The Anxiety Thread

fr33sia12 wrote: »

JMed29 wrote: »

Caco dont let it get to you

If it were that easy there'd be no anxiety. That's the whole thing with anxiety it does "get to you"
I hate when people say "don't let it get to you" "pull yourself together" "man up"

Just stop being anxious.

fr33sia12 wrote: »

JMed29 wrote: »

Caco dont let it get to you

If it were that easy there'd be no anxiety. That's the whole thing with anxiety it does "get to you"
I hate when people say "don't let it get to you" "pull yourself together" "man up"

So it might be wrong to suggest for you to simply "Buck The *kitten* Up." ?

.... what if it's best best available advice?

Motorsheen wrote: »

You are the worst and somehow also the best.

CoffeeAndContour wrote: »

Motorsheen wrote: »

I’ve watched a lot of this kids “work” on ig. I hope he enjoys every moment because this will be how he dies. Pure stupidity.

just think of it as saving Social Security one moron at a time....

Pastaprincess1978 wrote: »

PAFC84 wrote: »

I've learnt to view my anxiety as just thoughts; when I'm calm I can let them go and not engage with them. Unfortunately, if I don't train I have a lot of excess adrenaline in my body, this makes it A LOT harder to not engage with the thoughts as the adrenaline tricks my mind into reacting to the "threat"; typically your body only produces adrenaline in response to an actual real life situation so the mind assumes that the anxious thoughts must be reality.

Anywoo, I'm having to use mindfulness and trying not to react to triggers, to try to re-wire myself. In August, it will be two years since I was able to consistently train; at present I have an overly tight glute which is limiting my ability to exercise to the required intensity as the muscles in my glute and around my sij tighten up causing pain.

Still, I'm just doing my stretching and gradually making progress so hopefully I'll be back training before the end of the year. Till then I will just try to do things that scare me, practice my relaxtiob techniques and try to remain as calm as I can.

Sounds like you have some great strategies @PAFC84 could you share any with me? I am trying to do the same thing!

@Pastaprincess1978 I will try and share and hopefully nothing I say will sound patronising.

I'd try to educate yourself on anxiety. People with anxiety disorders have an anxious reaction to things which are non-threatening. The mind fails to realise the difference between an actual dangerous situation (someone wielding a knife) and presumed danger- driving a car, asking for directions, going out in public etc. They experience the same fight or flight reaction in both situations. As a result, the person can often fail to recognise that the danger isn't real. Read up on the symptoms of anxiety, the way it alters your thinking, perception, release of hormones etc. All of this helps to understand why you feel and think the way you do and can then be used to challenge your thoughts or adopt different behaviours.

Mindfulness-being in the moment. This helps to focus the mind on reality, not interpretations or thoughts. You can download free mindfulness or meditation apps. I've got the "insight timer" app. It has free guided meditations, meditations set to music, or silent meditations. I like to concentrate on the breath-and re-focusing the mind every time it strays which some days is constantly. Your breathing should happen subconsciously so don't force it, unless the meditation tells you to take a deep breath.

Exercise- I use this to help burn off adrenaline which allows me to be a lot calmer and realise that the thoughts aren't real, they are just the product of my anxious mind. It also releases feel good endorphines which can give you a more positive outlook. If you don't like running or lifting weights and are more a fan of long walks, it may not be as good at burning off adrenaline, but it can help remind you of the world outside of you. Try somewhere scenic if you can or with nature.

Try to practice acceptance (this sounds basix but can actually be very hard). Anxiety is often about control or a fear of losing control. It's important to realise that we can't control other people; their thoughts, their words or their actions. This can be tough to accept. Nor can we control outside events. All we can control is how we chose to react to them and people, through our words and actions.

Note that I've purposefully excluded thoughts here. Your anxious thoughts may
encourage you to react aggressively for example but you can chose not to and these choices can help to re-wire your thoughts. You shouldn't try to stop your thoughts or control them, just accept that you are having thoughts.

Acceptance doesn't mean being happy about it-if someone is verbally abusing you, you can accept that they are making a choice but that doesn't mean that you have to sit through it in silence. You can ask them to stop, calmly leave etc. If you engage in arguing this will likely teach your mind that their views are accurate and that you need to react to, attack or seek to control anything that you don't like. The more you fight losing battles I.e trying to control things that you can't control, the more you will reinforce these habits and beliefs.

Try not to let your fears stop you from living the life you want to live. Consider CBT, working with an anxiety coach and/or medication, if needed. Be aware that medication only addresses the symptoms and IMO, is more effective when coupled with other strategies.

I'm not a qualified medical professional so these are my opinions.

Also note that these strategies are long term strategies and this is most likely something that will need constant work.