Feeling bad for feeling excited

[amber1973]

I'm going on holiday in 10 weeks and am so excited about it as its a well needed break for my family x only problem is I feel bad for feeling excited x like I shouldn't get excited as if I do something bad will happen x I'm just starting to buy clothes and bits and bobs and love doing this in preparation and always found it exciting but I feel guilty now😓😓

Does anyone else feel this way x

[JoeGomez17]

I'm going on holiday in 10 weeks and am so excited about it as its a well needed break for my family x only problem is I feel bad for feeling excited x like I shouldn't get excited as if I do something bad will happen x I'm just starting to buy clothes and bits and bobs and love doing this in preparation and always found it exciting but I feel guilty now😓😓

Does anyone else feel this way x

Hi Amber,

I went through a period of about a year where I was very anxious. When I was starting to get better, I felt bad for feeling good. I would think "this is great, but don't get too excited because you will panic again". Sometimes it would make me not do the things I was planning to do.

Its pretty common to feel that way. Just try to do as much as you can, and the feeling of guilt will go away.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, this is quite common in recovery. You become so used to feeling anxious that feeling positive emotions can feel weird/alien. Try to accept these emotions for what they are and go with it. You can't make bads things happen, thats known as Magical Thinking and its 100% impossible to impact the world with your thoughts alone. Its commonly seen in OCD, I have this as one of my forms.

If you fight against it, analyse & question it, you encourage the anxiety back earlier than it would return on its own. Try to accept it and go with it. This will become more natural to you within time.

If you feel that by doing X or thinking X you will cause a physical action, then this is more the OCD area. Don't react to it, don't act on compulsions/rituals and be non judgemental and this will decrease over time. Mindfulness is an excellent tool for conquering thiese issues.

Another common issue is that the sensations of excitement are quite close to those of anxiety. So, we often believe we will become so excited that we will tip the over into anxiety. This only happens if you engage in negative thinking about those symptoms. If you can avoid this, it will remain as excitement.

I hope you enjoy your holiday.