What happens when something we have feared for so long actually happens?

[Jacinta McKie]

If the world was at war, or people I loved died, or I got sick etc I would be devastated, but I am so much more afraid of feeling fearful then I am afraid of feeling sad.
I often have dreams where a terrifying event occurs and I can't do anything to stop it because my body gets paralyzed with fear.
I often contemplate in my mind what I will do when I am faced with an event so terrible that coping will be completely out of the question and the only conclusion I can come up with is suicide. I spend most of my free-time thinking of quick and easy ways to suicide.
Eg: if I'm driving and i get a phonecall that a close loved one has died what will I do if a friend or child is in my car, will I drop them at the side of the road then drive straight into a pole, or would I need to drop by the liquor store and get completely wasted first? I know it's bizarre to think like this but I feel like I need to have a plan in place because when something bad happens to me I know I won't actually be able to cope I will scream and vomit and have a heart attack and collapse and everything in the world I would never ever want to experience those emotions.
What I would like to know I guess is, when something bad happens to someone with anxiety is it as bad as we think it will be or is it fixable?
Eg: if a person with bad anxiety gets diagnosed with a serious illness would they take the news 10000 billion times harder than a person who doesn't have anxiety?

[anxiousmess]

i find that when i'm actually diagnosed with a real illness, i'm fine.
which is strange, because of how much panic and stress has gone into the 'thought' of it, i would expect my reaction to be worse.

i think with anxiety, it's not the illness that scares us. it's the not knowing. i need to know things, and when i know something. i'm cool.

mind you, i haven't been diagnosed with anything terrible...apart from chronic anxiety and the other anxiety related issues.
i think anorexia is the worst thing i've been diagnosed with. i handle that fine, apart from actually being anorexic anyway.

but from what you're saying - making plans incase something happens. again, it's down to not knowing. you need to know, and because you don't - you're making plans instead.


i actually found that i am brilliant in a 'bad' situation. my anxiety vanishes and i'm capable of alot more than i thought!
things i previously feared, no longer exist (in that moment).
so if something serious did happen - i could handle it. whether you are the same or not, i don't know.

[Buttercup]

I am similar to anxiousmess. In situations where something bad actually happens I am very rational, calm and deal with it well. It's the silly things that cause me problems like going to the shops, being too far away from home and so on. I have dealt well with my mother being diagnosed with cancer, having a cancer scare myself and subsequent treatment, reacting in situations where someone else has taken ill or been injured, having to evacuate due to a serious fire. It's quite bizarre that I can rationally deal with these situations but not with everyday life!

[Jacinta McKie]

Yeah I never thought about it like that, it really is all about the not knowing, when I don't know I don't feel in control.
I hope I am like you guys and when something bad strikes I will be able to cope. Thank-you so good to know there are others who think as irrational as I.

[Stuck]

Probably you will be able to cope with whatever things will happen. Human spirit is much stronger than we sometimes think...