phil6
16-05-13, 18:42
Hi all,
I have had anxiety on and off for most of my life... i am 60 now.
I have had a long period of feeling good... no or only occasional anxiety and finally retired and now have very little or nothing to really worry about..
I got worried about a few things going on in my life a few months ago, but they were really not BIG things, and started to feel the old feelings on waking and started to think all the old wrong thoughts. I seem to have slowly but surely found myself back at the bottom of the hole again.
Although I am an "expert" on all of the methods... accepting, floating, breathing etc. etc. and these have worked for me in the past (eventually), the shock of being ill again has been very difficult. I have been hitting myself with the worst of all thoughts, that I cannot do this again.... and now retired, have plenty of time to worry.
I am a firm believer that I need to change my relationship to my physical feelings. I think I am accepting, but I am not really. Everything I do is about relieving symptoms, in particular feeling sick with a knotted stomach all day and this is not truly accepting.
I have great difficulty on describing this feeling except to say that it makes me feel very vulnerable and frightened, and eventually gets me upset and tearful.
I find the whole experience exhausting and depressing.
I have decided to give up a few worrysome responsibilities that I do as a volunteer, and this made me happy for a short while but I knew my worry would shift and come back in a new guise. I find it very difficult to make decisions on what I do and do not do in my life. I know i should not avoid anxious situations but on the other hand I did take on new responsibilities when I was well and these caused worries that brought on the latest relapse.
When I feel a little better, usually in the evening, i resolve to change my attitude back to acceptance, but today, once again, I have had a bad time, and got very desperate. This is so easy to do when you feel OK and so difficult when you are actually anxious.
Any tips on how to cope with this awful knot in the pit of my stomach. It seems like I should be able to accept this but when it comes, I feel such a weakling.
Thanx
I have had anxiety on and off for most of my life... i am 60 now.
I have had a long period of feeling good... no or only occasional anxiety and finally retired and now have very little or nothing to really worry about..
I got worried about a few things going on in my life a few months ago, but they were really not BIG things, and started to feel the old feelings on waking and started to think all the old wrong thoughts. I seem to have slowly but surely found myself back at the bottom of the hole again.
Although I am an "expert" on all of the methods... accepting, floating, breathing etc. etc. and these have worked for me in the past (eventually), the shock of being ill again has been very difficult. I have been hitting myself with the worst of all thoughts, that I cannot do this again.... and now retired, have plenty of time to worry.
I am a firm believer that I need to change my relationship to my physical feelings. I think I am accepting, but I am not really. Everything I do is about relieving symptoms, in particular feeling sick with a knotted stomach all day and this is not truly accepting.
I have great difficulty on describing this feeling except to say that it makes me feel very vulnerable and frightened, and eventually gets me upset and tearful.
I find the whole experience exhausting and depressing.
I have decided to give up a few worrysome responsibilities that I do as a volunteer, and this made me happy for a short while but I knew my worry would shift and come back in a new guise. I find it very difficult to make decisions on what I do and do not do in my life. I know i should not avoid anxious situations but on the other hand I did take on new responsibilities when I was well and these caused worries that brought on the latest relapse.
When I feel a little better, usually in the evening, i resolve to change my attitude back to acceptance, but today, once again, I have had a bad time, and got very desperate. This is so easy to do when you feel OK and so difficult when you are actually anxious.
Any tips on how to cope with this awful knot in the pit of my stomach. It seems like I should be able to accept this but when it comes, I feel such a weakling.
Thanx