You haven't been messing with ouji boards have you - or farting around with anything occultist? It seems strange that so quickly you would pick up an anxiety. I have read many testimonials that people started messing around with those boards, and the occult only to get anxieties or sickness. I am not making any claims of truth regarding that,
here as you have stated you believe it is all poppycock, I am just asking.
I would say that most of the time, the mind, as you say, can play tricks. I have something called
involuntary thoughts. Random swear words etc....might come into my head and at times, I can't stop thinking about it. When I pray, I might say something vulgar about God - or atleast my mind does. It is completely random, I just hear the words.
I would say you have picked up an anxiety. I am afraid of the dark simply because I can't see what is in it. Like you say, 99.9% of the time there is an explanation.
It's refreshing that you at least concede that people are telling the truth. I know there are a lot of idiot-hoaxers and liars out there of course, but even if it is all natural, it seems unfair to dismiss somebody's account.
I have a few more thoughts about this but I don't yet know how to put them into words that would make sense so hopefully they will get hashed out if this thread takes off.
I think the best thing to do is not place too much emphasis on this fear, remind yourself of the rational thoughts.
When I watch these silly ghost programs on TV, they will hear a little noise in the night and believe it is something supernatural when if you are in a peaceful state, you would usually attribute it to something normal such as a bit of expansion in material.
I'm glad someone struggles to put things into words, most of my thoughts I can't communicate.