These precious fleeting moments of stability....

[zeros]

Hey folks,

I'm getting extremely frustrated about the psychological instability that comes with anxiety in general. It seems like I am hopping from one problem to another and while I'm at it there are only a few days of relative peace of mind in between. In these days there is a general sense of doom while I'm trying to hold on to the state of neutrality as hard as I can only to slip away to another stupid obsession.... It leaves me in a constant state of instability. There is no predicting when I will feel stable enough to deal with challenges. Even when I make appointments in the future I am not sure if at that time I will be stable enough to deal with them...that's a horrible state of existence don't you agree?

After years of analyzing I concluded that it is in these moments between obsessions/anxieties where the grand problem lies. Somehow it is the pressure of feeling normal... the addiction to anxiety if you will that drives me to another obsession. I can't just feel good. Once I start feeling good my mind goes "oh, you're feeling good, that's terrific but it's too good to be true.. where are all the problems" after that it's just a strom of "oh no oh no" in my mind because all the past obsessions come crawling out of the abyss to catch me again.

How do you guys deal with it when you feel good? Is there a good way to just avoid slipping from one obsession/anxiety into another?

I'd welcome all ideas at this point. What has worked for you?

Jake

[Davit]

You should read the thread "words" we have compiled why your mind does that to you. You can reduce or eliminate the anxiety but it might take a while to get rid of the compulsion. At least you will know why it happens.

[zeros]

Good tip, I'll have a look at it!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Jake,

This is a common one. I've seen people mention it on here and people at the charity walk-ins I used to go to talked about it.

Basically, the longer you suffer with anxiety the more you change you beliefs to that of an anxious person. Then when you start to recover and experience the better says you start questioning them because they are alien to you. The result of the questions is simply to bring the anxiety back.

The key is acceptance and not stopping doing the things you want in those times. The more you don't question this, the more it will come and it will come easier too.

So, its natural at first to question all this because your beliefs have changed. You know have a bias towards anxiety/negativity so you have to retrain yourself to know its ok to have good days and this bias will disappear.

Remember when I mentioned "Core Beliefs" to you? Thats exactly this. So, have a read through the links I sent you (Davit - these are the ones Kimberley & I posted on your "Core Beliefs" thread).

Words are also important in Core Beliefs & Cognitive Distprtions (read these too). Your use of language in your thoughts and your judgements about your situation will have a direct impact on your beliefs and any bias whether to reinforce it or create a new one or adjust an existing one.

And I understand about the planning issue. I believe I am having some medication issues which are mostly causing mine but I do suffer a few days of higher anxiety after set periods and it does greatly get in the way. This was much worse for me when I was starting to recover and what I did was use the good periods to try new things so that when the bad days came back, they were now a routine (on the bad days routine was pretty much all I had). This allowed me to reinstitute a daily routine.

[Davit]

Jake, it does work. It takes a bit of repetition to get your mind around. I still have concerns every day, life is tough for me but I never have it ruined anymore by anxiety or panic. Never. Life is good, even on the especially painful days when it is hard to do anything.

[Sunflower2]

Hi Jake,
This is my anxiety summarised... I am constantly between highs and lows depending on my mood and when I'm good I often find myself wondering how long it's going to last and that I shouldn't plan anything in case I'm bad on that day. In fact, about 2 months ago I was feeling quite good and thought I'd manage to travel to Holland on my own to meet my boyfriend out there. As I was feeling good, I felt like I'd be able to manage. Then lo and behold, as soon as I felt bad again I thought I'd made a massive mistake booking flights etc and thought id end up having to cancel. In the end, I went. I was nervous, but I followed through and used every technique I'd learnt to deal with anxiety. And it was a really really good lesson for me. (Anxiety wasn't even half as bad as I'd predicted, and none of my worries came true either!)

So, my point is, when you feel good don't let it stop you from planning fun things that you want to do in the future. And don't cancel anything because you're feeling bad a week or so beforehand. Take each day as it comes and try enjoy the good days when they come!