Anxiety is all about how we perceive situations

[samtheman]

Here is my theory, I was talking to a friend yesterday, He works in a grocery store, we where talking about drinking, He said the following "I can remember one day when when I had a hangover and went into work, I was stacking the shelves and it was like the isles where closing in, and almost like the tins where going to jump of the sleves at me, it was totally mad" He saw this as cool, if that was me i'd be in total terror and a panic attack would be guaranteed.

Another one being, a work mate was telling me a bout a spliff he had recently, he said is was mad, he was so out of it it was like being in a dream, he loved it. I had a similar experience on cannabis a few years back and it was that experience that triggered my panic attacks and anxiety, I didn't see anything fun about that situation yet he saw it as fun.

I think we experince all the same feelings in certain situation yet some of us perceive it as fear yet others see it as fun.

[Anna C]

Hi,

I agree with what you say, I have a book about CBT, it gives an example of 10 people who experience the same event, but they all have different emotional responses depending on how they think about the event.

One became angry, one happy, one anxious etc.
I know I have been upset and anxious in situations were other people would have laughed or been happy and relaxed.

Anna xx

[vti2007]

It is the same as the Rollercoaster thing,

Same ride but 100's of different reactions to it, everything from refusing to going on it to riding time after time after time.

I love them but I can have a totally different experience dependent on my frame of mind on the day. If I am happy and awake they are great, can go on the same ride a day or two later when I am tired and not feeling so great and it will make me feel properly rough!!

It is not just different people, it is different moods as well I think :)

[bab]

thats a really good way of looking at it - I always think of all the things I worry about, doesnt even cross other peoples minds and then I think i wish i wa slike that, but then I think at least I am prepared -

[Zingara]

That's very true, I remember once a girl at work telling me about a time she had drunk too many bacardi breezers, and as she put it 'was puking blue stuff all night'. She thought this was funny. I, being emetophobic, was going hot with panic just listening to her.
In a way, though, I'd rather be me with all my panics and anxieties than be like that.... sometimes that kind of couldn't-care-less attitude goes with being pretty insensitive. At least that's my experience.

[feels_like_home]

This is so true. A friend of mine was really tired one morning driving to work and she said she felt really spaced out or like she was in a dream. She said that she enjoyed it as she felt relaxed. If that was me I would be in a total panic because I hate the feeling. All we need to do now is change our perception of our experiences. This is the hard part. Thanks for the post.
Michelle

[Anxious_gal]

ya its so true, a bad trip (on drugs) is just a panic attack.

[djvtech]

After my first time trying cannabis I loved it for a few times, then started getting panic attacks on it so I stopped. My friend on the other hand can get so high that he can't remember what he's talking about half the time and love it.

Now anytime I feel like my consciousness is altered, I get anxiety, even drinking, or having lack of sleep. But when I start to get depersonalization or weird feelings, i try to convince myself that I actually enjoy them, and it seems like that is making them easier to deal with.

The way you think of things certainly changes how they affect you. Just try to ENJOY anxiety and maybe it will become easier to cope with. It's not impossible because there's some people enjoy feeling pain or other things people normally don't like.

[mlondon]

Hi

Absolutely. I have had friends that have gone through a difficult time and had panic attacks. In fact it is suprising the number of people who do but they haven't paid too much attention to it. It is when you focus on the anxiety and think about it and imagine feeling panic so that you end up experiencing it over and over again that it becomes a big problem. I think by ignoring it, within time it would go away but that means distracted your mind everytime you think of fear or anxiety or panic. Easier said than done!

Good luck x

[steveo]

Wow! Reading this had made me chuckle! It's so true! I can't leave the house if I have a hangover or if I have had a bad nights sleep because I may start 'freaking out' a bit at the weird feelings I am experiencing but my mates don't mind! I would go ever so slightly mad if I was trapped in a lift, but some people wouldn't. It is exactly the same situation but it is how we percieve it. I will remember this next time I am feeling a bit paniccy.
Hope everyone is well :-) x

[Eva May]

99% of people I know get mad and irritated in a traffic jam and they look for something to occupy themselves until it's time to move on again. But me, it might as well be the end of the world to be stuck in a traffic jam! Looking for something to occupy myself is a matter of survival:wacko:

[Zingara]

Just wanted to add though... does it ever occur to you that these people who don't get anxious must be a just a little bit dim?!
As my boyfriend says 'If you can keep your head when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you... then you've completely misunderstood the situation!'

[Captain America]

ah yeah, the 'dim' thing. i can honestly say i've not yet met a 'stupid' person who suffers from anxiety. it's us clever ones that try to outsmart ourselves that get into trouble. i have some friends who are unfazed by anything, and although i won't say they're stupid, they certainly are more accepting in general of the way things are, and not just when it comes to anxiety. they accept things in their lives, politics, home life, everywhere! and i do believe questioning things is a sign of intelligence.

[djvtech]

I have a friend who seems like he isn't afraid of anything and he says he lives his life like "if I die doing what I like, then oh well." Like he'll drive down the highway going 160 while hes high as heck the whole time and it doesn't occur to him that he could kill himself. Wish I was that fearlessness just without the stupidity.

[Cathy V]

Not sure if we should call people who dont let anxiety take hold 'dim'! My partner has a masters, isnt easily fazed, has an opinion about how the world is run, but is just a very laid back person...:)

[citygirl1]

Listen their bum is awfful. I have a lot more to offer!!!! OH HYEAH!!!!!

[pooh]

Lol my doc of sometime ago would have described me as emotionally thick lol I may be academically clever and good at my job but emotional intelligence...well thats another subject entirely lol

Pooh x

[Lynnann]

I think our perception of situations depends on our personal experiences; we can't understand why some one else percieves it differently as we have lived different lives. There is a saying you have to walk a mile in someone else's shoes to understand them.

My first panic attack happened when I was walking the dog and got trapped in sinking mud, my family all thought it was hiarious, obviously I didn't but that was my perspective.

Lynnann