At a loss...

[pretzelnuggets24]

Hi everyone -

I am really looking for help and any insight is appreciated. I'll spare you the details, but in 2009 I started experience anxiety-related symptoms - very tired, nightmares, fatigued, lack of sleep, loss of libido. After visiting several doctors thinking I had an illness, I am starting to accept that I have anxiety. However, I feel like my anxiety is different from others in that while I don't get anxious over certain situations, I have been experiencing a period of nervousness and not being relaxed. I think this is becuase of one situation that gives me non-stop worry. I don't want to go into details, but it is always in my subconscious and I believe this is what causes the poor sleep. A good analogy would be cheating on a test - you know you did something wrong, now it's just a matter of waiting to find out if the teacher is going to catch you or not. I feel like this is different from most anxiety because it is something real and could possibly happen. No matter what, it's always on my mind. What is the best way to handle that situation? Do I confront it? Do I ignore it? It's like I’m not able to enjoy life because it's always in the back of my mind!

Any help is appreciated...

[bhamlaxy]

Sounds like you need to confront whatever happened, rectify it, or get it figured out. Not sure how possible it is but that's the obvious cause. Sounds like anyone would be anxious in your situation.

[Jen Victoria Macdonald]

Everybody is different :) Just because your anxiety is different from a another doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. I've learnt that we all each have our own set of anxiety symptoms and thoughts that are different because as humans, we are all different! I'd definitely confront these feelings as it is ruining your quality of life and you are suffering each day because of it. A good start could be CBT (Cognitive Behavourial Therapy) which I am currently having and recommend, but your GP would be able to point you in the right direction of something like this. Blocking out thoughts only makes them stronger as you don't want them to be there. You have to let your mind really think about them deeply until they are not there at all. It is a backwards system but it really does work! I'm not 100% on what your anxiety entails nor am I qualified or knowledgable in how you are feeling to give you direct advice, but I hope what I've said helps in some way.

Don't forgot, you're never alone.. blocking out the thoughts and keeping them to yourself isn't healthy. First port of call could be partner, family or good friend :)

[dazza]

> blocking out the thoughts and keeping them to yourself isn't healthy. First port of call could be partner, family or good friend

More truth in this than is first apparent.

The brain is like a sponge... it absorbs and retains and unfortunately, it also retains fears.

The fears will tumble around, locked inside for a L O N G time until somehow they are released.

This is half the reason why therapy works so well. It allows us to "off load" and release.

This is ALSO why, when you've hit a rocky patch in a relationship... it's always best to talk.
Again, it's offloading your troubles and working out a resolve.

It's good to talk :-)

[Jen Victoria Macdonald]

I have to agree with dazza! Therapy has been amazing for me and I have only had 4 sessions, my 5th next week. The problem with anxiety is the thoughts only get stronger when they are in our mind and constantly growing. We start to create unrealistic views on the fear we may have, which obviously only makes things worse.

[CyberchondriacMale]

Great post Dazza. It's best you talk about your fear and try to somehow address it.