Night and fear?

[Dez]

I'll start out by saying that I'm sorry if this makes no sense, I had literally no sleep last night. Also, I'm not sure if this is the right category. Feel free to move it.

Basically, last night I was kept awake by the train tracks malfunctioning. When they quited and I was about to sleep, my carbon monoxide/smoke detector started to beep loudly, saying that the battery was low. This scared the crap out of me, and I was sitting there for a long while after, heart racing, too scared to try to sleep again. I was too afraid that it would make that noise again or that there would be a random fire or carbon monoxide leak just because the detector's battery was dying (I was oddly more afraid of the beep than the actual risk of death xD). So then I decided I had to use the bathroom. The bad thing is that any time I leave my bedroom when everyone's asleep, I get paranoid that someone's going to come out and kill me. I get afraid to even open my bedroom door and walk down the stairs to the bathroom. Every creak or shadow inside my house or bedroom scares me, and I'm always afraid someone's going to come out nowhere and come and get me. I have to rush back from the bathroom, and when I get back, I always hide under my blankets, nervous that someone's going to come up to my bedroom now that I've shown myself.

This happens quite frequently at night, but never during the day when anyone's awake. Could this be a problem of any sort, or is it nothing? I'm tired of always feeling like someone's going to come and get me when I leave my bedroom. xD

[Christine]

If it's causing you as much anxiety as it sounds like it is, it's a problem. It's interfering with your every day (or every night) life, and preventing you from doing things you need to do (like going to the bathroom and sleeping). When I was in elementary school I had similar anxiety attacks whenever my parents would go out and leave me and my siblings with a babysitter - I couldn't logically explain why I felt so afraid, but it affected me horribly regardless. You need to talk to someone about this - would you feel comfortable telling your parents about these fears? While the chances of them actually happening are extremely low, it may help for you to share them so you feel like someone else is looking out for you and is keeping track of things like the carbon monoxide level and locking the doors at night.
In addition to talking to someone you live with, it sounds like you may need to talk to a professional of some sort. Fears that control your behavior are not something you should have to live with and there are many solutions that a therapist or psychiatrist could work with you on.

[Dez]

Originally Posted by Christine

You need to talk to someone about this - would you feel comfortable telling your parents about these fears?
In addition to talking to someone you live with, it sounds like you may need to talk to a professional of some sort. Fears that control your behavior are not something you should have to live with and there are many solutions that a therapist or psychiatrist could work with you on.

Well, that's the thing. I told my mother I get paranoid at night (I didn't tell her to what extent) and she was like, I don't see why you should be, we're right here. She's not really supportive when I say I have some mental difficulty so I gave up. Any time I mention a guidance counselor or something, even, she'll tell me to "not start what I started last year" (Last year she found out I was cutting and apparently the school counselor made it "worse" but she really didn't, and now she thinks I've stopped.). I really would talk to a counselor or something about it if there was no risk of my parents finding out.

Thank you so much for your help though!

[LostInMyStory]

well, i myself have had this paranoid attacks before when my anxiety greatens at night. and really the only way I ever found to treat myself for this to simply talk yourself down off the adrenaline rush you get from being scared. No your mom might not have been that supportive but she still had a point, when your in your house, with all the doors locked. the chances of being killed are beyond minuscule, and all you can do is breathe and talk to yourself, regardless of what scared you, its already behind you. and if you cant quite talk yourself down yet, do something simple. paranoia stems from darkness. Turn on a light, or use a flashlight when your walking down the halls. and dont dare worry about someone thinking your werid, you need sleep. its not their concern. but if it does worsen, please do speak up to your mom to the full extent of whats going on.

[Kate*]

Originally Posted by vividdream

The bad thing is that any time I leave my bedroom when everyone's asleep, I get paranoid that someone's going to come out and kill me. I get afraid to even open my bedroom door and walk down the stairs to the bathroom. Every creak or shadow inside my house or bedroom scares me, and I'm always afraid someone's going to come out nowhere and come and get me. I have to rush back from the bathroom, and when I get back, I always hide under my blankets, nervous that someone's going to come up to my bedroom now that I've shown myself.

This happens quite frequently at night, but never during the day when anyone's awake. Could this be a problem of any sort, or is it nothing? I'm tired of always feeling like someone's going to come and get me when I leave my bedroom. xD

Been there done that, I think to a degree this is normal, but if it's interfering severely with your sleep it might be worth telling someone about. This happened more to me when I was little. I'd take my stuffed Ernie with me and then get scared, run back to my room only to realize that I'd left him and I had to go back out and get him! It happened a few times recently and I started having reccurring dreams where people would break into the house, kill my mom and steal my laptop. Then a few where the people tried to attack me. I don't know what happened, but they stopped (thank God).

[XSilentxGirlX]

I've had this same fear before mine has calmed down a little bit now but its still there i won't leave my room at night even for the bathroom unless I'm desperate. when it was really bad i got a night light (I'm nearly 18) its a push light above my bed and i used to have a torch if i needed to leave my room during the night and I'm still convinced someone is gunna kill me or is waiting for me. I didn't tell my mum but i did tell one of the teachers at my school who knows me extremely well.
but you should try and tell your mum the full extent of it and if that doesn't work then try and find someone else to talk to it might not make disappear completely but it could help with it. Usually when i have trouble sleeping i read or listen to music it helps sometimes.
sorry if this is no help and I'm just rambling