Anxiety won't let me be happy?

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10-29-2016, 05:48 AM
xUnknown

Anxiety won't let me be happy?

So obviously I have things and hobbies that make me happy in my life, but anxiety just has to jump in.
It's like, when I do something that makes me happy, my brain goes like: "Oh? You're having a good time and forgetting about anxiety? Here, get reminded of how you should always be anxious and that being happy is something abnormal now."

Whenever I'm happy I get reminded of how I'm not anxious at the moment, that I will be anxious again when I stop doing what I like and I do get anxious all over again.

Basically I can't enjoy myself and live in the moment of happiness without being reminded of my anxiety.
How can I just enjoy the moment? I don't want to be anxious while doing things that make me feel better.
10-29-2016, 07:58 AM
jones27

Quote:

Originally Posted by xUnknown

So obviously I have things and hobbies that make me happy in my life, but anxiety just has to jump in.
It's like, when I do something that makes me happy, my brain goes like: "Oh? You're having a good time and forgetting about anxiety? Here, get reminded of how you should always be anxious and that being happy is something abnormal now."

Whenever I'm happy I get reminded of how I'm not anxious at the moment, that I will be anxious again when I stop doing what I like and I do get anxious all over again.

Basically I can't enjoy myself and live in the moment of happiness without being reminded of my anxiety.
How can I just enjoy the moment? I don't want to be anxious while doing things that make me feel better.

This one of my main struggles too. I think it come from a loss of confidence in myself due to my anxiety. This also leads to my anxiety being the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning. To be honest this are the two things I hate the most.

I have those thoughts while playing cards, hanging with friends, watching movies, etc. I am not 100% successful in dealing with them yet but I will tell you my strategy I am using now that is making it better,

1. I recognized the thought and accept it as a symptom of anxiety.

2. After i accept the thought I tell myself when my anxiety improves it will go away.

3. I humor the thought and sarcastically respond to it blowing it up. That means exaggerating the thought to an absurd level. For instance I play magic the gathering and when I have a thought that I can't enjoy it anymore I say in my head 'yep I better go home and burn my collection!'

4. I continue with the activity and bring the thought with me if necessary. Never back down from the anxiety or fight it and most importantly never stop doing something because of it.

I really hope this helps and just know you are not the only one dealing with this right now! I am too and we can beat this if we stay strong!

Try this and let me know how it goes for you! I really hope it,helps!
10-29-2016, 04:06 PM
xUnknown

Quote:

Originally Posted by jones27

This one of my main struggles too. I think it come from a loss of confidence in myself due to my anxiety. This also leads to my anxiety being the first thing I think of when I wake up in the morning. To be honest this are the two things I hate the most.

I have those thoughts while playing cards, hanging with friends, watching movies, etc. I am not 100% successful in dealing with them yet but I will tell you my strategy I am using now that is making it better,

1. I recognized the thought and accept it as a symptom of anxiety.

2. After i accept the thought I tell myself when my anxiety improves it will go away.

3. I humor the thought and sarcastically respond to it blowing it up. That means exaggerating the thought to an absurd level. For instance I play magic the gathering and when I have a thought that I can't enjoy it anymore I say in my head 'yep I better go home and burn my collection!'

4. I continue with the activity and bring the thought with me if necessary. Never back down from the anxiety or fight it and most importantly never stop doing something because of it.

I really hope this helps and just know you are not the only one dealing with this right now! I am too and we can beat this if we stay strong!

Try this and let me know how it goes for you! I really hope it,helps!

Thanks for the advice! I really like the humor one, since I like humor and sarcasm, I think that would be pretty effective. The acceptance one is too, I do try to let my anxiety be there but sometimes I forget that so I have to be reminded.

I think that deep down I know what I should do but sometimes I need encouragement and knowing I'm not alone.

You're right, I shouldn't let anxiety affect my activities, that just shows I let it win.

Yep, with enough willpower and courage I'm sure we can beat it!
11-19-2016, 07:29 PM
NoMorePanickingNow

Quote:

Originally Posted by xUnknown

So obviously I have things and hobbies that make me happy in my life, but anxiety just has to jump in.
It's like, when I do something that makes me happy, my brain goes like: "Oh? You're having a good time and forgetting about anxiety? Here, get reminded of how you should always be anxious and that being happy is something abnormal now."

Whenever I'm happy I get reminded of how I'm not anxious at the moment, that I will be anxious again when I stop doing what I like and I do get anxious all over again.

Basically I can't enjoy myself and live in the moment of happiness without being reminded of my anxiety.
How can I just enjoy the moment? I don't want to be anxious while doing things that make me feel better.

My social anxiety used to control me in terms of always reminding me that i'm not allowed to have fun.

During an event, I would constantly remind myself to be present in the moment. that worked during but when i go home my mind wanders. I learned a small trick to recap the event and be grateful for the progress I had over the event BEFORE. For me, it's all in the mindset.