Can we ever overcome anxiety? Is it really a brain glitch or a lifetime of...

[Non-linear]

bad thinking? This morning, going through my thoughts I notice there are common recurring themes with my anxiety.
1. Someone is going to break into the house at night. This fear obviously doesn't bother me during the day, if it was just anxiety, why would I feel fine with it during the day?
2. Someone is going to rob me at gunpoint and then kill me. I often have horrible anxiety outside because of this, I'm constantly worrying about this and in the back of my mind planning my escape route or thinking about how scared i'd be laying on the ground after being shot. Note I live in a large city where this is remotely possible. I got a permit and started carrying a gun, this fear was diminished by this, however, I am now scared that the gun might go off and shoot me in the leg (despite the fact this would require an amazing amount of neglect and stupidity on my part), so I quit carrying it loaded, which led me to realize I'm actually worse off now because I'm a visible threat to an attacker and would probably get killed during the process of loading it. Note that when I live in a small town where there was no chance of this happening, I never had this problem. When I first moved here I started obsessively researching crime statistics and maps, basically feeding the fear.

There are other examples like this, from school anxiety, work anxiety, financial anxiety etc etc etc. They are always legitimate fears that I blow way out of proportion because I never come to terms with them, when those supposed dangers aren't present, I obviously do not panic over them.

The other thing that leads me to believe it's bad thinking I have gotten myself into the habit of is I had anxiety as a child, during some of my child years things were often chaotic and uncertain, during my teen years I became more and more stress free, my life was a bit more interesting, and I just felt more secure in everything. The anxiety didn't return until I started college, and I was constantly stressing and worrying about failing, most of this was unreasonable, as I was getting decent grades but I was struggling to learn things sometimes and I felt like if I screwed up at all I would end up ruining things to an unfixable point. Now most of this time I didn’t have anxiety, but eventually I broke into a huge panic attack that has led me up to this point (this was 3 years ago) of constant worry and panic about everything.

I guess the point i'm getting at is I wasn't born with anxiety, I wonder if maybe i have just allowed myself to become a victim of fear, rather than dealing with the thoughts and conquering it. I've had anxiety free periods when life was going good and stress was minimal, its only recently I have morphed myself into a worry wart, and I somehow think if I can break myself of this negative thinking I can finally be rid of this awful disorder. Can anybody else identify with this or is it just wishful thinking?

[needtogetwell]

You are on the right track! Thinking patterns have a huge impact on your fears and anxiety levels.

You could probably benefit a great deal from CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). A few sessions with a therapist and learning CBT would likely help you overcome the issues you are facing.

Good luck.

[JohnC]

Hi Non-linear, I don't know if we ever overcome anxiety or do we just learn to deal with it and keep it at bay( People will argue this). I have good days and bad days but the good out weigh the bad. I do like jessed from the forum said ( i think it was him anyway ) I get up in the morning and i do what it takes to get me through to the next day and then i get up and do it again.

In your post you mentioned about getting your house broke into at night and it's remotely possable because you live in a big city. My house was robbed in broad daylight and i live out in the country where thers not a neighbor in site, let alone a city. I would prefer that they come at night so that i could introduce them to my little 40 cal. friend or maybe the 00 buckshot from semi auto.

[Goomba]

For the majority of the world anxiety is 100% thought processes.

The amount of people that have chronic chemical imbalances causing permanent anxiety do not equal the amount of people getting prescribed meds for that condition.

Congrats on your new insight.

Also, I have overcome my anxiety. Now, that doesn't mean I NEVER experience it. A degree of anxiety is healthy, and serves as a survival purpose. I still have anxious experiences - as does everyone.

However, I have overcome the crippling element of it. It does not take away from my day. No panic, no derealization, no physical symptoms, etc.

