Hi I'm Horsehippie17 [Archive] - Anxiety Forum - A Home for Those with Anxiety, Fear, or Panic Attacks

Horsehippie17

08-06-2016, 11:49 AM

I'm 25 years old and a Michigander. I love nature, gardening, animals (mainly horses), books, scary movies, and good coffee. I've had anxiety since I was small but recently I feel like it's gotten worse trying to figure out what I'm suppose to do with my life. The family farm and land is my heart and soul. I would like to have a horse boarding business but I need money to build a bigger facility and I'm not sure how I could ever afford that. I've been with my boyfriend for 7 years and live in constant embarrassment with people ask me why he hasn't purposed. My mind is a constant swing of emotions lately. I worry about EVERYTHING to the point where I can't sleep. My dad and grandpa are my best friends. My favorite thing to do is sit on the porch swing reading a book with my favorite chicken (yes chicken) on my lap and a cat or two snuggling at my side.

Nice to meet you all. I hope this forum gives me friends that have the same anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, and worry wort tendencies as I do!

Nowuccas

08-07-2016, 03:25 AM

Hey Horsehippie17,

A previous post on insomnia follows:

Exercise, preferably 6 hours before, but not within 2 hours of bedtime. Have a warm bath, or shower, an hour before bedtime, then a glass of very warm milk, possibly with Horlicks, or one of the herbal teas, below, and use dimmer lighting. Your bedroom should be very dark, with the lights out, and a good sleeping temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 19 degrees Centigrade. Put your mind in a position where it wants to shut itself off, and sleep. View umm.edu/sleep/relax_tech.htm The progressive muscle relaxation, http://www.drcoxconsulting.com/managing-stress.html is very easily learned; guided imagery, or mindfulness breathing https://www.verywell.com/mindfulness-meditation-88369 is known to be effective, or www.wikihow.com/Meditate Give the EFT a tryout. It is free via http://eft.mercola.com or tapping.com (13 free videos) or eftuniverse.com or YouTube EFT. Repeat to yourself: "Even though I currently have a sleep disorder, I deeply and completely accept myself." (or choose your own wording) while you use the acupressure massage/tapping. Find out which works best for you, in the daylight hours, so you will be prepared, come bedtime. For many people, a good idea is to develop a set "wind down" routine for the last hour before bedtime, so your subconscious mind learns that it is time to put thinking aside, and prepare for mindfulness, (awareness, without cogitation/purposeful thought) or the EFT, in preparation for sleep.

The idea with mindfulness is to not even think about sleeping: just drift off, naturally, during exercising those techniques. Avoid TV, computer, or anything exciting in this hour, although reading a BORING! book is a good idea. Experiment, to find which combination works best for you. No coffee, tea, or other caffeine within 6 hrs of bedtime! Try a cup of chamomile herbal tea, an hour before bedtime. Others may prefer Sleepytime, by Celestial Seasonings, Relax, Be Sleepy, or valerian root (valerian "hangovers" possible), etc., from supermarket tea, or health food aisles. Milk, or cream should not be used with herbal tea. Get up and do something, like read a book, if you can't sleep within 20 mns. Personally, I prefer to use word/phrase repetition for a short time, changing over to mindfulness breathing; however, you may well find another method more effective. The following EMDR variant came from a book on treating insomnia for the depressed; I use it every night, and it is well worth trying. It seems to reduce distractions during the mindfulness relaxation methods, so I use it first. Keeping your head still, move your eyes first to the far left, then far right, and repeat this another 19 times. Each full sweep should take around a second. If you like, you can either subvocalise, or repeat: "one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand ... up to twenty.

After this, allow your body to go limp, and relax for a short time. Then repeat the whole exercise, limpness, and relaxation twice. This may well be all you need. Others may require another round of the above. Before beginning the EMDR variant, I take a whiff of lavender essential oil in both nostrils; some people prefer a drop, or two on their pillow. This provides a strong cue to the subconscious mind to prepare for sleep. 85% of people are suggestible, to some extent, so consider professional hypnotherapy, or hypnosisdownloads.com has: Fall Asleep Fast, Drift Off To Sleep, Sleep and Dream, or Sleep Like a Child, or instant-hypnosis.com has: Beat Insomnia, Quiet Blissful Sleep, Enjoy Deep Sleep, or Restorative Healing Sleep.

Try the free sleep aid at: soundsleeping.com/ You could try melatonin (pharmacies) for a few nights only; more can interfere with the brain's natural production of it.

I suggest that you view my previous post about anxiety at http://anxietyforum.net/forum/showthread.php?33964-New-to-the-site-and-looking-for-help&p=223989#post223989