For as long as I can remember I've been afraid of being kidnapped and murdered, but lately my fear is getting worse and interfering with my life more and more. I stay up late each night listening intently for footsteps or sounds of breaking and entering, until I become exhausted and fall asleep. If I'm alone that night I usually take a kind of weapon to bed with me, like a knife or a hammer. If I hear anything suspicious, I have to get up to investigate, which usually involves checking closets, looking under things, peering out the windows, checking that locks are all locked, and then returning to bed to listen for about an hour. I even act this way throughout the day when I'm here by myself. I have a few escape plans in the event something happens, and I run through them daily. But sometimes I think about what it would be like if I couldn't escape...if I was kidnapped and hidden away in someone's basement where I'm tortured and forced to have sex, terrified and miserable until I finally die of one thing or another. When I dwell on this thought, I cry and sometimes have a panic attack.

Does anyone else get this paranoid about this kind of stuff? Any advice?