[Im-Suffering]

bad thinking? This morning, going through my thoughts I notice there are common recurring themes with my anxiety.
1. Someone is going to break into the house at night. This fear obviously doesn't bother me during the day, if it was just anxiety, why would I feel fine with it during the day?
2. Someone is going to rob me at gunpoint and then kill me. I often have horrible anxiety outside because of this, I'm constantly worrying about this and in the back of my mind planning my escape route or thinking about how scared i'd be laying on the ground after being shot. Note I live in a large city where this is remotely possible. I got a permit and started carrying a gun, this fear was diminished by this, however, I am now scared that the gun might go off and shoot me in the leg (despite the fact this would require an amazing amount of neglect and stupidity on my part), so I quit carrying it loaded, which led me to realize I'm actually worse off now because I'm a visible threat to an attacker and would probably get killed during the process of loading it. Note that when I live in a small town where there was no chance of this happening, I never had this problem. When I first moved here I started obsessively researching crime statistics and maps, basically feeding the fear.

There are other examples like this, from school anxiety, work anxiety, financial anxiety etc etc etc. They are always legitimate fears that I blow way out of proportion because I never come to terms with them, when those supposed dangers aren't present, I obviously do not panic over them.

The other thing that leads me to believe it's bad thinking I have gotten myself into the habit of is I had anxiety as a child, during some of my child years things were often chaotic and uncertain, during my teen years I became more and more stress free, my life was a bit more interesting, and I just felt more secure in everything. The anxiety didn't return until I started college, and I was constantly stressing and worrying about failing, most of this was unreasonable, as I was getting decent grades but I was struggling to learn things sometimes and I felt like if I screwed up at all I would end up ruining things to an unfixable point. Now most of this time I didn’t have anxiety, but eventually I broke into a huge panic attack that has led me up to this point (this was 3 years ago) of constant worry and panic about everything.

I guess the point i'm getting at is I wasn't born with anxiety, I wonder if maybe i have just allowed myself to become a victim of fear, rather than dealing with the thoughts and conquering it. I've had anxiety free periods when life was going good and stress was minimal, its only recently I have morphed myself into a worry wart, and I somehow think if I can break myself of this negative thinking I can finally be rid of this awful disorder. Can anybody else identify with this or is it just wishful thinking?

Anything is possible in this world. If you can dream it, there is a physical equivalent to experience. The are no exceptions.

So, period, if you do not want to partake in a certain game that the other children are playing you dont have to. This includes violence.

Get rid of the gun then. Whether offense or defense its the same game. Shooter or victim, the same game.

And fyi, take a look through careful examination at your childhood years, the turbulent times for the answers to the current train of persistant thoughts.

Remember. Allow others to play the game if they wish. Theres more than enough room in the sandbox without stepping on each other.

[JohnC]

Yes it is basically just stinkin thinkin for alot of us.

[Non-linear]

Hi Non-linear, I don't know if we ever overcome anxiety or do we just learn to deal with it and keep it at bay( People will argue this). I have good days and bad days but the good out weigh the bad. I do like jessed from the forum said ( i think it was him anyway ) I get up in the morning and i do what it takes to get me through to the next day and then i get up and do it again.

In your post you mentioned about getting your house broke into at night and it's remotely possable because you live in a big city. My house was robbed in broad daylight and i live out in the country where thers not a neighbor in site, let alone a city. I would prefer that they come at night so that i could introduce them to my little 40 cal. friend or maybe the 00 buckshot from semi auto.

Even though it's possible, I'm realizing it isn't something i should really worry about. Nobody is getting into my house without making a huge amount of noise (breaking a window or kicking a door in, provided they figure out how to get through the metal security door), so it's not like i'd be caught off guard. I have the means and knowledge to defend myself, and there is no chance of having to worry about legal ramifications the way the law is written here, I have seen plenty of news stories and not once has someone been even detained during a self defense case. The likely hood of my attacker planning beforehand to be met with competent resistance is slim, i'd probably catch them off guard. The other thing is during my hour and hour of pouring over crime maps, buglaries in my neighborhood are few and far between, and i've never seen one when someone was home at night (i went back almost a year, that is how obsessive i've become over it). This is just something i was thinking when i woke up this morning, after laying awake for hours with worry. It's just so stupid.

