View Full Version : Free floating anxiety - does anyone know why?
I have free floating anxiety. I really dont know why I get anxious. I dont stress over anything at all. My blood pressure is very low - so its not like its high and I am stressed out.
Does anyone have any ideas as to why there is such a thing as free floating anxiety where there is no cause. I feel anxious but I dont know why. :wacko:
Hiya Poppy
General anxiety is common. There is many people who suffer anxiety with no obvious cause. I have read so much about anxiety, I am still none the wiser.
But if I was to list factors contributing to ones anxiety, I would list:
Money worries
Relationship problems
Social circumstances
Enviromental circumstances
Abuse
Hereditary
Diet
Drug/alcohol abuse
chemical (controversial one that, but I think I fit in here)
Complulsive nature
Perfectionist nature
Addictive nature
I always think, (o hang on Liverpool just scored a second against Chelsea :)).
I always think anxiety is in two camps:
One camp is anxiety caused by a known cause that if the cause was addressed, the anxiety would lift, like for example money worry's then having a windfall, I would believe the anxiety would lift almost instant
Then there is the other camp, when we just don't know why we are anxious, or dwelling on our health when we are healthy, or worrying about the future when all is well.
In the latter camp, I do truly beleive it is faulty thinking keeping us in distress. For anxiety caused by an obvious situation, I don't think its the thoughts that make the sufferer ill, but the situation itself.
Just a thought
TC
Jaco
Hi Jaco!
Sorry, not disturbed you watching the football have I? lol :blush:
Thanks for your reply - I am quite impressed that you have taken time out from watching the footy to reply!:ohmy: Not many men like that!
I think my anxiety is caused by a chemical thingy, however all my family have anxiety and depression (I dont get depression) and my mum has always had both, so maybe its hereditary - can that be cured do you think?
I dont have any thing that I worry about at all. I hate having agoraphobia but thats caused by the anxiety.
I try hard to sit and think what is causing the anxiety and there is nothing - nothing serious enough anyway.
Do you think if a cause cannot be found for the anxiety that it is therefore more difficult to treat?
Hey the adverts are now on - so you can reply without missing any of the football ! lol :winks:
It's called half time ;)
These might be factors:
* Lack of self confidence
* Low opinion of self (poor self-esteem)
* Stuck in a rut which is comfortable but boring, and too afraid to change your way of life
* Staying in the house for prolonged periods
* Panic attacks which came out of nowhere and caused you to unconsciously associate certain people, actions or places with feeling bad
* Phobias
Hi Poet! :)
Is it called half time? lol Sorry I dont know much about football other than its boring!!! I am going to get some backlash for that comment I just know! lol :buttkick:
Thanks for suggestions.
I dont suffer with lack of confidence or self esteem, however I do have agoraphobia but I dont stress about that - well I do - but its the anxiety that causes that.
I am not bored as I am always working and doing something and I am not one to get bored.
Maybe the rut thing - but I cant just shake myself out of agoraphobia. I am trying hard to overcome it though.
The panic attacks I dont understand.
Maybe its me hormones! lol
Maybe you're just an anxious person. Maybe it's the way you are "wired up". Some people are so laid back they literally don't give a damn about anything. Other people care too much about everything. You might be one of the latter.
I wish there was rewiring for our heads. Maybe one day in the future....:yesyes: and I bet I will be 99 years old by the time it happens :weep:
Ohhh I am such a positive person :lac:
I had my car's engine computer "remapped" a couple of years ago to make the car more powerful. The remap changes the way the car "thinks", responds and behaves. It's a total beast now, far more impressive than it used to be.
If only it were that simple for human beings! Once they figure out the secrets of the brain there will be no such thing as mental illness or dementia. How I hope that day arrives soon :)
Hiya Poppy
I couldn't post back last night, after seeing Chelsea knock out Liverpool I had a nervous breakdown then some wine.
When I was reading Claire Weekes books, she pointed out that knowing the original trigger, and re-living it (through therapy) was not, not only neccessary for recovery but could also have a negative effect.
The hereditary thing is discussed alot, like a nervous gene. My mother was a severe alcoholic for years brought on by, actually not sure what brought it on but I believe anxiety was a factor. Then again, my mum is 5 foot 1 and I am nearer 5 foot 11 so I didn't get the size gene, if you take my point.
Your man poet here makes some interesting comments about figuring out the mind. I am not sure when they will crack it, but I wish they would pull their finger out ;).
Incidently, SSRI medications work in a particular way (to do with synapes, serotonin, I won't bore you with the details) but as I understand it, the medical world still does not fully understand why they have the desired affect (or not in my case) so waiting for a Eureka moment is some way off I would think.
You may be just the "anxiety" type, which I am starting to come to terms with too. However, I for one don't just accept things cannot be changed.
I have had some real success in the last couple of years with adopting an almost CBT type attitude to my anxiety (having a bit of a relapse now, but it's good practice ;)), I adopted a "so what" style of thinking when I could feel anxiety coming on.
When I analysed my anxiety, it was always down to health. Even if I was stressed out with a work issue, it was not the actual problem that caused my anxiety. It was my attitude to the way it made me feel. Instead of focusing on a resolution for the problem, the problem would raise my anxiety, this would lead to those ole anxiety symptons, pains in chest, breathing, tingling etc etc then my whole world would focus on "IS THIS ANXIETY GOING TO KILL ME?".
