Towelie
24-11-17, 19:48
Hi all, just thought I'd share how I started feeling better after a few days when I was in quite a worry hole. Here's my advice:
(I am not a psychotherapist, nor have I ever made it past a consultation with one. I believe this advice falls under the category of cbt?)
First, I did a lot of research on what anxiety is which I'm sure you all have as well. But look up Dr Marty rossman on YouTube and watch "how to use your brain to turn anxiety into calm" (or something along those lines). It was a very useful video for me to understand how easy it is to enter a state of anxiety and how you can exit the stress response. I would try and use his imagery idea once a day or so when I was at my worst.
Second, any time I get in a train of thought such as "what if it's this? I might have this! This could happen, my life might be over!" I would stop and tell myself I'm being irrational. Worst case scenario, I'm right and I'll spend my last moments worrying or just make whatever it is much worse by worrying about it. During these loops of worrying thoughts I would say to myself "right now you're literally creating more symptoms that are going to show up tomorrow or whenever, so stop right now or youll never be free of this." Acknowledge your worries as soon as they happen and let them go(much easier said than done). Just to give your anxiety a little piece of mind, promise yourself if the symptoms don't go away after a week or 2, you will get checked out, but until that time, no jumping to conclusions.
Thirdly, as soon i feel a chest tightness, tingling arm or leg, etc. I catch myself! And say "oh there's a symptom of my anxiety and that's all there is to it." If you start wondering oh no what's this!? You're just entering fight or flight mode which will make the symptom last longer or create new ones.
Fourth, I got a family physician because I'm sick of walk-ins. Today was my first appointment with him but i felt better so i didnt explain any symptoms i was having earlier this week. It's just nice to have my own doctor now rather than a stranger who I can't help but feel does not care about me.
Lastly, and this should have been number 1, DO NOT RESEARCH SYMPTOMS. I caught myself several times pulling out my phone to check what's wrong with me. It just leads to your brain jumping to worst case scenarios and then the worrying starts which leads to more symptoms etc etc.
So hopefully this helps someone. I've been in a hole for a few months and I really put in the work for the last 4 days or so and I'm about %90 better. I still have some worries but I'm going to give it another week or 2 before telling my doctor. For now I tell myself it's anxiety and worrying will just make it last longer.
I personally just got tired of living like this and accepted that I have no control over any of these freak health concerns. If I have a brain tumor or blood clot or something, that's it, I'll die and there's nothing I can really do to help it. I think it's all about trusting your body to heal itself and keep itself healthy. I gotta quit being a control freak! I will continue to exercise and eat half-ass healthy but that's about all I can do.
From here I must remember what I've learned, as I've been here before and thought "I'm free!" Without looking back and then six months later, BAM, I was worrying myself sick again and had no idea why. Hopefully if it happens again, I can catch it before it starts affecting my personal life and performance at work.
I know I don't have it as bad as some of you, I've only dealt with this for a couple of years and I'm very strong mentally, but it feels horrible to be on a downward slope with your mental health. I'm only trying to help by posting this. Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry I'm not the best writer!
Towelie
(I am not a psychotherapist, nor have I ever made it past a consultation with one. I believe this advice falls under the category of cbt?)
First, I did a lot of research on what anxiety is which I'm sure you all have as well. But look up Dr Marty rossman on YouTube and watch "how to use your brain to turn anxiety into calm" (or something along those lines). It was a very useful video for me to understand how easy it is to enter a state of anxiety and how you can exit the stress response. I would try and use his imagery idea once a day or so when I was at my worst.
Second, any time I get in a train of thought such as "what if it's this? I might have this! This could happen, my life might be over!" I would stop and tell myself I'm being irrational. Worst case scenario, I'm right and I'll spend my last moments worrying or just make whatever it is much worse by worrying about it. During these loops of worrying thoughts I would say to myself "right now you're literally creating more symptoms that are going to show up tomorrow or whenever, so stop right now or youll never be free of this." Acknowledge your worries as soon as they happen and let them go(much easier said than done). Just to give your anxiety a little piece of mind, promise yourself if the symptoms don't go away after a week or 2, you will get checked out, but until that time, no jumping to conclusions.
Thirdly, as soon i feel a chest tightness, tingling arm or leg, etc. I catch myself! And say "oh there's a symptom of my anxiety and that's all there is to it." If you start wondering oh no what's this!? You're just entering fight or flight mode which will make the symptom last longer or create new ones.
Fourth, I got a family physician because I'm sick of walk-ins. Today was my first appointment with him but i felt better so i didnt explain any symptoms i was having earlier this week. It's just nice to have my own doctor now rather than a stranger who I can't help but feel does not care about me.
Lastly, and this should have been number 1, DO NOT RESEARCH SYMPTOMS. I caught myself several times pulling out my phone to check what's wrong with me. It just leads to your brain jumping to worst case scenarios and then the worrying starts which leads to more symptoms etc etc.
So hopefully this helps someone. I've been in a hole for a few months and I really put in the work for the last 4 days or so and I'm about %90 better. I still have some worries but I'm going to give it another week or 2 before telling my doctor. For now I tell myself it's anxiety and worrying will just make it last longer.
I personally just got tired of living like this and accepted that I have no control over any of these freak health concerns. If I have a brain tumor or blood clot or something, that's it, I'll die and there's nothing I can really do to help it. I think it's all about trusting your body to heal itself and keep itself healthy. I gotta quit being a control freak! I will continue to exercise and eat half-ass healthy but that's about all I can do.
From here I must remember what I've learned, as I've been here before and thought "I'm free!" Without looking back and then six months later, BAM, I was worrying myself sick again and had no idea why. Hopefully if it happens again, I can catch it before it starts affecting my personal life and performance at work.
I know I don't have it as bad as some of you, I've only dealt with this for a couple of years and I'm very strong mentally, but it feels horrible to be on a downward slope with your mental health. I'm only trying to help by posting this. Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry I'm not the best writer!
Towelie