Do the thoughts go? Can anxiety ever be truly managed? [Archive]

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citygirl1

29-09-08, 22:01

JasonB

29-09-08, 22:43

Just wanting to see if there is anyone out there who has overcome anxiety in the long term? Every now and then my thinking gets so irrational. I don't think my anxiety has took over my life as yet, but when it does it's such a horrible feeling.

Would be good to hear others thoughts.:blush:

Hi Citygirl,

I am 100% certain that anxiety and panic can be overcome for good.

The thing is, it does take effort, resilience, and determination. But it doesnt necessesarily have to be hard work, you just have to put effort in. There is no quick fix cure.

If you are having irrational thoughts, I can recommend looking into symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, to see if any of the irrational thoughts that are presented there ring true to you.

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If irrational thoughts are a big thing in your anxiety and/or depression, then I can recommend "Mindfulness for Beginners" by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Audiobook) and books that deal with OCD. (Either Overcoming OCD, or anything by Claire Weekes.)

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Yes, Anxiety, Panic, and OCD can be beaten.

Just like your brain can be programmed to be anxious, and worried... it can also be reprogrammed to be calm, and positive.

Peace and Good Luck

Jason

tom1

29-09-08, 23:15

I am wondering this too, and in fact I am also suffering from intrusive thoughts (see my thread for details).

All I know is, I think the mind needs to be reprogrammed in some way to bypass the typical train of thought. I am not sure how successful people have been in doing this, since it is literally changing the way your brain thinks and rationalises things. I think CBT therapy kind of touches on this from I have learnt.

I certainly remain optimistic about it being overcome and all I can say is I hope you share the same enthusiasm - as I think all of us anxiety sufferers need to remain positive and stick together. :)

Callisto

30-09-08, 00:00

I find myself wondering this too. On the bad days it seems impossible that things could ever go back to the way they were before, but other days... or parts of days when I'm feeling better, I can imagine feeling normal again. My worst fear is that the anxiety will become normal for me... just something I have to accept for the rest of my life.

I hope this isn't the case, and it's very reassuring to hear that people have recovered. There seems to be no quick fix, but perhaps the hard work will pay off in the end.

Bill

30-09-08, 01:45

Are there days or moments in a day when you feel completely at ease and are enjoying yourself free of anxiety or any anxious thoughts? If so, what are you doing when you feel at ease?......and if you do have these times when you feel at ease, doesn't that prove that we can be free of anxiety if we remind ourselves of how we're thinking at those times?

I would suggest that if you don't have times feeling free of anxiety, that you're probably either "feeling trapped" indoors or doing a boring or stressful job that you don't enjoy. Does that give you clue?

Personally I find that the times I feel completely free of anxiety are when I'm doing something I really have to focus on that I enjoy doing.

In other words, a bored or stressed mind will wander onto anxious thoughts and so it's at those times that we need to work on how to focus the mind away from dwelling on negative thoughts which I'll add can be achieved once you've learnt how!:hugs:

citygirl1

30-09-08, 10:04

Hi again.

I'm usually at work when i'm free of the anxious thoughts, if i'm keeping myself busy. But surely you can't keep yourself busy 24 hours a day. I think i'm finding it hard to just relax and switch off. I don't feel trapped indoors and actually feel better when i'm out and about, my job can be stressful but i now have extra help and a really understanding boss. Plus i would say now looking back i have been anxious before this job and always about silly things that people just give me a strange look for if i try to explain.

It's like hey what ridiculous thing can you worry about now.

Your right it's my thought pattern i need to try and change. I thought my patterns were usually very good but if i go through these stages in my life were anxiety takes over me then i guess i'm not as good at controlling my thinking as i thought.

HeatherMc

30-09-08, 11:23

you know what yesterday I looked on the ocd sections and realised that this is what I have obsessive thoughts along with the anx and panic, also I chatted to a couple of yourselves, and the penny is slowly dropping, its the blasted thoughts???????????
this morning lying in bed I had the usual worrying about dementia, schizophrenia etc and thought why don't I worry about winning the lottery! that does not play on my mind like everything else.

If anyone has got over all this I would be very grateful.

Cheers

Heather

Bill

01-10-08, 03:02

Heather,

Am I right in thinking you work in mental health........and you say you wake in the mornings worrying about schizophrenia etc?

Is there I wonder a connection between the two because they do say people often take their work home with them!:D

Would winning the lottery scare you? If not, that's why you Don't worry about it!

Seriously, I think your thoughts symbolise your fear of losing control. We need to feel in control to feel "safe" so we try to control ourselves and everything around us. It means we lead a narrow path with fear controlling either side so that as soon as we are forced to wander off our path, our anxiety starts because we don't feel safe.

You need to let go by allowing yourself to think these thoughts without them causing you fear. Allow yourself to wander off your path to de-sensitise you. Thoughts are just like someone suffering from arachnophobia seeing a spider. They have to be able to touch the spider without feeling fear just as you need to think your frightening thoughts without feeling fear too.

The same applies to you citygirl.:hugs: