Morning anxiety

[emmy52]

Hello:)
I have just joined today!

I think I wake up most days with anxiety. I feel like I'm constantly worrying about things and I feel like anxiety is just ruining me at the minute :( I have a very supportive boyfriend who helps me a lot - I am just feeling fed up:( I look at people laughing and enjoying life and I find myself thinking 'why don't i look that happy', which sounds really dumb.

I often have moments where I feel like I'm not in control of my life, I don't want to look back at my life and remember being anxious all the time...I used to be excited about life etc but lately I just feel like I'm a bit broken :(

[JohnC]

Hi emmy52,
Welcome to the forum. There is a whole community of us just like you so you are not alone. I personally have spent the majority of my life with anxiety and still fight it.
Are you currently taking any medications and or seeing a doctor for the way you have been feeling?

[Ankhsious]

My anxiety also 'attacks' me in the morning. Usually upon waking.

Do you have some confusion over 'what to do with your life'? For me it is career related - I'm a bit lost. By the time I get up and apply my mental control to the worry I feel better, but first thing in the morning my life energy seems to be saying "WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU DOING? FIGURE IT OUT OR YOU'RE SCREWED!".

I would say don't feed into it. Try switching your breathing to manual mode. Take deep breaths in, hold briefly, exhale, hold briefly. Try to count backwards from 99. As you do this, don't ignore your thoughts but also don't let them carry you to far. Imagine your thoughts are floating across the sky of your mind begging you to take a ride and you are saying "maybe later, right now I am committed to staying here".

This is step one. Step two is therapy and figuring out where you learned the behavior that the A vs B outcome of your life situation questions is SO important. It really isn't.

Step three is to be absolutely true to your own emotions whether you think you should be having them or not. Sometimes your brain decides that you should be happy about something but really you are kidding yourself and your emotions are trying to tell you otherwise.

Best of luck!

[emmy52]

Hi both

Thanks for your replies!

I'm not seeing anyone or taking any medication. I have previously taken meds for depression a few years ago.

I'm not sure where my anxiety comes from - I just have a general feeling of being overwhelmed... I feel like I should be enjoying my life and be more happy, and then I worry that I'm not happy and it's a ridiculous vicious circle:( I feel incredibly guilty about how I feel (which I know is silly) because I know there are people out there that are suffering and so on.

I find it difficult to relax and switch off because I'm worrying about how I feel.

I have recently got a new job which I'm starting in September, so I don't think my anxiety is career focused. I currently ironically work with mental health patients, haha. Although I do find myself worrying about the future, will I be happy, will I be good at my job etc.

I seem to overthink a LOT I guess. I like to switch my thoughts off sometimes!

X

[ss_worrier]

Hi both

Thanks for your replies!

I'm not seeing anyone or taking any medication. I have previously taken meds for depression a few years ago.

I'm not sure where my anxiety comes from - I just have a general feeling of being overwhelmed... I feel like I should be enjoying my life and be more happy, and then I worry that I'm not happy and it's a ridiculous vicious circle:( I feel incredibly guilty about how I feel (which I know is silly) because I know there are people out there that are suffering and so on.

I find it difficult to relax and switch off because I'm worrying about how I feel.

I have recently got a new job which I'm starting in September, so I don't think my anxiety is career focused. I currently ironically work with mental health patients, haha. Although I do find myself worrying about the future, will I be happy, will I be good at my job etc.

I seem to overthink a LOT I guess. I like to switch my thoughts off sometimes!

X

How are your morning routines? What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

I'm asking because I struggle with the exact same problem of being overwhelmed in the mornings. For me, it's when all the "regular" thoughts start coming to me that my problems start, but I'm much more sensitive in the morning, probably because of low blood sugar. What I've come to realize (with the help of my therapist) as one of my main triggers in the morning is the fact that I start the day by checking my cell phone, which usually means getting a load of emails and messages about things to deal with, both work- and personally related. I say this knowing that it's easier said than done to create better morning habits -- I just plunged into my regular morning anxiety after doing relatively well when I first woke up, because I switched my phone on and started messaging with my girlfriend, which is usually the worst trigger for me (I should probably spend some time to think about why that is and what I should do about it, I realize how strange and unhealthy that sounds...).

Anyway -- I do think that morning anxiety is usually caused by either 1) low blood sugar, 2) morning habits that aren't good for you, or 3) a combination of the two. Can you think of things you do in the mornings that may increase your anxiety? At what point does it start?

