I hate being superstitious

[Adamj]

superstitious idk if that’s what I even want to call it. But like it’s so annoying that I’ve been feeling somewhat calm the last couple days well I do have moments of weird things still. But like I definitely feel somewhat calm compared to before and it freaks me out because like does this mean something bad is going to happen. I’ve been like this since I was younger If I noticed I was hearing a group on the radio too often I’d freak out and think it meant I was gonna die or if I was anxious thinking about something and seen an ambulance drive by I thought omg it was meaning something was going to happen to me. Oh and the song only the good die young by billy Joel if I heard that play I was like omg ima die right now. Like does anyone else have this issue? But like if I see a crow or black cat I’m like oh crap cool I love them.

[Hidden]

Somwtimes you shouldn’t read so much into stuff. You can give yourself an anxiety attack. I’m into learning what repeating numbers mean like 1111, 444, things like that. But things can all be interpreted different ways.

[Adamj in reply to Hidden]

yeah true just frustrating I’m like this most people would be like oh I’m having a good day that’s great! Not me sadly

[Starrlight]

I wonder if ocd is within the same realm as superstition

[Adamj in reply to Starrlight]

I wonder too

[b1b1b1]

Talk to your therapist about your superstitions. A lot of people don't like walking under ladders or the number 13, but you have too many superstitions. With that large a number you are almost guaranteeing that you will encounter one of your superstitions and get upset. I think be less involved with them by working on it in therapy.

[fromzerotopanic]

Totally understand! I often add meaning to random things then freak out about it. If Im driving down the road, and suddenly notice a billboard with something medical, for example, I think that's the universe trying to tell me that this will happen to me. So then I will try to notice other billboards just to prove to myself that I notice other billboards!! Ive had this explained several ways. One, it's like magical thinking. Just because we think it, doesn't make it true. Ways to challenge it are, things like, "Oh I just heard that song for the 6th time today! That must mean Im about to come into some money!" If you change it to something good happening, it's still not going to happen, because we can't control things with our minds. Over times, our minds have developed this lovely habit of trying to freak us out! It knows exactly what buttons to push that will send us off the deep end so to speak! I like to think of this as two siblings (myself and my mind). You know how when one sibling is constantly pestering/tormenting the other (and they know what buttons to push!), your Mom would tell you to just ignore him/her, they're just trying to get a rise out of you! I think it's the same thing with me and my mind. It knows what I'm afraid of, so it sits back and is constantly searching for that very thing out in the world (a song, a billboard, an article in a newspaper). So that way, when we 'see it', we think it's the world telling us something, when in fact its our mind just trying to scare us!! I do have OCD, and this is a component of it. It's obsessing about something (the item we fear for example), then a compulsion would be what you do to try to counter the thought. Best thing to do (though not easy!), for example, the next time you hear that song, don't change the channel. Just sit with the song, let it play out. If your mind tells you something scary that will happen, just tell your mind something like 'yeah, nice try' or 'well that was a weird thought' then just let the thoughts come and go, but don't react to them. Eventually you'll see that nothing happens, and the fear will fade. It's not easy, but continue to try. Another thing I try to do is, I image a friend coming to me and telling me the same thing (Im afraid if I hear a song, it means something bad is going to happen to me". Think of what you'd think if someone else told you that. Sometimes, if we hear it from someone else, we're able to see there is no logic in the thought process. But when it's our own thoughts, it's like the logical side can't see the obsessive side!

[Dolphin14]

I used to experience this quite a bit. Always waiting for the next bomb to go off. I was so used to being so anxious and worrying that I thought it was a set up for something bad coming.

Someone mentioned walking under a ladder. I remember zoning in on that one. Black cat same thing. I love cats but a black one running across the street in front of me would make me think for a couple days... this is not good. Poor cat

Breaking a mirror. I've never done it but I am still very aware of that one. I have a mirror I need to throw out. How do you throw out a mirror without breaking glass haha.... seems silly to write. But I'm leaving it there

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