[Non-linear]

For the majority of the world anxiety is 100% thought processes.

The amount of people that have chronic chemical imbalances causing permanent anxiety do not equal the amount of people getting prescribed meds for that condition.

Congrats on your new insight.

Also, I have overcome my anxiety. Now, that doesn't mean I NEVER experience it. A degree of anxiety is healthy, and serves as a survival purpose. I still have anxious experiences - as does everyone.

However, I have overcome the crippling element of it. It does not take away from my day. No panic, no derealization, no physical symptoms, etc.

What did you do?

[Im-Suffering]

Yes it is basically just stinkin thinkin for alot of us.

Good to see you, and Pam too. Time flies by so fast.

[JohnC]

Hi Im-S always good to see ya.

[needtogetwell]

Good to see you, and Pam too. Time flys by so fast.

Thanks IS, yes it has been quite a while. Nice to see that the old regulars have kept this going.

I too have been a long time sufferer of anxiety and poor thought patterns. I have it well under control and when the bad stuff creeps in, and it certainly does, I go back to the old standbys, proper breathing and challenging the validity of the thought.

[Im-Suffering]

Also, I have overcome my anxiety. Now, that doesn't mean I NEVER experience it. I still have anxious experiences - as does everyone.



Yes. This is done by lowering the alert level. Down from code red to a consistant green. Physiologically speaking the hormones have room to move naturally up and down rather than in a consistant state of stress. Adding more chemicals into a already stressed body produces the symptoms everyone shares. (Always predictable ).

The awareness of the ghosts of fear are helpful. In that you know what you are reacting to whether imagined or so called real.

For example the OP bought a gun reacting to a ghost rather than an immediate threat. Now, you see he becomes part of the game then activating certain probabilities that would otherwise be absent. (The use of the gun).

Just the act of buying a gun is violent, in certain terms. And so the fear is materialized one way or another. Here with the OP the fear is a ghost of childhood. Insecurity and so forth, brought into the current life. He will not find peace with a weapon, you see, but an internal exam of the insecurity and a healing of that.

Hating violence or loving peace are entirely different beliefs. Going to war (against whatever cause) and carrying weapons is hating violence while laying down all weapons is loving peace. One, you see can get you killed, as we see with John Lennon or Martin King for example.

[Goomba]

What did you do? Simply put - 1-2 years of reflection and challenging thought processes. Meditation was a big factor.

A key factor was also taking action to challenge and manifest my mental epiphanies.

Sort of like that quote "You can be the smartest man alive, but if you don't create anything with your ideas, your intelligence goes to waste".

You can connect all the dots with anxiety, but without taking actions (challenging fears, forcing yourself to keep moving, living dreams, etc), it's pointless. It's now been about 2 years without any major anxiety issues.

I can't say I won't ever allow it in again, but if I do, I am at a place that I can keep it from consuming me. That I am sure of. Ultimately, my anxiety IS ME.

I always say that anxiety is just your true self telling you that you have a lot of junk you need to work on, and that it's time to do that now, so you can grow and live. The more we suppress that, the more the true self fights back, and the worse the anxiety gets.

In that perspective, anxiety is a gift, communicating with us what we need to do to bring fruitfulness to our lives.