Btw it hasn't yet ;) or this would be a neat trick, but I did realise what was going on. My dwelling on the physical symptoms added to the physical symptoms and before you know it, you are like a dog chasing his tail.
Once I mastered a "so what" attitude, I dealt with the physical side as a matter of urgency, straight to thinking "so what, just anxiety, it will pass, accept it, let it run it's course and carry on and deal with the current problem in a calm, concise manner"
After a while this really started to work for me, almost to the point that those little life stresses did not even register on the anxiety scale.
It's something I am working on again to get over this wee relapse, but you can't keep a good Jaco down ;)
TC
Jaco
well done jaco..you hit the nail on the head..such a clear posting..and what you say is all true..at the end of the day we must all face it , accept and float threw it..hard at first but it does get easier with practice..do not run away from your panic face it ..
Hi Jaco and Poet :)
Thanks for your replies.
Sorry about Liverpool losing...but its only boring football though :winks:
Your posts are really good!
My mum has been an alcoholic for 30 years (she is now 81!) and her father too before her and 2 of my sisters have drink problems and all of my immediate family are on medication for anxiety and depression, so maybe they are inherited. I dont suffer with depression just the anxiety. My mum was always a nervous wreck and suffers a lot with depression but she never got help for it, I think that generation 'just got on with it' didnt they, rather than talking about it. However my mum turned to drinking instead!:lac:
I agree with your attitude and I do adopt a positive attitude but somehow when the anxiety and especially the panic attacks strike, all my positive attitude goes out the window. I must try harder! lol
Also if everyone who says 'Oh just face the fear and do it', does exactly that, then why be on an anxiety forum??? It obviously still causes a lot of problems despite the feel the fear and do it anyway attitude. Its obviously not working is it?
I face the fear of agoraphobia but as anyone with agoraphobia will agree with, it is a nightmare and not quite so easy to overcome. If it were that easy then there would be no people on websites like this and there would be no agoraphobia & anxiety sufferers in the world.
I am having CBT which helps but its like all of my hundreds of self help books - they seem so good when I read them but then I find it really difficult to put the advice into action when I am in the midst of feeling like I am being strangled by anxiety.
You say that Claire Weekes said that reliving an original problem was not only necessary for recovery but could also have a negative effect? Isnt that defeating the object though???
I feel really good today - have reduced my citalopram and I feel better than I have done in past few days. Yayyyy...
Hope you both have a good day!
re> posting..as we all no..its a fact..the more we face panic the more it decreases..i am not agoraphobic..so i cannot comment on how you feel..i have sufferd on and of for 28 years from panic anxiety..was well for a number of years..reason i have started to feel this way again is..<1>.my brother was involved in a car accident..resulting in him having a head injury..i look after him..<>2...that happend in march..then my mum passed away in april..so ive had a lot of stress..as we all no..healing comes from within..with help of course..some people on here are anxiety free and still like to help others like ourselfs..as it can feel lonely..
Hi
Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear about what you are going through and your loss.
I lost my dad suddenly at end of December, hence why I went onto anti anxiety tablets after never having them in the past when looking back I should have done.
I can perfectly understand why people use this site and what they get from it. Its a brilliant site I think.
I just cant see how people can face their fears and be able to deal with it in such a way as to deal with their issues whatever they may be, because surely that then is not having those issues is it? Maybe I am not explaining this very well...
I think anxiety is when no matter how well you put those positive thoughts into action, they dont work.
I would love to be able to say Oh I am going to face the fear and do it, and then that works! and I do say that, but putting it into practice just doesnt work - not for me anyway. That is what is so frustrating.
I face my fears but they dont decrease. Each time I deal with panic attacks by self help it never gets easier.
I have hundreds of self help books and I have therapy and I know all the right things to do but putting them into practice is a very different thing altogether.
Maybe I need to try harder! :yesyes:
hi,,sorry about your loss..but if you dont mind me saying..you sound full of negative thoughts..i used to be like that..and honestly it doesn't help..they are just lying in your sub conscious..it is not easy facing what we go through it is bloody hard and scarey..but the more we do it it does get easier..honestly..lol..i still get scared when i have a big panic..but then il do my breathing and say to myself..its only anxiety it will pass..it seems to take for ever..but please beleive me it does get easier..feel free to pm me any time..il be your panic buddy if you like..lol..you take care and have a nice day..love.. marie
Poppy, you say you suffer free-floating anxiety, but you have lost your dad. To me that would be the major contributor to the way you feel now. Combine such an awful event with a naturally anxious personality and you have your reasons for feeling the way you do.
I thought my dad had a heart attack (it turned out to be something else) and I think that's what pushed me over the edge into anxiety and depression. I can't imagine how I would feel if I actually lost him.
Hi Poet
I am sorry to hear what you went through with your dad. I hope he is better now.
My dad dying obviously stirred up all my anxious feelings again but I was like this before my dad died when I had a breakdown last year.
I think my stressful job and personal rships problems and things that were building up over the years triggered the breakdown.
I have accepted my dads death and although obviously it was just absolutely awful - the worst thing ever - the first death I have ever personally known - I dont think it has massively affected me too much in terms of anxiety. It did stir up the anxiety but the anxiety was already there.
I am having a great day today on citalopram and have not started reducing it yet! lol :yesyes: Yayyy I love Citalopram today!
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.