Obsessing over fears, is there a fine line? Anxiety VS something else.

[acegoodie]

Obviously strong belief that the FBI is spying on you and wants to harm you is a completely unreasonable fear. I'm sure this belief would label you insane.

Now what about obsessively fearing being at home because you think possibly somebody can break in and rob you? You know that it is unlikely to happen, but certainly could. Fairly reasonable to be anxious over this, no? Your natural instincts are trying to keep you safe. It is the way our ancestors evolved fight or flight, would you all agree or disagree?

It seems subjective what fears are considered reasonable or unreasonable for these two obsessive fears.

Your average person should not be fearing the FBI. Now a computer hacker may have a valid reason for fearing the FBI.

It seems reasonable to fear a break in because it certainly could happen. If you fear a break in obsessivly then what is it considered, anxiety?



Just some fuel for discussion.

These are hypothetical scenarios I was thinking about today. Would like to dicuss them with anyone who has an opinion about it. I'm still learning a lot about anxiety.

[dazza]

As you say - this is a subjective subject. It's not so black and white.

I reckon the line is crossed when there is no evidence to suggest that what you fear is likely to happen, yet you still fear it to a level which has a significant, negative impact on you.

The most subjective part is the "evidence".
How much evidence is required will vary from one person to another.
External influences, personal circumstance / experiences may also play a part.

Taking your example of a break-in...

We know break-ins do occur, therefore they are fact and not fiction.

But, looking at the facts:

Location is a factor. E.g. some areas are worse for crime than others.
Some areas are so bad that a break-in is highly likely, therefore fear of such is justified.
Other areas are virtually crime free, where they may have only been 1 recorded break-in in the past five years down a particular street, where fearing a break-in would be considered unreasonable.
However, you also need to take personal experience / circumstance on board. If a person happens to have a house full of expensive items then fearing a break-in could be a little more justified.
This person may also know several other persons who have had break-ins which will influence their fear somewhat.

Then there's preventative action, like fitting an alarm to the house.
Having fitted an alarm, one would expect the fear of a break-in to lower, but then the person may not trust the alarm.

So many variables and things to take into account before making a conclusion.