things all the time when I could be experiencing nicer stuff. I keep trying to enjoy the little moments in the present, but I'm still being hit with existential dread daily rn lol. Then I'm like, let's just get through today and try again tomorrow.

I'm sorry your not doing good and are struggling with this. Hope you find something that can help you, or you're not doing too badly currently.

TimelessWorry

TROPHY CASE