New to forum looking for help

[efiste2]

I suffer from anxiety severely and I think depression, I am also a nervous person and live on the edge all the time, and find it hard to relax anywhere. I have been on medication for some time, and I find it helps slightly, But lately my life has been turned upside down by events at home and work, so i cant go to work to escape, and vica versa.....
Can anyone suggest ways of relieving my anxiety and depression and as its worse than ever at the moment and I am struglling to cope and have basically turned into a empty shell . I find myself afraid to go home and making excuses to stay away....and thinking of what really are stupid ideas to get me away from my problems.....This also has a knock-on effect to my family as well as I tend to lock myself away so to speak.

[hesson81]

Yes typical conflict avoidance. It's what your doing. I have had many days of avoiding things that I would think would cause anxiety. Family, my children are one of them. Being around my kids sometimes can be seriously stressful.

Well the things you can do to cope and relieve are gonna be the same things your gonna google. if you can go into therapy this is a good thing as well. Try and see some one with Dr in from of their name. There all as qualified as the next but I found therapy to be effective once I saw an actual Dr.

Exercise, yoga, diet. Those are gonna all be some of the things that are gonna help you.

After a few tries I finally found a therapist that works. It ain't pretty though, one of things therapy can do for you is to lay down where your expectations need to be. Which can often be huge with anxiety sufferers, poor expectations.

Get on it, it's a fight, a battle, and some days you gotta keel over like a small dog and just give in to it. I have done a lot of crying and I'm a grown man. Some days that's all I can do, but then i pat myself on the back and remember that it's okay because I'm still fighting the fight.

Gonna have to be a drill sergeant and a pediatric nurse to yourself all at the same time.

Pm me if you want some more idea f how to cope. My expereince with anxiety maybe different than yours, so you'll have to find what works for you...

[Beachgirl]

Try CBT. I still use the TEA forms and they help you retrain your brain so anxiety has less of a hold on you and they are very empowering. Read the CBT book called "Been there, Done that? DO This!" by sam obitz (www.tao3.com (http://www.tao3.com)). It was written by a guy that suffered through anxiety and panic for many years before finding a cure with CBT. It is a short book and very encouraging. If you use the tools they really do help turn things around :)

[somaesthesia]

Welcome, I'm new to the forum also, but I've been living with anxiety for a while now.

Recently, as my anxiety has gotten worse, I have found that yoga really helps. It took me a while to find the right yoga teacher for me, though. Some only care about it as a physicaly exercise. I needed a teacher to walk through it with me, who cares about both its physical and psychological effects.

Therapy is another important one. I've heard good things about CBT, but I just have a regular therapist who I talk to and she reminds me that I'm not crazy. That helps a lot.

Reading about anxiety tends to help me. Sometimes, when I'm obsessing about going crazy or being schizophrenic, I just read about anxiety and its symptoms. That can help me feel a little better.

Talking to people going through the same thing also helps me.

I also practice breathing exercises when I feel my anxiety levels rising. That helps A LOT. Most of the time it can stop me from having a panic attack. It's hard sometimes, though, not to just get sucked into freaking out.


Really hope things get better for you soon! :)