massiveclavicle
03-09-2016, 04:41 AM
Hi
I have had an anxiety disorder for years that drives me up the wall (mostly in terms of poor physical health/wellbeing from the exhaustion - it limits my life). I used to have agoraphobia/panic disorder but I haven't had a panic attack for years.
Thing is, I don't know if I would describe myself as a worrier as a much as a thinker. I do worry probably a bit more than other people - and about specific things (so I tend to feel over-responsible and will worry that other people are in pain so I will tend to be more cautious in the way I deal with people to make sure they are protected from anything that might upset them). I'm overall quite negative about myself, not because I believe myself to be flawed, but more because I expect myself to achieve very high standards.
But having said that, I know people who I would describe as "worriers" - people who are constantly anxious about everything - and I'm not like that. Though I am constantly stressed and tense.
What I have is just a lot of "noise" in my head. I find it very difficult to concentrate on the outside world because I'm so caught up in my thoughts. These thoughts aren't worries, though, they're just scenarios and they're often quite enjoyable. I might be pondering some theory or other I read, writing a story, composing music, or just daydreaming. My daydreams are very vivid and I can get very sucked into them sometimes for hours.
This doesn't sound too bad on the surface, but it's actually really stressful. I'm never relaxed - literally never. Everything hurts; I'm so exhausted. Basically, I think the reason is simply that my mind is travelling at a million miles per hour and it is less the content of those thoughts that is stressful and more the quantity of the thoughts - it's just kind of, loud...stressful...like being constantly overstimulated.
Most CBT self help stuff I read tells you to challenge your 'worries' - well, apart from the odd couple here and there I don't really have any worries. I can think of one 'what if' thought, which is 'what if this is all there is to life?'. That's the only worry I have, I guess, except for the times when I worry that people are in pain and feel I need to protect them.
Can anyone relate to this form of anxiety and have you found anything to help? I find mindfulness is amazing for the time I'm doing it. After meditation I have a good half hour or so of feelings like I'm actually in the real world and my body stops hurting/my heart beat calms down. But aside from literally meditating every hour I seem unable to keep it up throughout the day and the stress just builds up again.
I have had an anxiety disorder for years that drives me up the wall (mostly in terms of poor physical health/wellbeing from the exhaustion - it limits my life). I used to have agoraphobia/panic disorder but I haven't had a panic attack for years.
Thing is, I don't know if I would describe myself as a worrier as a much as a thinker. I do worry probably a bit more than other people - and about specific things (so I tend to feel over-responsible and will worry that other people are in pain so I will tend to be more cautious in the way I deal with people to make sure they are protected from anything that might upset them). I'm overall quite negative about myself, not because I believe myself to be flawed, but more because I expect myself to achieve very high standards.
But having said that, I know people who I would describe as "worriers" - people who are constantly anxious about everything - and I'm not like that. Though I am constantly stressed and tense.
What I have is just a lot of "noise" in my head. I find it very difficult to concentrate on the outside world because I'm so caught up in my thoughts. These thoughts aren't worries, though, they're just scenarios and they're often quite enjoyable. I might be pondering some theory or other I read, writing a story, composing music, or just daydreaming. My daydreams are very vivid and I can get very sucked into them sometimes for hours.
This doesn't sound too bad on the surface, but it's actually really stressful. I'm never relaxed - literally never. Everything hurts; I'm so exhausted. Basically, I think the reason is simply that my mind is travelling at a million miles per hour and it is less the content of those thoughts that is stressful and more the quantity of the thoughts - it's just kind of, loud...stressful...like being constantly overstimulated.
Most CBT self help stuff I read tells you to challenge your 'worries' - well, apart from the odd couple here and there I don't really have any worries. I can think of one 'what if' thought, which is 'what if this is all there is to life?'. That's the only worry I have, I guess, except for the times when I worry that people are in pain and feel I need to protect them.
Can anyone relate to this form of anxiety and have you found anything to help? I find mindfulness is amazing for the time I'm doing it. After meditation I have a good half hour or so of feelings like I'm actually in the real world and my body stops hurting/my heart beat calms down. But aside from literally meditating every hour I seem unable to keep it up throughout the day and the stress just builds up again.