How does one accept the diagnosis of anxiety?

[uk23]

My anxiety has been out of control for years but recently went into over drive. I can't seem to turn it off. I wish I could accept the diagnosis of anxiety :(

[Annie0904]

It would be great if we could just turn it off. It will get better though, mine was really bad for years but I learnt to accept it and have been mostly anxiety free but keep having these little 'blips' but I try to focus on positive things (I know sometimes it feels like there isn't anything positive) I hope you get there soon :hugs::hugs:

[bernie1977]

I'm with you on this one uk23 it is very hard to accept. When I'm bad I find reading about it helps. I've recently started CBT4PANIC and they explain everything about panic disorder. I've found really understanding the illness makes me realise what I'm going through is normal to the condition and I'm not going mad

[PokerFace]

I'm sorry your anxiety is so bad lately. Accepting anxiety when every cell in your body seems to be screaming at you that there's something seriously wrong is probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to do.

I read that you have OCD as well as anxiety so that must make things 100 times harder for you when the thoughts and fears come.

I'm not really good at explanations, I tend to ramble a bit but I'll try my best for you because no one deserves to be consumed by anxiety.

For me, I just started slow, I tried to counter every negative thought my brain popped into my head. For me my main focus was my heart, I was convinced there was something wrong with it, even convinced parts of my insides were rotting away but when you start to get scared and start getting the "what if?"'s just say to yourself it's anxiety. When I found something on me that scared me or something happened to trigger me I started smiling and laughing it off, thinking damn, anxiety's at me again! Then I'd ignore it and forget all about it. Hard to do and I felt mental for a while but it did change my attitude towards it eventually.

Wake up everyday believing you're going to accept it and it's going to happen. That your mental health will get better. Do everything you can to counter the anxiety. When you feel like you can't leave the house because you're was too scared and/or depressed, get dressed and go straight out, battling through it. When you feel like you're going to have a panic attack, push the feelings back and if you can't, let them come but try not to rise to them and escalate them.

When you get you're symptoms, old or new, keep an eye on them and then go to the doctor if you see no improvement. If you're not happy with that diagnosis and still feel anxious about them, get a second opinion and then really focus on it. When you start to feel the worries coming back about what's scaring you, tell yourself it's anxiety and believe it. It's your brain making you feel this way and you're accepting it for what it is, don't doubt yourself anymore.

It feels like a constant battle with yourself at first. Like you spend more time having conversations with yourself in your head than you do with real people. I found it physically and emotionally draining but I'm so much better now than I was 8 months ago.

Remember to enjoy yourself too. Hard when every waking moment is just an anxious blur, but enjoying yourself is really important. If you start to feel happier in yourself, your anxiety will improve.

I think I remember reading one of your threads where you said counselling didn't work for you? Or medication? I'm not sure if it was you or not. If it was you, I don't know exactly how many times you've had it, but would you be willing to give it another try if you find my advice useless?

I hope you start to feel better soon, really do. x

[uk23]

Thank you for the positive words, I do try and tell myself 'it's OK' etc but it seems like it's mostly physical anxiety. The mental side is calm'ish but when the physical anxiety comes it's hard to ignore. I just feel so trapped. I haven't now left the house, apart from a couple of doctors appointments, in over a month. Everything seems to be flaring up at the moment, my IBS, Depression, OCD and BPD.

I have already tried different medications from every class available, the only one left was Mirtazapine but after reading the posts on here my mood went even lower :(

[bernie1977]

Thank you for the positive words, I do try and tell myself 'it's OK' etc but it seems like it's mostly physical anxiety. The mental side is calm'ish but when the physical anxiety comes it's hard to ignore. I just feel so trapped. I haven't now left the house, apart from a couple of doctors appointments, in over a month. Everything seems to be flaring up at the moment, my IBS, Depression, OCD and BPD.

I have already tried different medications from every class available, the only one left was Mirtazapine but after reading the posts on here my mood went even lower :(

Have you tried Trazodone? It's the only antidepressant I've had that hasn't caused any awful side effects. I'm not on any AD's at the moment and have decided to leave a message tomorrow for my psychiatrist to call me as I'm going to see if I can go back on trazodone as I'm not coping at all. I've tried SSRI'S and SNRI's but they made me feel awful.