JJA2018

Hello all,

My drinking has been an issue for about 15 years or so, pretty much as soon as I became legal to drink and got out of college. I've currently been free of alcohol for a little over 100 days. I also had stopped smoking cigarettes back in January, so there's a lot of life changes I've made to be proud of. One thing that I didn't really expect was the amount of anxiety I've been feeling. If anything, it has been getting worse. I guess my crutches are gone, haha.

At first I chalked it up to a side-effect of withdrawal. When it didn't pass after a bit, I thought that maybe it was part of the PAWS thing I was reading about. Now I'm realizing that anxiety has always been an issue for me and the root of my drinking problem. Alcohol abuse had been my way of self-medicating.

I seem to be receptive to reading materials. Does anyone have a recommended book, or maybe a technique like breathing or meditation, etc.? I don't think I could go to something like an AA meeting and try to public speak about how afraid I am around people, lol.

Anyway, hello everyone! I've been lurking a while and wanted to say I appreciate the stories and experiences that have been shared on this forum.

Zanna

Hi Exercise and more exercise - when I was a nursing student and long before I drank anything much, we would all swim a lot - it seemed to be the recommended advice back then. We did and it worked after a stressful day.
Also, there is a free app called 'FLOWY' that you can downloadto your smartphone or laptop too, now I think - it takes you through breathing exercises for stressful moments.
Hope this helps and welcome

Meraviglioso

Hi there and welcome! Major congratulations on your sober time, that is quite an accomplishment. That is really insightful of you to be able to pinpoint your anxiety as a root of many of your problems, good for you for taking the time to self-evaluate and bring that to light.

I suffer from intense anxiety a lot of the time. Mine is not so much social-anxiety but more of a self-hatred type of performance anxiety. But I think they are all kind of linked.

I have found deep breathing to be really helpful. This works best for me if I can lie down, but that is not always possible. I still try to focus on my breathing even when I can't lie down. I say the serenity prayer over and over in my head in almost a meditative like way. I also depend on intense amounts of exercise to make life more manageable. I require a lot of physical activity to really reach my best mental state, but on days I can't do that even just a walk goes a long way to helping calm my mind.

Guener

Hello, and congratulations on your 100+ days of abstinence!

I have had lifelong problems with anxiety as well. Alcohol helped me to set aside my anxious feelings because it alters the way that we perceive things and suppresses our inhibitions, making us feel more comfortable in environments that would otherwise distress us. Obviously, it doesn't help with chronic forms of stress or anxiety and can contribute to either greatly.

There are ways that you can help yourself to manage your stress response and the anxiety that results, and, for myself, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques work alongside other things that keep me pretty much level headed. There are books out there about CBT out there, as well as other forms of psychological approaches to treatment.

* Our physical well being influences how we respond to stress, so having a healthy diet, exercising, and getting enough sleep (for you) go far in helping to prevent anxiety from stress or other stimuli. Don't ignore these things.

* Thought stopping when I feel anxious (or if I am battling my AV) is a good way to challenge negative thoughts. I acknowledge that what I am feeling and try to set it aside until a later time when I may be more calm.

* Working with stopping negative thoughts is challenging them as realistic or not. I ask myself if I'm seeing things as they really are or am I internalizing something that may not be true about the situation? I have found in many instances that what I'm experiencing is at least partly falsely based upon my mind's receiving it's internal information as reality vs. what the facts tell.

* I have to avoid "catastrophizing" a situation into the worst possible outcome. For example, if something bad happens at work, I might find myself concluding that I'm going to be in trouble or get fired for it. I try to recognize when I am projecting things into the future in this way and re-evaluate. Are my expectations for the case appropriate?

* Coming back to the physical part, yes, breathing slowly and deeply does help to calm me down so that I can do the things I've outlined here. And exercise is a great recovery form for resetting one's mind after a stressful situation before trying to dissect it. Meditation doesn't work well for me, as I have not practiced it enough to get past the racing thoughts, but for others it does wonderful things. Doing something in a mindful way, like yoga, is an excellent way to come down to a base reality.

Finally, some people, like myself, respond well to individual therapy. Others require some form of medical assistance to treat how their bodies process stress responses, often alongside some talk or group therapy. Don't shy away from seeking professional aid. Seeing your doctor may be a good way to start and can be anxiety relieving in itself.

I am sure that others here can add a lot to what I have mentioned. Anxiety, like alcohol recovery, is very personal, and what works for me may be more or less effective for you. Quitting the booze and dealing with my own anxiety has been both challenging and very rewarding.

EDIT: See also the following SR thread:

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...ety-years.html (Anxiety for years?)

Anna

Some good books:

Amen, Daniel Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
Bassett, Lucinda From Panic to Power
Burns, David MD When Panic Attacks
Chodron, Pema The Places that Scare You
Doidge, Norman MD The Brain that Changes Itself
Dyer, Wayne Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life
Orsilla, Ken Mindful Way Through Anxiety

FlawedNFntastic

I just wanted to add my two cents that I'm in the boat too. I used alcohol very unsuccessfully to self medicate. When I got sober, I had a blissful eight months where I was so focused on my physical recovery that I'd kind of put my anxiety (grand social anxiety with a twist of seasonal affective disorder) on the back burner.

Fast forward to nine months and I was considering hospitalization for my anxiety. I was freaking out about EVERYTHING, muttering to myself, having trouble sleeping, absolutely convinced every worst case scenario was going to happen every second of the day.

Because I had very recently gotten fired and started a new job, I had zero time to get to my doctor. Walks and exercise became my new best friend. If I was having a crap day, I'd have to walk or swim or go to the gym. I ate a crapload of ice cream. I read. I lurked on here incessantly some days (for me, it is incredibly helpful just to know that other people have dealt with and are getting through the same things). I tried to be kind to myself.

I was also frank with my loved ones. "I'm having a hard time with my anxiety lately, so this is what I need..." It got me through a crap month, and the anxiety eased up.

I'll ditto what others have said and say if you feel you need it, go to your doctor. Listen to your true inner voice and try to be kind to yourself.

Congratulations on your sober time!