Please someone help me please

[sarah1493]

hello, ive been looking for somewhere to look foradvice with the anxiety i have and this website came up. i dont know if my post is typical, r not, so i am sorry if i offend anyone in any way, im just in desperate neeed of advice, guidance, help in some way to deal withthis anxiety, someone to tell me its going to be ok, that im normal. anyways heres my story... a few months ago, my stepfather exposed himself to me out of nowhere, i was scared and traumatized, i immediately moved out of my parents house and in with a close family friend, noone knows about this except for my mother, and she seems to have taken his side saying im overreacting, I've been trying to get over it, but it keeps creeping up onto the back of my mind, am i overreacting? is it my fault? should i ave prevented it? i have had anxiety since i was 13, im now 19, and i have been having more panic attacks about the stupidest things it seems, but im starting to worry that these worries will effect my life. the final straw for me that compelled me to write this and seek advice on what to do, happened a few days ago, i was talking with a friend about my current boyfriend, who ive been seeing for 3 years, who has also been away at boot-camp the past two months. and she brought up the old wivws tal about how you end up with someone like your father, and after that my anxiety kicked in, i know the man i love is nohing like my father, but evry now and then ill start thinking, what if they loook alike? what if they are just like eachother? what f im scared of him when i see him?, i hate myself for thinking these things, ive been having anxiety about my stepfather, but now i just want to know am i normal, am i crazy, i havent told anyone about these fears becuse im afraid of being looked at as crazy. but i needed someone to talk to. some sort of advice on how to deal with my anxiety. sorry this is so long.

[xxcraigiexx]

I recommend that you go and talk to someone as soon as possible. It's never good to have all of this anxiety slowly building inside you. I am sorry for what you have been through and in no way was any of it your fault. Your stepdad seems to be a sick man and you should never blame yourself. Stay strong :)

[JustAnotherAttack]

Its really sad that your mother takes his side and pretends nothing is wrong. Its especially sad that she says you're overreacting.

You are normal. When something like that happens it takes a bit to recover and calm down. You need to talk to someone about it and see what they have to say.
As far as the anxiety...you're in the right place. This forum will help you quite a bit. :)

[alankay]

First off how could you "prevent" anything like that? It's not your fault and no wonder why you're feeling anxious.
The anxiety is the issue not if seeing your BF, etc. You know who he is and that's that.
That's an old wives tale on BF and husbands being like your father. Forget that crap.
That's how anxiety can work(these fears). View it as a "release" of psychic stress or conflict.
I think this might have damaged your relationship with your Mom(who seems to be in denial) or you fear so or question it. That's just a guess though and the best to help sort it out is a therapist. Once you see what exactly is triggering this anxiety often there is relief. These fears are part of how anxiety manifests itself. Your mind will take up on a given fear/queue or idea and run with it. Your exact anxiety doesn't always mean much. Don't get caught up taking the exact fear seriously. Find the source and real concern and address it/them.
View anxiety like the flames of a fire of sorts. The way it burns and the way the flame moves means nothing, find out what's combusting(the real issue) to see if you can address it to relieve your anxiety. I can't say this is unusual. That would shake allot folks up. PM me any time. Alankay

[sarah1493]

Thanks for the replays, honestly it really helps just talking about this even if its with complete strangers knowing I'm not crazy helps, I have thought about trying to speak to a therapist/psychiatrist but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that but any other advice you guys have on this would be extremely helpfull, I know this might sound odd but talking to strangers is something I didn't think I would find comforting but it really does help compared to talking to friends which sounds bad, but just doing that first post lifted part of the weight off my shoulders, and I hope to get through this.