Any advice would help; my anxiety is taking over my life...

[doglover23]

I'm not sure what exactly I want to get out of this post, I guess just some advice or responses that can make me feel more normal or like I'm not going crazy... I am 20 years old and I have been dealing with anxiety for a few years now. For as long as I can remember I have worried about everything: death, illness, what people think of me, my grades, my family, my friends, if I left the oven on, if I locked my car... the list goes on and on, but the worrying and anxious obsessive thoughts got debilitating a few years back.
I am a hard-wired negative thinker, which I think leads to overwhelming feelings of sadness on a daily basis. From the second I wake up, negative thoughts automatically flood my brain (i.e. Today sucks, something bad will happen today) and just general feelings of anxiety and worry set in. I have gone to therapy two different times now, once a year ago which I got very little out of. I am now seeing a different therapist, who I feel is helping me but I still have really, really bad days.
The negative thoughts are hard, but the hardest part I would say are my irrational obsessive thoughts. My mind comes up with an irrational thought on pretty much a daily basis which cause me a lot of fear and anxiety. My mind then attaches to these thoughts and obsesses over that thing and replays it in my head 100 times a day.
The worst part is that my mind tells me that it is not the anxiety that is causing these thoughts, but they are real true things that I should be fearful of and that they are going to happen...
I cant figure out how to help myself. I want to know if anyone can relate, what they have done to calm their irrational thoughts, and if they have overcome these things. I am considering medication so any advice on that would also help. Please, any response or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all!

[Saldav]

Hi my name is Sal I've been going through severe anxiety for a couple weeks, if you need to talk I'm here for you. One thing you need to know is your not alone.

[jasonx165]

I've dealt with the same for years as well, you're not crazy.

This may or may not help you, but what I do is really take some time to step back with a long walk/meditation session and think about how many times you've worried so much about something and how many times those worries have come to life. I can take a good guess that majority if not all those worries never happened in the end. This isn't going to be an instant cure..it may take a while to come to the realization that while your anxiety is there, at the end of the day they are nothing but overactive thoughts.

But that's just a suggestion. If you really do feel helpless, thereapy/doctor visits are always the best route to take.

[DreamWorld]

Hey, sorry to hear about your struggle. For the last few months I've been dealing with obsessive intrusive thoughts. I'll spare you the details of mine but yes they are definitely debilitating. What has kind of helped me is realizing that if ANYONE thought any of these thoughts enough, they too would feel anxious, terrified, and nauseous. What's good to remember is someone with anxiety isn't crazy, they just follow a different thought process than someone without anxiety. So for me, when my thoughts start taking over, I bring myself back to reality and take in my surroundings. I used to think this was a load of crap until my therapist actually walked me through it. It's a way of ignoring the thoughts and redirecting your focus.
Also, you have to trust yourself. We're so worried that if we stop thinking these thoughts, the content of the thoughts will come true.
Exercise is an amazing mood regulator; it releases the same hormones into your body that antidepressants do!
It's less overwhelming when you see that the only thing you need to change is your focus.
Good luck!! I'm here if you need anything.

[doglover23]

thanks so much for this response; you are completely right, I guess it takes practice! It is helpful to know other people feel the same way, but I hope you find relief!

[Dahila]

Sal you are still hereeeee:)))