hpdw

As of late i have been spiraling downwards with anxiety symptoms , panic attacks in supermarket or even during sleep . I sat myself down and had a good think about why this has happened after a good spell of near normal mental health and the answers came to me one by one . Bearing in mind I have had an extensive health check and blood work done recently .
Old me used to worry about everything and anything and this worrying apprehensive behaviour always without exception results in a load of bodily symptoms such as tingling , nausea , dizziness . The present me without knowing it has been worrying incessantly about certain family members health situations and also about my eldest sons relation to alcohol . All this worrying takes its toll so I have decided to practice what I preach by way of the serenity prayer . I need to " get out of my head" and "keep it simple " .

I am a long term member of a good anxiety forum which I don,t frequent much these days but today I did pop in and read some old posts( 2007) and voila I found a post that is almost to the letter what I would have wrote today with regards to how I feel . Doing this has made me realise just how much we perpetuate our anxiety by wrong thinking . I mean you would think that after reading all the material I have read I would have been cured .
Worry Its a bad habit that keeps us in a state of fear which triggers the stress response and the more we worry the worse we feel .

Thanks for reading

Delilah1

I am and have always been a worrier as well. I have been working on mindfulness this year to help me with this. I try to stay focused in the present. I cannot change what has happened in the past, only learn from it. Also, I try not to worry about the "what ifs.." which I spent. Great deal of time worrying about in the past. I have been asking myself "What is the worst thing that can happen?" And it helps to put things back into perspective.

I would like to say I am no longer a worrier, and no longer deal with anxiety, I definitely ati deal with both. I have just been working hard on developing strategies to deal with both.

hpdw

As an addition to my post I want to add ,and this is why I need to be on top of this . When I left Tesco yesterday I was in the midst of a panic attack ,drove home got my wife to put the groceries away and sat in my favourite chair for the rest of the afternoon thinking that "just 2 or 3 drinks would calm me " . I didn't drink and the sensations subsided eventually but I felt exhausted and " worried" about me thinking about alcohol .

Bird615

I didn't realize that I could control my thoughts, that I didn't have to let them drag me helplessly along with them like a big uncontrollable dog on a leash. I didn't think to question them or even know that I didn't have to pay attention to them.

It took some learning about how to do that and a lot of practice, but today my worries are minuscule compared to the constant racing mind and anxiety/panic I used to live with. Getting out of my head/mindfulness are among some of the techniques I use.

There's lots of reading out there on how be free of anxiety and worry. Byron Katie, Eckhart Tolle, Wayne Dyer and John C Parkin are just a few of the many authors that helped me with this.

MeSoSober

Lots of online resources for learning meditation if you Google "learn to meditate."

hpdw

Thanks Madbird , read a most of Wayne Dyer and Eckart Tolle ,will check out the others . In our fast paced world its not so easy to do although I have had some of those special God like moments when all seems so perfect ( only lasted a few seconds ) wish I could hang on to it .

Thanks to you all above

Anna

A positive attitude can be very helpful in lessening anxiety. And, accepting that we cannot control much of what happens in our lives is also helpful. We can control our reaction to things, but that's about it. I find saying the Serenity Prayer multiple times a day is very helpful, too.

Bulgakova

Thomas, I don't know about you, but booze fuels my anxiety like crazy. Not right at the moment, the first few drinks would be great, but then I'd get hammered and all pity-pit about things. Like pathetic Eeyore style pity pit. Or angry....

Then came the hangover... oh man.... hangovers give me so much anxiety. Sometimes I think I would find something to worry about just to get my mind in sink with my stressed out body.

Anyway, to come back to you-- do you exercise at all? I find it does help with mental clarity, and spending some of that strung out energy on something else then worrying.

I came to this conclusion once... I'm like a Border Collie. Ever seen pet owners with a Border Colllie that doesn't get enough exercise or has no "job"? Then you compare with say, a farm Border Collie. The difference is amazing. Some dogs really aren't meant to be kept inside. Maybe anxious people are the same.

