Anxiety experiences and support

Scroll to see replies

I understand that you can't help thinking about others - of course that's natural, and it's impossible to be completely selfish. I would suggest you try to talk to people more. Let them know you are struggling a bit and that you might not be able to be so dependable for them - they will understand and support you, but only if you let them know you are having trouble. I also think you should talk to your boyfriend. I can see how you imagine it would irritate him, but if you are feeling delicate, he should be the first to know. Tell him you might get disproportionately upset with small-ish things, and that you might need some more support than always.

If I was you, I would say try to focus your therapy and recovery on first improving your self-esteem. You are never going to kick the anxiety if you are constantly thinking "this isn't working, I don't deserve it, I'm a burden" and so on. You said you were having CBT - maybe you could suggest to your therapist trying to work on your confidence for a while?

:hugs:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 241

Watch Key Phone

Original post by Ratiocinator

This must be mental torture. It is 25 degrees celsius where I am and everybody is swimming, but because of my stupid anxiety I can't even take my socks or shirt off let alone swim.

That sounds horrible for you :frown:

I also get more anxious in the heat, I worry about things like heatstroke etc, because it would make you sick. :frown:

Just try to enjoy the sunshine :smile:

Reply 242

Watch Key Phone

Original post by susan23

Thanks for making this thread :smile:

Aww

that's OK. You wanna tell us a bit about yourself? (you don't have to)

:smile:

Reply 243

Ratiocinator

Original post by Amwazicles

That sounds horrible for you :frown:

I also get more anxious in the heat, I worry about things like heatstroke etc, because it would make you sick. :frown:

Just try to enjoy the sunshine :smile:

Heatstroke doesn't worry me too much, but still worrying that I have a brain tumour and diabetes :frown:

Reply 244

susan23

Original post by Amwazicles

Aww

that's OK. You wanna tell us a bit about yourself? (you don't have to)

:smile:

Well to sum it up I'm mildly anthropophobic, mildly Schizophrenic (but that's better now) and heavily thanatophobic. :colondollar:

and heres a nice song for everyone on this thread to listen to :h:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 245

Watch Key Phone

Original post by Ratiocinator

Heatstroke doesn't worry me too much, but still worrying that I have a brain tumour and diabetes :frown:

Ah yes I do the diabetes one too - if I find I am being more thirsty (and therefore peeing) more than usual... What are you symptoms for your brain tumour and diabetes(not wishing to belittle you, but maybe if we both laugh at each other enough we will get the message :/ )

Reply 246

Ratiocinator

Original post by Amwazicles

Ha, I think exactly that. If I have a dry mouth I drink ridiculous amounts of water and consequently pee lots and am convinced I have diabetes. For the brain tumour, it was headaches that worried me. I had headaches every day for over a month which I now think was down to stress, but every time I have a throbbing I get kind of suspicious. A worrying symptom that I can't currently attribute to anything is being mentally tired all day :frown:

. How about you?

Reply 247

Watch Key Phone

Original post by susan23

Well to sum it up I'm mildly anthropophobic, mildly Schizophrenic (but that's better now) and heavily thanatophobic. :colondollar:

and heres a nice song for everyone on this thread to listen to :h:

That sounds really horrible for you, but thanks for telling us about you :smile:

That's a lovely song, too.

:hugs:

Reply 248

Watch Key Phone

This is such an inspiring post to hear from you :hugs:

I'm glad you've talked to your boyfriend about things, but I can understand you wanting to ease off for a while so you can focus on yourself a bit more (go you!). That CBT sounds good, too, and writing things down or a video also sounds like a good idea - feel free to put your ideas by us if you want :smile:

Reply 249

paniking_and_not_revising

Original post by Amwazicles

I've just finished my GCSEs and I did GCSE psychology, I'm also taking it for A level, why do you ask?

Out of interest, what is your parent's culture?

A good idea could be to write down what you want to say so you don't forget, or bring a friend who can help you remember things.

Edit: sorry my paragraph order doesn't match to what you said in each of yours... I'm sure you can still get it :wink:

I was just wondering since you give out very good advice.

Pakistani. Mental Health is looked down upon.

Reply 250

susan23

Original post by Amwazicles

That sounds really horrible for you, but thanks for telling us about you :smile:

That's a lovely song, too.

