Paranoia?

[Elizabethkr18]

So i'm putting this question up here because i have recently started dating someone and my reactions to things and my fears seem to be odd to them. I don't really tell a lot of people about these things but its starting to affect my relationship a little bit.

I'm 18 now, but i think it started when i was younger. I've been afraid of the dark, if i'm in a dark room alone i just stay up for hours and panic, i look at the door to the window, i look for movement or noise, after a while i eventually tire my self out and go to sleep. That only occurred every so often. But recently this year mostly It has become a bigger issue. I think i see and hear things at night, they wake me up, but when i wake up and wake up my boyfriend nothing is there. Sometimes i'll just lay in bed for hours so afraid ... of i don't know what. A robber, a murderer, aliens, ghosts, demons? I don't want to make myself seem like i'm crazy but at this point it probably doesn't matter, but all those things i just listed are the things i'm actually afraid of, they are a real fear and danger to me, and i think that one of those things could actually hurt me.
In my head i want to tell myself, be realistic ! none of those bad things are going to come and get you. But at night when i'm alone and its dark i just can't control myself and the fear. The reason i think its paranoia is mostly because i don't want to believe that all those bad things are a possible threat to me. I want to get over them and not be afraid anymore, but that easier said then done.
should i take counseling? mention it to my doctor? anybody else have this problem?

[Xila31]

I went through some similar things as a teen. I couldn't sleep because the aliens were coming. Or there were people spying on me and walking around outside my window. I couldn't sleep. I called the cops multiple times because I heard people walking in the leaves outside my window. I would also lay there and listen for the "spaceship" to land in my backyard so I would be ready for the aliens. (I guess to fight them?) I would sit up with the light on until the sun started to rise, then collapse from exhaustion.

Anyway, all of that has gone away now. I'm almost 31, but the alien thing stopped around 15-16 years old, and the people spying on me thing went on into my 20s. I was sure I had a stalker, but now, in the last year, I'm starting to think it was all just paranoia. :( Because no one was ever caught or seen, even by me.

I would say you should talk to a doctor about this. I wish I had talked to someone about it sooner. I had some other pretty major delusions going on in my 20s and now I wonder how I got through that okay. You're not crazy, though. That is very important. If these things are disrupting your life you could have something going on that there is treatment for, and you will feel better. If your boyfriend isn't willing to help you through an illness, then it is better to find out now. But if he is, then that's good!

And you're not alone. :)

[run4you]

It sounds exactly like what I go through. Exactly. I have to sleep with a light on every night, I turn lights on before I go in the room... because I just *know* something (what? Have no clue... just something bad I guess) is there. I've been diagnosed bp1, paranoid, anxiety -general and panic disorder.

My dr put me on a new med (antipsychotic) and it has helped ease it a little. Enough that I'm not just way out there. I can tell myself it's not real and at least partly believe it now!

Definitely mention it to your doctor. You're not alone... I was nervous to say anything, but my pdoc wasn't even fazed. I thought for sure she'd think I had lost it completely... but she just wanted to help me get over it...

Good luck - I hope your doc finds something that helps you - it's helpful just to calm it a little.