[needtogetwell]

Simply put - 1-2 years of reflection and challenging thought processes. Meditation was a big factor. A key factor was also taking action to challenge and manifest my mental epiphanies. Sort of like that quote "You can be the smartest man alive, but if you don't create anything with your ideas, your intelligence goes to waste". You can connect all the dots with anxiety, but without taking actions (challenging fears, forcing yourself to keep moving, living dreams, etc), it's pointless. It's now been about 2 years without any major anxiety issues. I can't say I won't ever allow it in again, but if I do, I am at a place that I can keep it from consuming me. That I am sure of. Ultimately, my anxiety IS ME. I always say that anxiety is just your true self telling you that you have a lot of junk you need to work on, and that it's time to do that now, so you can grow and live. The more we suppress that, the more the true self fights back, and the worse the anxiety gets. In that perspective, anxiety is a gift, communicating with us what we need to do to bring fruitfulness to our lives.

I really like the dealing with junk idea. It is so true, most of us who have come out the other side of this has dealt with heaps of junk.

[Goomba]

Yep!

And, everyone in life has it.

It's disheartening sometimes to think about how hush hush anxiety and depression are, when they are very common, very real, and often wouldn't be as crippling if we were more accepting of it at a societal level.

I actually believe the intensity of a lot of anxiety is that people learn to discredit it since no one around them will relate to them. Again, the more you suppress it, the more it grows.

You can get good at covering it up, but it will be back one day.

I think we are getting closer to that acceptance though. So, that's a positive.

[BrookeLynnnn]

bad thinking? This morning, going through my thoughts I notice there are common recurring themes with my anxiety.
1. Someone is going to break into the house at night. This fear obviously doesn't bother me during the day, if it was just anxiety, why would I feel fine with it during the day?
2. Someone is going to rob me at gunpoint and then kill me. I often have horrible anxiety outside because of this, I'm constantly worrying about this and in the back of my mind planning my escape route or thinking about how scared i'd be laying on the ground after being shot. Note I live in a large city where this is remotely possible. I got a permit and started carrying a gun, this fear was diminished by this, however, I am now scared that the gun might go off and shoot me in the leg (despite the fact this would require an amazing amount of neglect and stupidity on my part), so I quit carrying it loaded, which led me to realize I'm actually worse off now because I'm a visible threat to an attacker and would probably get killed during the process of loading it. Note that when I live in a small town where there was no chance of this happening, I never had this problem. When I first moved here I started obsessively researching crime statistics and maps, basically feeding the fear.

There are other examples like this, from school anxiety, work anxiety, financial anxiety etc etc etc. They are always legitimate fears that I blow way out of proportion because I never come to terms with them, when those supposed dangers aren't present, I obviously do not panic over them.

The other thing that leads me to believe it's bad thinking I have gotten myself into the habit of is I had anxiety as a child, during some of my child years things were often chaotic and uncertain, during my teen years I became more and more stress free, my life was a bit more interesting, and I just felt more secure in everything. The anxiety didn't return until I started college, and I was constantly stressing and worrying about failing, most of this was unreasonable, as I was getting decent grades but I was struggling to learn things sometimes and I felt like if I screwed up at all I would end up ruining things to an unfixable point. Now most of this time I didn’t have anxiety, but eventually I broke into a huge panic attack that has led me up to this point (this was 3 years ago) of constant worry and panic about everything.

I guess the point i'm getting at is I wasn't born with anxiety, I wonder if maybe i have just allowed myself to become a victim of fear, rather than dealing with the thoughts and conquering it. I've had anxiety free periods when life was going good and stress was minimal, its only recently I have morphed myself into a worry wart, and I somehow think if I can break myself of this negative thinking I can finally be rid of this awful disorder. Can anybody else identify with this or is it just wishful thinking?

In my own opinion, we never rid the anxiety completely but we can live a life to where it doesn't bother us & we don't fixate on it. I say this because, "normal people" get nervous before big events, interviews, dates etc. So, I believe being nervous is a sign of being anxious. But us who suffer with anxiety, we take being nervous to the next level. My point being, we all experience anxiety, no matter what form. It just depends on us how we allow our bodies to react.

