7 Things That Happen When You’re Terrified Your Loved Ones Will Die

1. You get nervous when your loved ones ignore their phone calls — or take too long to answer a text. You don’t expect everyone to answer your messages within minutes. But if someone usually responds rather quickly and suddenly goes hours without answering your messages, you worry something is wrong. You worry they’re not answering because they can’t answer. You’re worried something horrible has happened and there’s nothing you can do to help them.

2. You get nervous when you get a strange phone call. You worry the hospital is calling. You worry a police officer is calling. You worry someone you don’t want to hear from is about to change your life completely.

3. You get nervous when your loved ones are sick. It doesn’t matter if they’ve only started complaining about a headache during the last few days. As soon as someone you love tells you they haven’t been feeling well, you urge them to visit a doctor. You want to make sure they get checked out, just in case something is wrong. You would rather be safe than sorry.

4. You get nervous whenever you pass a car wreck. Whenever you pass by the scene of an accident, it makes you sick to your stomach. You immediately check out the cars that were involved in order to make sure no one you know drives something similar.

5. You get nervous when people travel. You might be scared of flying on airplanes — but you’re just as nervous when someone you love is flying. Especially if the weather isn’t the greatest. When your loved one has a flight, you make sure they text you the second they’re back on the ground. You want to know that they made it from point A to point B in one piece. You want to know they’re okay.

6. You get nervous when someone tells you some bad news. Whenever someone is getting ready to break bad news to you, you jump to the worst case scenario. You worry someone you love is in the hospital or has passed away without you knowing. You worry your world is about to come crumbling down around you.

7. You get nervous when your loved ones show up late. You don’t get annoyed when someone shows up to your house or a dinner date late. You get nervous. You worry something happened to them on the way out the door or on the highway or the street leading up to their destination.

It’s even worse if you can hear fire engines in the background or overhear a radio announcement about an accident in your town. You want to call them to make sure they’re okay — but at the same time you’re worried about calling them and distracting them while they’re on the road. It’s a lose-lose scenario.

You know it’s probably irrational to be so scared of every little thing — but you can’t help yourself. You love your family and friends too much. The thought of something happening to them is too much to handle.