Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group

Find support with others who have gone through a traumatic experience. Whether you have chronic or acute PTSD, we are here for you.

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Anxiety Disorders
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followed......

valgal18
valgal18
anyone else here been in a situation when they feel like they're being followed??? mostly in a car??? every day i feel like i'm being followed....i look behind me adn there's a car that seems ot make the same turns and if it's a silver car i think it's M and i start freaking out.....i'm on the verge of going to the police station and filing reports.....how do i know if someone is following me and how do i get my PTSD to stop controllig my driving???
mayday101
mayday101
I can get all kinds of crazy thoughts like this when I am anxious and find it really hard to figure out what is a serious threat and what is my imagination, if I get really worried, I would ask someone for advice, either a close friend or a relative.

If its different cars and different people then I imagine its nothing to worry about if it is the same car/person then maybe you have a problem but I don't know what your situation is to really say
deleted_user
deleted_user
I almost did not answer this cause yeah i have and i got car jacked at gun point................BUT, it doesn't mean that those anxious feelings are always true....Is there something in your life bothering you?? something else that maybe in the back of your head?

You maybe tranfering your anxiety from one thing to another.... and noone is following you.However be very aware of your surroundings, take different routes before yo get off you car look around you............
But probably is just PTSD and anxiety i sometimes feel something similar but its just anxiety.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Yes, I did have people following me and the police were able to make it stop. I still get concerned about certain drivers/cars. I looked up on the web how to determine if someone is following and every now and then I get those feelings/thoughts. If my PTSD is triggered, then I try to calm down and decide what I want to do about it. I try to give myself as many options as I can and then pick the most comfortable. ususally I come up with 1. distract myself with other thoughts and ignore it. 2. address it by driving out of my way to show that it isn't a threat. 3. If I have the time and energy, which I ususally don't chose to spend any more, but it helped me work out of it by using my cell phone to give myself a message with a descripton of the car, plates, driver, and circumstances. 5. report it. Which I don't do unless I have #4 done, and that hasn't happened in years. I think that if you can't do #1, then do some action that honors your concern so that you aren't neglecting yourself, but you thwart the paralysis that the fear brings on. You are also taking responsibility for your thoughts and that is empowering. You can't be "right" all the time, but you can be respectful of yourself.