success stories from people who suffer with anxiety

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  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
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    I too struggle with anxiety which leads to depression. I take have taken medications for almost 20 years and I have had several periods where I saw a therapist regularly. I can't overstate how important a good nights sleep is in coping with anxiety. If you are not sleeping well due to medication side effects or possible sleep apnea, get that treated. Walking has worked for me very well. It helps in the day to clear my head and give me time alone with my thoughts. It helps at night because I am tired and sleep better.
  • kyrannosaurus
    kyrannosaurus Posts: 350 Member
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    I have anxiety and exercise has been very beneficial. I started walking and then decided I wanted to go back to the gym. I was very anxious about it so I emailed the gym (because I was too anxious to even call) and told them I wanted to start coming in but I was anxious about it and needed them to help me with the transition to getting back into it. They were very encouraging and worked out a time for me to come in and meet a trainer. I have been off all my meds since March and exercise has pretty much kept me sane.
  • BriTyler3
    BriTyler3 Posts: 110 Member
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    dm1372 wrote: »
    When you exercise your body releases endorphins. Endorphins are great for lots of reasons but the main one we think of is that it lifts your mood. Exercise scientifically makes you happier! It helps with my depression immensely.


    This.
  • LastingChanges
    LastingChanges Posts: 390 Member
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    Exercise helps me clear my mind and I think the hormones released during exercise result in me feeling happy. If I was worrying about anything or stressing out I feel much better after. I find that the exercise needs to be effortful. Something difficult for my level makes me concentrate on that and forget everything else. Also quitting caffeine is helpful with anxiety .
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,390 Member
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    last_jennifer wrote: »
    Today is Mental Health World Day, and I want to thank everyone who posted. I live with too much anxiety on a daily basis. I am so happy to see people posting and talking about it.

    Such a positive thought, and I completely agree. It's great to see people open up, and doing so reduces the stigma of the attachments people make to mental health issues. They are a great deal more common than we think, but have been hidden for so long that people just ignored the issue.



    I went through a period of stress induced anxiety, depression, and PTSD related anti social behavior. It was a toxic soup made in hell. I was stressed about being stressed, anxious about being anxious, and angry about being angry. I went to a number of outpatient type groups and learned a great number of things to help pull me out of it, one of them being proper diet and exercise.

    And most important for anyone... do what works for you. Seek resources, understand what you are dealing with, and if needed reach out to get assistance in getting professional help if you need it. This can be a difficult task, and having someone by your side makes it much easier.

    For me personally, proper diet and exercise was a great factor in my recovery process. In my case I tended to get out and bike when possible as it was a "best fit" type exercise for what I was dealing with. I got my exercise, got outdoors, and was moving quick enough to avoid most unwanted human contact. One of the common PTSD issues is being in a hyper vigilant state, potentially perceiving just about anything as a threat. On the bike I could blow past people, not go into that mind set, and reduce any possibility directing any anger at anyone who didn't deserve it.

    And also for me, being in group environments was very helpful. When you are with a group that at least somewhat understands you situation it makes it easier to vent and share ideas about what works and such. I really still don't quite understand why, but for me it was also very therapeutic to help others even when I was at rock bottom. I guess it was just some assurance that my inner nature still existed somewhere in there, and helped me reconnect with it.



    And a sincere offer to anyone reading this thread. If you ever find yourself reaching crisis mode and don't know what to do, seek immediate help. Have numbers for local to you crisis lines, police, or any other appropriate resource. I wasn't aware of this until I went through my issues, but there are quite a few first responder types with specialty training in these situations. If you can't do it yourself send me a message and I'd gladly help anyone through it if I know about it. There are just too many people who struggle to reach out for the help they need, and nobody should feel that isolated.

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