First of all, I suppose I should clarify that when I say "fear" I don't mean an outright state of being immobilized with terror, it's more of an anxiety that affects me exclusively if I happen to be alone and home at night.
I am a male in my mid-twenties, and I don't live in a particularly dangerous area. I live in a fairly nice apartment complex and nothing substantially criminal or suspicious happens around here. I consistently lock doors/windows and there's really no threat of somebody breaking into my home (save for literally breaking my double-bolted door down).
In other words, I don't have a reasonable nor rational basis for this fear I have of someone breaking in. I've felt this way for as long as I can remember, in many different living situations/cities/states. When I was younger it was a vague fear of "monsters" or something like that, but of course, as I am not particularly religious, I grew out of that and a much more obviously plausible fear of home invaders set in.
It has always affected the quality of my sleep, and has lead me to all kinds of silly behaviors such as keeping all the lights on at night, perking up at any and all noises (the refrigerator comes to mind) or even just staying awake most of the night.
It seems next to impossible to just mentally talk myself out of it, and I've never had a personal experience of anyone breaking into my home, making it both ridiculous yet negatively influential on my life at times. Thankfully, when I am not alone at night, it's not at all a problem. I live with my girlfriend and used to live with roommates, but whenever I find myself home alone, at night, I'm confronted again and again with this neurosis. It seems so childish and silly; when my girlfriend stays home alone she never has this issue. What can I possibly do to treat this? Does anyone else suffer with the same problem?
TL;DR: When I sleep alone at night, I have an irrational fear that my home could be invaded at any moment, causing me to lose sleep and negatively impact my life in general.
Thanks in advance for anyone willing to give me some advice.
:)
Submitted March 03, 2016 at 09:56AM by public_library_troll http://ift.tt/1p0rOW3 Anxiety
No comments:
Post a Comment