This story kinda begins back a good 3-4 years ago when I was in the middle of high school and was dating this girl, and it went pretty much fine, until I broke up with her. Then after, she began spreading lies about rather unscrupulous things, that can definitely ruin a man’s reputation or even his life. Maybe about a year and a half after I broke things off, I went to confront her about it, which was a terrible decision, as it only made things worse. I was in a terrible place and barely even left my room because I was anxious, having all kinds of what if thoughts. I know I absolutely didn’t do anything wrong or illegal like she claimed, but I had severe anxiety that she’d try to get the cops on me for whatever reason, and the thought of getting in trouble for something I didn’t do was absolutely anxiety inducing and debilitating. Finally one day I opened up to my parents about it and they told me not to worry about it, that people will do things for attention, and that nothing will happen, my dad even told me about something similar that happened to him when he was my age. I brought it up to them after I received a random message from someone saying that one of her friends was considering reporting me because he believed what she was saying, at which point my entire body just seized up and it felt like my fears were going to be realized. Anyways, it’s been about a year since then and my anxiety completely vanished, the entirety of 2021 was fine, even. But recently, I’ve been thinking about it again and it’s just kind of this cycle. I think about it, I worry, I tell myself that it’ll be fine because I didn’t do anything and that it’s just someone spreading lies about me, but then I get those what if thoughts. What if everyone believes her? What if I get in actual trouble for something I didn’t do? I know she’s most likely out there still saying those things, ive since had her and her friends blocked on all socials though. And I just keep worrying about it for no reason. I know logically I’ll probably be fine, but I can’t stop worrying. I haven’t heard absolutely anything from her or anyone she talks to in over a year, but it doesn’t help me feel better much. Does anyone have any advice for me to break these anxious thoughts, because I want this to feel like a distant terrible memory, not something I actively worry about. Thank you.