Quick question...

[DarkHorse]

I'm fairly new here and I am seriously confused to what is happening with me at the moment. I don't know if i'm depressed or have some sort of anxiety. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what could be wrong with me.

I have had anxiety before (palpatations & chest pain) but I have gotten over that now, I have not had an actual phisical panic attack in about 6 months. But this is because my mind is now somewhere else, I keep thinking i'm suffering from depression when i'm not, But I can't stop thinking about this! I think bout it most of the day and keep thinking to myself "If I loose my job i'm going to be mega depressed" & "oh no if I loose my girlfriend i'm done for" It is like this annoying feeling inside my head now and it can lead to headaches.

This has come onto me because a few people in my aread around the same age as me have hanged themselves over the past few months so now my mind thinks "oh no im going to end up with depression and do the same as these guys" but I have everything going for me at the moment and I just need to try forget about this because i'm not depressed at all, But I feel this will lead to it.

It feels kind of like stress and tension inside my head and I can't stop thinking about it, Can anyone tell me what i'm suffering from, Please tell me i'm not alone.

Many thanks in advance...

[DarkHorse]

Bump :cry:

[marsh20]

Sounds too me like obsessive thinking. This is apart of anxiety that can drive you crazy but you can control it. It is hard but when these thoughts come around do whatever you can to divert your attention somewhere else. I also used a rubberband around my wrist. When these thoughts came around I would pop it and it would help me get my mind off of it. Remember you are in control and just because other people do something that doesn't mean that is what you will do. The best thing to do is just relax and not worry bout it but if your like me that seems impossible. Just remember they are just thoughts and they will PASS.

[JayR]

I'm reading a book right now called The Spiritual Brain: A Nueroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul. In it the author explains how in a series of studies some people with obsessive thinking problems were able to rewire their brain by the power of their mind. These people were suffering from obsessive thoughts that were causing them to do stupid, useless, and unhealthy things. Your obsessive thoughts are causing you to become anxious and to think unreasonably. The people in the study overcame these obsessive thoughts by immediately, upon thinking them, they willfully and purposefully redirected their thoughts onto something useful. For example when one of them thought his obsessive thought, he would think about gardening, and he would even go out and do some gardening. The neuroscientist who was conducting this study realized that by doing this, the persons brain was actually rewired, until eventually the obsessive thoughts no longer had any power. They just became like any other thought, and were easily ignored.

Give that a try. When you start thinking these thoughts, first, realize that they aren't true. Then, redirect your mind on something that is helpful, rather than destructive. Why think about something harmful, useless, and deceitful when you can just as easily think about something that is helpful, useful, and true?