[NixonRulz]

^^^^^^the pregnant chick makes a good point^^^^^^

[BrookeLynnnn]

^^^^^^the pregnant chick makes a good point^^^^^^

Yay for the pregnant chick! Haha

[Non-linear]

Simply put - 1-2 years of reflection and challenging thought processes. Meditation was a big factor.

A key factor was also taking action to challenge and manifest my mental epiphanies.

Sort of like that quote "You can be the smartest man alive, but if you don't create anything with your ideas, your intelligence goes to waste".

You can connect all the dots with anxiety, but without taking actions (challenging fears, forcing yourself to keep moving, living dreams, etc), it's pointless. It's now been about 2 years without any major anxiety issues.

I can't say I won't ever allow it in again, but if I do, I am at a place that I can keep it from consuming me. That I am sure of. Ultimately, my anxiety IS ME.

I always say that anxiety is just your true self telling you that you have a lot of junk you need to work on, and that it's time to do that now, so you can grow and live. The more we suppress that, the more the true self fights back, and the worse the anxiety gets.

In that perspective, anxiety is a gift, communicating with us what we need to do to bring fruitfulness to our lives.

I think I just need to get to the acceptance part of things. I know where it comes from, and i know life must go on even if i'm anxious, but i haven't come to terms with if something bad happens, i will handle it. my mind always drifts to the worst outcomes of the situation, and that when the anxiety starts, regardless of whether or not it's the MOST LIKELY outcome (it's usually not).


Yes. This is done by lowering the alert level. Down from code red to a consistant green. Physiologically speaking the hormones have room to move naturally up and down rather than in a consistant state of stress. Adding more chemicals into a already stressed body produces the symptoms everyone shares. (Always predictable ).

The awareness of the ghosts of fear are helpful. In that you know what you are reacting to whether imagined or so called real.

For example the OP bought a gun reacting to a ghost rather than an immediate threat. Now, you see he becomes part of the game then activating certain probabilities that would otherwise be absent. (The use of the gun).

Just the act of buying a gun is violent, in certain terms. And so the fear is materialized one way or another. Here with the OP the fear is a ghost of childhood. Insecurity and so forth, brought into the current life. He will not find peace with a weapon, you see, but an internal exam of the insecurity and a healing of that.

Hating violence or loving peace are entirely different beliefs. Going to war (against whatever cause) and carrying weapons is hating violence while laying down all weapons is loving peace. One, you see can get you killed, as we see with John Lennon or Martin King for example.

I've always owned and carried a gun, even before i lived in a metro area and before i had anxiety simply because i'd rather be responsible for my own protection then have to wait 5 minutes for the police to find my dead body after i call, i just didn't have a permit for this state when i moved here, but when i started paying attention i got a huge sense of urgency that needed to be fixed asap. I'm more likely to get killed in this city leaving myself defenseless. You don't watch the nightly news lol. People rob people who comply and then get shot. That is not anxiety, that is reality. The anxiety is a choice though, or at least a very strong compulsion, being anxious won't change the reality or possibility of the situation, but it will force me to experience the horror of something that may or may not happen, regardless of whether it does, even when it hasn't. I think that's what i'm finally coming to the realization of.

[Im-Suffering]

Im most concerned about focusing in on this (from the OP):

"The other thing that leads me to believe it's bad thinking I have gotten myself into the habit of is I had anxiety as a child, during some of my child years things were often chaotic and uncertain"

(Most) Everything your experiencing today is from the beliefs and conditioning of that period in time. All your answers are there. Heal that, and you'll heal today almost as if by magic.

Your physical environment is a reflection of your psychological one. In the current mind you would need a gun even on a deserted island. The security issues being mental first establish and create the overall immediate world you live in. Heal those issues and there would be no need for protection, even in the most violent of places. You would not live there to begin with, and this is your edification/lesson.

Change you first, dont blame the environment (a tank could not save you from yourself).

Those portions of self to look at and change are in childhood. Start there asking "what do i need to heal from that creates this fear in myself?"