Theincrowd
22-01-15, 09:45
Hi all,
I have followed the stories here from afar and the words and experiences described have really helped me. I posted a few months ago, but essentially my story is that while working as an expat in a developing country, which included lots of stress, I became very sick with a stomach infection and due to poor access to healthcare started to have terrible anxiety on top of the physical symptoms of the infection. That was in August when I inadequately describe what happened as a "nervous breakdown".
Since then I have been off work and had a rollorcoaster of a time "trying" to recover. This has meant being at home alone a lot of the time as friends and family are at work, which has been tough, and days where the anxiety and tension in my body made simple tasks difficult. When I last wrote I had four main problems of palpitations, dizziness, insomnia and lack of confidence. As time as progressed I have felt myself improving very slowly, with the key things being accepting the uncomfortable feelings and pushing myself to do things despite bodily sensation, and anxiety of the consequences.
Where I am now is that I have rid myself of the constant dizziness and palpitations mainly through acceptance and practicing meditation everyday (shout out to the Jon Kabat Zinn Mindfulness course from the book Full Catastrophe Living - hard at first but relatively effective). I have not taken any medications. What I have been left with and been struggling with all along is insomnia, getting either fitful sleep every night or getting around 4-6 hours of broken sleep, always with quite vivid dreams (which I know is a symptom of both anxiety and depression). The accompanying tiredness badly impacts my confidence. One of my theories is that the lack of activity and stimulation is playing into the insomnia as when I have pushed myself I have slept slightly better (but never well) - this is also the view of my therapist who is positive about a return to work - but I am unsure.
My dilemma now is I have been offered a great job, starting very soon, but the combination of still struggling with sleep and the lack of confidence from not working means I am nervous about taking it and failing and falling back again. Does anyone have any insights about whether with what I describe I am ready for work? Or battled insomnia but still made the return to work and things improved? Help and advice greatly appreciated.
theincrowd
I have followed the stories here from afar and the words and experiences described have really helped me. I posted a few months ago, but essentially my story is that while working as an expat in a developing country, which included lots of stress, I became very sick with a stomach infection and due to poor access to healthcare started to have terrible anxiety on top of the physical symptoms of the infection. That was in August when I inadequately describe what happened as a "nervous breakdown".
Since then I have been off work and had a rollorcoaster of a time "trying" to recover. This has meant being at home alone a lot of the time as friends and family are at work, which has been tough, and days where the anxiety and tension in my body made simple tasks difficult. When I last wrote I had four main problems of palpitations, dizziness, insomnia and lack of confidence. As time as progressed I have felt myself improving very slowly, with the key things being accepting the uncomfortable feelings and pushing myself to do things despite bodily sensation, and anxiety of the consequences.
Where I am now is that I have rid myself of the constant dizziness and palpitations mainly through acceptance and practicing meditation everyday (shout out to the Jon Kabat Zinn Mindfulness course from the book Full Catastrophe Living - hard at first but relatively effective). I have not taken any medications. What I have been left with and been struggling with all along is insomnia, getting either fitful sleep every night or getting around 4-6 hours of broken sleep, always with quite vivid dreams (which I know is a symptom of both anxiety and depression). The accompanying tiredness badly impacts my confidence. One of my theories is that the lack of activity and stimulation is playing into the insomnia as when I have pushed myself I have slept slightly better (but never well) - this is also the view of my therapist who is positive about a return to work - but I am unsure.
My dilemma now is I have been offered a great job, starting very soon, but the combination of still struggling with sleep and the lack of confidence from not working means I am nervous about taking it and failing and falling back again. Does anyone have any insights about whether with what I describe I am ready for work? Or battled insomnia but still made the return to work and things improved? Help and advice greatly appreciated.
theincrowd