[Ankhsious]

The 'overthink' issue is something I have also struggled with. Therapy can help. In my case I have discovered that I am a conflict avoider and therefore an emotion avoider. Instead, I tend to withdraw into my shell and 'solve the problem'. This strategy may be effective for the people around me because they see me as a 'nice guy' but years of it has eaten away at my insides.

Ovethinking is always there to solve a problem. But we do not solve problems effectively by thinking about them for hours every day. Listen to some Abraham Hicks - very good tactic is to FIRST find your high vibration place and simply glance at your problems from that level rather than trying to spin your tires through them when in a low place.

A wise warrior comes to the battlefield only when conditions of winning are favourable. This applies to thinking :-)

[Scillaflower]

Hello:)
I have just joined today!

I think I wake up most days with anxiety. I feel like I'm constantly worrying about things and I feel like anxiety is just ruining me at the minute :( I have a very supportive boyfriend who helps me a lot - I am just feeling fed up:( I look at people laughing and enjoying life and I find myself thinking 'why don't i look that happy', which sounds really dumb.

I often have moments where I feel like I'm not in control of my life, I don't want to look back at my life and remember being anxious all the time...I used to be excited about life etc but lately I just feel like I'm a bit broken :(

Hi emmy52, omg i can totally relate to everything your saying ! I feel like i have a very nice life, an amazing significant other.

I feel like I should be happier but Im usually nervous :/ I also get the morning anxiety thing. I just joined the forum yesterday

[emmy52]

Morning routines are quite normal really...i do check my phone in the morning. I often have a quick look on Facebook, which probably doesn't help as I always compare my happiness to others! I guess that could make me feel worse, even though most of what people post on Facebook is rubbish lol.

I often get anxiety during the day as well too, just randomly and I don't know why.

Overthinking is definitely an issue for me, and you're right it doesn't solve anything! Today I'm feeling pretty good and anxiety free which is great! I tend to dwell on the negative parts of life instead of focusing on the great parts. Does anyone else do that?

I like that quote about the battlefield - it is so true!

It's nice to be able to talk to other people who experience this, so thanks :-)

Xx

[emmy52]

Hi Scillaflower

Hope you're feeling ok today. I guess we just have to focus on the positive things in our lives! Having a supportive partner definitely helps me.

I often get the feeling of 'I should be enjoying myself more' but I suppose this could be overthinking and over worrying, and comparing my feelings to others. But we never know how other people are feeling on the inside, we only see the outside.

Xx

[Scillaflower]

Hi Scillaflower

Hope you're feeling ok today. I guess we just have to focus on the positive things in our lives! Having a supportive partner definitely helps me.

I often get the feeling of 'I should be enjoying myself more' but I suppose this could be overthinking and over worrying, and comparing my feelings to others. But we never know how other people are feeling on the inside, we only see the outside.

Xx

Thanks. I have actually felt pretty crummy lately since I've stopped drinking coffee this last week. But, I think it is for the best to stop the caffeine for awhile.
Sometimes I overthink things too, and blow my problems way out of proportion that way :|

[Kixxi]

Hiya Emmy and welcome to the forum,

Don't worry. Most of us have experienced what you are going through now. I know what it feels like to feel powerless and look at everyone else in your life and thinking "why isn't it like this for me". Some people with anxiety, at least this was the case for me, have a really strong urge to control things. This usually feeds the anxiety as well. Just like you I use to be really laid back and outgoing, then when I hit 20 my anxiety kicked in and I became a hermit for a very long time. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, because you can get better from it. Take it from somebody who is starting to recover ;) I'm sure you will to. Feel free to share anything with us and we'll try to help you the best way we can :)

[ss_worrier]

Morning routines are quite normal really...i do check my phone in the morning. I often have a quick look on Facebook, which probably doesn't help as I always compare my happiness to others! I guess that could make me feel worse, even though most of what people post on Facebook is rubbish lol.

Xx

I can really only say what I think works for me, and controlling my morning and making sure that I have enough time before I have to do whatever I'm going to do, and making sure that I don't have a lot of stress triggers around, those two things really help. I'm writing this on a morning when I could certainly have done a better job at it 'cause I'm feeling quite crappy at the moment, I should have waited for much longer with checking facebook et cetera because that always gets me. Anyway, at least I think things would have been better had I stuck to a calmer routine :-)