I am Worried about Zombies

Reader’s Question

Hello Dr,

I appreciate your time. Every once in awhile I get this feeling — a real feeling that terrible things are going to happen. The feeling is as if they really are going to happen. I saw this movie “Dawn of the Dead” in which zombies take over the planet and a group of people are turned into zombies; a few months later I was about to go to sleep when I had this feeling that what if zombies did take over — what if the dead could walk, and I had all these real scenarios in my head — it felt so real — and I was scared. I get this feeling every few months. Also, every few weeks when I get out of the shower, I have this overwhelming feeling of guilt. I don’t know where it comes from, and it doesn’t prevent me from showering but it’s just trouble. These feelings of scariness and guilt are real. Should I seek further help and what kind of diagnosis would you give me just by these pieces of information? And recently I have been having dreams that a plane flew into my dorm and me and my friend escaped and were just walking around the disaster. Is this due to my proximity to the world trade disaster? Am I still feeling post-traumatic stress? (I lived close to the Twin Towers).

Personally I think that I have a mild form of OCD and possibly signs of depression, possibly bipolar and anxiety.

Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,
A.A.O.

Our Consulting Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

You’re thinking too much…like some other folks. The brain is always running…thinking about things, especially topics in our memory (recent movies, people we’ve met, news items, etc.). It’s not a good idea to consider every thought we have as a serious thought. The brain entertains itself and processes our experiences with lots of common and bizarre thoughts. When we go on a roadtrip, the brain always imagines the most likely things to occur such as a flat tire, speeding ticket, breakdown, etc. If one of those does indeed occur, we have a sense that we’ve predicted the future — but we haven’t. We’ve just thought logically. Now if we dream something extremely unlikely and it happens, like finding ourselves on an airplane full of zombies who are all playing bingo — then that’s predicting the future!

You mention a dorm…a university student. I cannot offer any diagnosis, but I believe your most likely situation is an anxiety problem. When we’re under lots of stress, our sense of personal security weakens. We become fearful, anxious, worried, hesitant, apprehensive and insecure. We think of weird things and begin taking news items very personally, wondering if that serial killer in Iowa is coming not only to our state, but to our college campus. Anxious folks think worst-possible events all the time. Anxiety also increases your body sensations — tingling, shortness of breath, more aches and pains, etc. We get the feeling we are becoming unhealthy. In short, we have the sense that everything is falling apart around us.

You may have the end-of-school anxieties. If your anxiety level doesn’t calm down over the next few weeks, you might want to consult a mental health professional. If these symptoms are only recently present — say the past few months — this may go away on it’s own, but if it doesn’t, help is available.