:hugs:

Yes, yesterday I wanted to commit suicide, but then I didn't, for some reason :s-smilie:

I don't even know why I'm telling you this...
I guess the only person who can help me is me. Sometimes the pain is too much that I can't feel it anymore, because I'm so use to it.

Reply 251

Watch Key Phone

Original post by Ratiocinator

. How about you?

I get the tiredness/headaches too. I think it's probably due to my weight, and also the fact that I don't usually sleep well. So I get tired very easily, even from just standing or walking around town for an hour or two :frown:

And when I am tired I am very prone to headaches too, so if I've had a busy day, I'm likely to have a headache by the evening - the sort of throbbing type that gets worse if you try to do anything strenuous.

My mum is a midwife, so she often has 'pee testing' sticks - just little paper looking sticks that you pee on and change colour to test for diabetes. I have convinced her to let me try one of those once - and lo and behold, no diabetes. But that was quite a while ago, so I could have developed it by now.....

:boing:

<< that's me being relentlessly pulled back to my worries. :tongue:

Reply 252

Watch Key Phone

Original post by paniking_and_not_revising

I was just wondering since you give out very good advice.

Pakistani. Mental Health is looked down upon.

Aww thank you :smile:

At the moment, I am interested in going into therapy or psychology of some sort in future, although my mind might change.

I can see how cultural issues might get in the way of you getting help for your problems, I'm sorry. :frown:

Reply 253

Watch Key Phone

Original post by susan23

Yes, yesterday I wanted to commit suicide, but then I didn't, for some reason :s-smilie:

I don't even know why I'm telling you this...
I guess the only person who can help me is me. Sometimes the pain is too much that I can't feel it anymore, because I'm so use to it.

I'm glad you didn't.

You are telling me because you need to talk to someone, but your anthropophobia may make that hard in real life (I don't claim to know loads about it).

It's true that only you can help yourself, but that doesn't mean you can't get some help from others. Have you been to a doctor? I would suggest therapy, and perhaps even medication, because you sound like you are really struggling at the moment, and you can't get through this on your own.

:hugs:

Reply 254

Watch Key Phone

Ummm, ok then...... :colondollar:

Why, what stage of being a therapist are you at?

Reply 255

Ratiocinator

Original post by Amwazicles

<< that's me being relentlessly pulled back to my worries. :tongue:

I even got a blood sugar testing kit, which unsurprisingly didn't indicate that anything was wrong. When I go to the doctor on Tuesday I might request a blood test just for peace of mind

Reply 256

Watch Key Phone

Ooh cool - what is it like at uni?? Tell me everything!! :angry:

I'm a bit torn so far between the maths/physics side of things, and philosophy/psychology - I'm doing those four at A level, plus photography, but I don't expect to carry that on...

Reply 257

Watch Key Phone

Original post by Ratiocinator

I even got a blood sugar testing kit, which unsurprisingly didn't indicate that anything was wrong. When I go to the doctor on Tuesday I might request a blood test just for peace of mind

Yeah that's fair enough if it will reassure you.

:smile:

Reply 258

Watch Key Phone

I'm friending all the regular posters on here because everyone's so lovely :grouphugs:

so that's the reason for all the random friend requests... feel free to ignore if you have like a policy of only friending people you know in real life or anything... no hard feelings :smile:

Reply 259

dungeonkeepr

I've always been shy and disliked hugs and physical contact made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I didn't really notice it was a thing until my first year at uni. Every couple weeks or so, I got overloaded with the amount of people and just hid in my room for a day or two, not talking to anyone if I could, until I'd recovered.

This year (2nd year), I made progress - after I flew to Australia and back, fighting back against my fear of flying/heights - and joined a martial arts club. I got a lot better at touching people and hugging them. But it got a lot worse in the second semester, because instead of a gradual build up, so I could recognise I was about to break and stop activities so that the time it took me to get back to normal was shorter, I just got hit. It's got bad enough that I've realised I need counselling and will start when I get back to uni.

On a positive note, my boyfriend has really helped me be less scared of flying - I used to, and still do a bit, have problems even seeing an aeroplane because it makes me think through what it would be like to fall. But now I'm a bit better and flying to Siberia Thursday, so at the least I know I'm not letting it hold me back :smile: