some thoughts and ideas - please read ;]

[lotus]

OK guys ... I really want to share this with you. I've been thinking so much about anxiety, I've researched it on the Internet, I know pretty much all there is to know about it. But I keep thinking about it and analysing it over and over again, from different perspectives, because I want to figure it out. I know it's a complex condition in terms of symptoms, fears, frustrations, and thought patterns, but I believe that it all comes down to some pretty basic things.

Our Basic Fears
We have so many different fears and frustrations. We are afraid that we will faint, that we will choke, that we will go mad, that we will stop breathing, that we will get a heart attack or develop a heart disease, etc. But what lies beneath all of this? What does it all come down to? What are our basic fears? Aren't we all simply afraid of DEATH? What other basic fears could we have? Fear of not being able to live a normal, happy life? Fear of losing control of our lives? Fear of not being able to develop our full potential? Fear of being stuck with a terrible disease that we will never manage to overcome? What does it all come down to?

Thoughts and Feelings/Reason and Emotion
OK, we have all kinds of different symptoms that scare the hell out of us. Fear is a feeling, an emotion. It's not a thought. We KNOW that our symptoms will not harm us. But we cannot FEEL that they will not harm us. I think that we will manage to deal with the symptoms once we find a way to FEEL that they cannot hurt us or kill us. What can we do about it?

A Crazy Coping Idea
All of us are frustrated about our future. Are we gonna be OK? Will we ever beat this? How are we gonna cope with our lives? I believe that once we manage to calm down and realize that we will be OK, we really will be OK. Recently I've been thinking that visiting a psychic /I'm not sure if this is the right term, I mean a person who can foretell the future; a medium?/ and asking them about the future might help /that is, for the people who believe in psychics ;]/ If the psychic tells you that, for example, you will have a brilliant career, 2 kids, a nice home etc, wouldn't you calm down? Woudn't this assure you that you will recover and not die? I know it's crazy, but recently I've been thinking that it might help all of our fears and frustrations.

Please, let me know what you think about all of this.

[Meg]

I'll start with this one ..

Fear is a feeling, an emotion. It's not a thought.

So you see a lion/ traffic jam/ police car or even have the sensation of a chest pain/ palpitation/ dizzy ...

What converts your image into fear ? - yet doesn't do the same if it is an image in a book ?

If it's you who is feeling a chest pain you can feel scared but if a colleague describes their chest pain to you, you may be sympathetic but whilst they're still talking and appear healthy you don't have that same gripping fear

It is the thoughts you apply to the situations that decide what feelings/emotions come next.

It is not the image but it is the way you react/ respond to them that cause the emotion/ feeling that follows and this can be in a split second.

Energy follows thought.

Lets try to keep our thoughts in perspective (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=283)



Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[carlin]

Hi there,
read your post with interest....
Have suffered for many years, and the only thing i haven't or wouldn't try is a medium/psychic.I do not fear death, it comes to us all in time, i fear fear, it's as simple as that. If i went to see a medium, he/she would look at me, work out my age,then work out that maybe one or more of my parents are gone, that i have grown up children and a husband,and what if she told me that i had an illness that needed to be sorted out, that would terrify me (and a lot of other people), this does happen, (my aunt can vouch for that), It's my mind that causes my problems, then my body takes over and the symptoms appear and the circle begins, i'm still trying to break this circle and i don't think a medium telling me i'm going to live to be a hundred will help, i could walk out and get run over by a bus, Enjoyed reading your post...keep in touch.

[doddy]

hi there,

a good post, but isntt the pysic idea just another form of reassurance?? isnt it like the visits to the doctor to be told all is fine but then still worrying??

I understand what you say about the pysic, but to me you feel fine for a few days, like after most reassurance and then the worry, what if she is wrong?? what if she made it all up?? and so on........

your thoughts are great and do put things into perspective but i truly belive the best way to deal with this is to try and carry on as normal, go to all the places you usually visit, accept it for what it is, just worry, and realise it wont go overnight it takes time and basically try and learn from it.

Ive no recognised how small things used to become massive in my mind, and i think its a build up of the small things getting out of control that have ended up getting me into the mess i was in. so change the way you look at things and stick with it.

truly belive that you are the only one who can get you out of the anxiety cycle with help and support it can be done.

doddy

[florence]

Hi Indie

A very interesting post indeed, and i will agree about the fear of death, just because its my main problem, but then this is my opinion, and opinions vary from people to people.
I also have fear of driving which logically is connected to my fear of death.
So.. your "basic fears" post makes sense to me. But thats just me. ;)

Take care.
Florence.x

**See the world more as it is, less as what you are.**

[seh1980]

hello Indie,

I think we all fit into one or some of those categories. I definitely have the third one..I think you've summed them up very well.

Sarah :D

[jollywalrus]

Hi Indie,

Without going in to too much detail, I have seen a Psychic, a lovely lady who told me lots of very positive things that were going to happen to me. A good Psychic never shares bad news even if she sees it. Some things that she told me, I hoped for and some things she told me I just laughed at. But let me tell you, ALL of them came true!

Best wishes,
Christine