Newbie-help please! :)

[nikkikitch]

Hi

Im 27 and have suffered with anxiety for aslong as i can remember. Every morning i wake up with that horrible butterfly feeling and then a sense of dread hits me that i find hard to shake. As the day goes on, my anxiety levels can really vary from extreme irritability to more manageable.
Ive just reached a point where i feel like i cant cope with it anymore. Im not too bad during the week when im in a routine with work, but at the weekends, its horrific! I spend time with my son at a weekend and unfortunately he seems to get the brunt of my anger and uncontrolable emotions. Hes only 9 though and im so worried about messing him up!
Does anyone else get the horrible nerves every morning? does anyone have any suggestions for what i could do? Im already very healthy in terms of diet and exercise and exercise definitely helps, but im so sick of just coping. I want it to go away permanently!

Thanks x

[kaialian]

Hi Nikki,

I have struggled with mornings often. What I found the helpful was to get up and do something right away. Just sitting and thinking does not help. As well, I use deep breathing even before I get out of bed to help calm me down.

The MOST helpful technique I use is positive self talk. Instead of thinking "Oh God, it's the weekend...weekends are always bad..so why would this one be any different?" I try to focus on the positive things. "The only time is right now. I am not going to think about what might occur." "I have gotten past this before, I can do it again."

What is causing you the feeling of dread? Is it knowing it's the weekend? Or something else? See if you can get to the bottom of it, and then write some sentences out that you can say to yourself in the morning. It takes a little work, but given some time, you will see results!

Take care!