Just a thought

Upstairs

Well said Bulgakova! Regular exercise does seem to have a calming effect. It works on my dog and it works on me. Also, I never had any serious anxiety problems until my drinking was really getting out of hand. And once I went sober, anxiety became a thing of the past for me. I still feel stress like anyone else, but it never leads to anxiety attacks anymore. Hope that helps!

hpdw

Thanks Anna for your helpful insight .

Bulgakova Your analogy is well put , I have actually started some walking round the village first thing in the morning on my days off so maybe I need to do this 4 or 5 times a day . I start my gym program 31st Oct ( got myself some new sportswear for this and believe me I'm not a pretty sight . ) . Ive read before that burning off all that pent up nervous anxious energy by some form of exercise or activity is very beneficial .

entropy1964

Hey Thomas

My alcoholism is an obsession of the mind, for sure. But my mental obsessing doesn't stop there.....I obsess over everything...especially the stuff I can't control. And then my anxiety goes crazy. I am trying to learn to pray to my higher power to just remove my anxiety and to guide me. And I'll tell you, I thought I'd never say this, let alone believe it. But it is helping me.

And if I can't let it go? I can let it be.

ZenLifter

I have had panic/anxiety attacks scattered throughout my adult life. Mental habits can be especially hard to break. Something I've been trying lately is, whenever I feel a negative emotion I say to myself, "welcome anxiety (or anger, worry, whatever the case may be), I know you well, come on in!" It seems to help, rather than resisting and struggling. It sounds silly, but for me it works.

Bulgakova

LMAO I'm for sure not a pretty sight at the gym!! I go for mental health, so I do giver' pretty hard... which means a back full of sweat, wet hair, and breathing you can hear across the room. Once in a while I'll find myself next someone with their hair done and make-up on, and I laugh at my sheer beastliness

I use to run off my hang-overs... after a joint :/ Now I get to do it just 'cause. I like it a lot-- happy you've joined a gym too, and hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do. Funny but I have what I call "silent gym partners"-- these other people there, perhaps training, perhaps in rehab for injuries, that you do not know or talk to, but that work away at whatever it is they are working at, while I do the same. I somehow enjoy that shared, yet non-communicated, experience. For some reason it gets me focused.

Anyways, have fun on those extra walks! Neighbourhoods are full of fun things to watch

hpdw

Zen , the self talk you describe isn't silly ,Claire Weeks explains this brilliantly ,accepting ,floating letting time pass . She goes on to say its fear of fear ( second fear) that keeps the anxiety alive in her book pass through panic which I also have an audio off . Heres the thing with me which is rather silly , I have read many books and been involved in various techniques and methods so why do I still have anxiety issues ? I obviously don't apply / commit enough . Reading the material is no good if you don,t do as they tell you .

Bird615

I couldn't even describe how it all worked for me. Sure I read these books, but I didn't necessarily do something like take one of them and do all the suggested steps. I think it was just exposing myself to this different way of looking at things and very slowly and gradually incorporating various ideas/techniques into my life. Those things that I actually did do that helped a lot were practicing the 12 Steps and developing a spiritual outlook on life; something that helps me make sense of my existence.

I did find for myself along the way that exercise and even watching what I ate did a lot to alleviate depression.

Long talks with my sister also helped a lot, as we are both on our own self-discovering and spiritual journeys. We bounce things off each other and help catch each other when one of us wandered off the path into old and negative behaviour. I can still get into worry and anxiety or self-pity or resentment but now those are signs I've gotten off track.

All I can say is that the difference for me now is like night and day. But then again, maybe it was menopause that did it for me because I'm no longer on that rollercoaster ride of hormones, haha! I feel like I was shooting the rapids all my life and now I'm in a clear and calm pool of tranquil water.

ZenLifter

Yeah, reading about this kind of stuff is one thing, remembering to apply it in the midst of full blown anxiety is another, for sure. I'm getting better about it. Of course sometimes I have to do this a hundred times a day. I guess some of us are just more anxious, worried, etc than others. Maybe expecting it to not be this way only adds to it.

tufty13

I love that, and it pretty well sums up the challenge we all face in every moment. Moment by moment.