anyone used religion or AA to help with anxiety

[damopanther]

i know this is a strange one, wandering if anyone has sought religion to help with anxiety, also having had some big drinking sessions in my 20s, horrendous anxiety following day, and gone to a AA class, and people seem to think this can help with anxiety, very confused by it all to be honest, but a lot of people in AA have anxiety problems as well as there alcoholism, so any opinions most welcome, take care, damo


remember, a chameleon is for life not just for christmas!

[sunndyd]

i pray at night for relief from anxiety, my boyfriend's mom gave me a hankachief from the church with church oil sprinkled on, with a lovely letter. Give me comfort and hope when i pray :O)

[freudian nightmare]

hello,
In my experience religion helped me cope better with my anxiety because it gave me a purpose to my life and helped with my morbid fear of dying, although i understand that religion is not for everyone, but i do think that like alcoholism anxiety never really goes away fully they are almost part of what we are unfortunately but they don't have to be who we are and define us as a person and stop us from enjoying and living life although i know how easier said than done this is as an anxiety sufferer myself.
As with the aa thing i'm not sure about that but whatever helps you cope better is worth a try. Best wishes x

[Louise21]

Hi,
In response to your queries, I know that heavy drinking can cause depression as it's a depressant, so going to AA could certainly help.
There is a patron saint of psychiatric/nervous disorders named St. Dympna (pronounced Dymphna) which, hopefully, some people on here will find helpful.
Best wishes.

[doodah]

Hiya damo,

I don't think it matters where you go to get support from anxiety as long as you're with people who care and who have a positive attitude. I guess it could be religion, AA, a park bench - I think my fear of religion these days is being sucked in by fanatics.:blush: From my many years of anxiety I've read about 101 ways that different people have learned to understand and get relief from anxiety - I guess it's finding what works for you (and me for that matter!!).

If I remember rightly the AA creed is: "God grant me the SERENITY to accept the things I cannot change; COURAGE to change the things I can; and WISDOM to know the difference." - I'd love to be able to do that!!

I hope you find some answers.

Wendy :winks:

[Louise21]

Hi,
Forgot to say that I went on a retreat to Aylesford Priory in Kent in November to help with anxiety/depression. I did find it helpful, but unfortunately my imagination ran away with me in the early hours of the morning when I could hear a lot of creaking and I had an anxiety attack! lol I'm planning to give it another go this summer as I may be in a different frame of mind with light nights, better weather, etc.
The monks/priests there are really kind and I asked if I could have a 1 to 1 chat with one of them and was able to do so.
x

[damopanther]

thanks for your opinions, im hoping for a magic cure, but its taking a long time! im going to stick to fly fishing and playing footy with my boys, and feeding the chameleon! take care, damo

dont forget a chameleon is for life not just christmas

[goingmadder]

This is a good thread, intersting topic for me..

I found over the last 12 years Religion was only intersting to me when I was having a bout of anxiety. When I was suffering deprreision, ROCD or any of the many anxieties i've had I would become very superticious and religion was a form of the supersticious, i suppose you could say religion bacame a compulsion to ease the obsession...

I would pray for forgivness for bad thoughts, I would pray for mercy for the pain of depression and anxiety to end..

Someone mentioned "whatever works for you" and i guess thats true, but on the the other hand all that does is strengthen the connection between the obsession and the compulsion... Perhaps the important question we each have to ask is whether we believe in the religion or God or whatever when we're having a good day? Did we beleive it all before the anxiety took grip... do we beleive now because it makes it all better for a while...

AA in my opinion is a different kettle of fish because for one its a form of counselling... It's also verifiable... You're with real people, with real issues who can give you direct and instant info...

With the religion in my case it was predominatntly praying like it was going out of sytle and in a way it was theraputic, for one it helped me sleep not because of the releief but because I would talk myself to sellp.. but mostly it was i suppose like the mental version of writting a diary... I could let out everything in my day every thought feeling emotion action compulsion without fear of judgement cos lets face it no one was gonna talk back i was praying to the air.... infact if a booming voice had said something back in th middle of praying i'd probably not be sitting her typing this now....

Religion is a contraversial subject in any arena .. I think it helps us as someone said cope with the death of loved ones and our own mortality, I suppose it's like letting us off the hook on certain things like blaming things on an Act of God and this is where i see the down side to it all... We don't take enough responsibility for our own paths and life not everyone of course some people.... We choose to call our lives "destiny" rather than say we chose our path, or we created our life as it is... if we did we'd then see we had the choice to change the path and recreate...

So many avenues for this thread...think i'l shut up now though, can feel myself going on a waffle :o )

Lots of love

X

[vinnie1966]

i've been i AA and sober for 6 years now - at the end of my drinking , alcohol made my anxiety worse whereas years before it used to get rid of it.
if you drink alot then your body is used to a certain level of that drug so if you're a binge drinker then between binges you're withdrawing from the drug which has symtoms of anxiety/panic attacks - so stopping drinking altogether
will - once the physical depedancy has gone - reduce you're baseline anxiety.
but if you're like me and have a high level of baseline anxiety then the AA program not only stops me from wanting to drink but it also teaches me to
live one day at a time - not in the past/future - accept the world the way it
is and realise that every emotion/feeling/fear/anxiety will pass.it also allows me to think of/help other people - when i'm not thinking about myself and my anxiety ,my anxiety is less.
there is alot more to AA than i've just described - but yes it is packed with people with anxiety disorders - that's why alot of people develop an alcohol problem - they drink to relieve their anxiety.
"the only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking" - but through it's 12 step progam you get so much more

[goingmadder]

i've been i AA and sober for 6 years now - at the end of my drinking , alcohol made my anxiety worse whereas years before it used to get rid of it.
if you drink alot then your body is used to a certain level of that drug so if you're a binge drinker then between binges you're withdrawing from the drug which has symtoms of anxiety/panic attacks - so stopping drinking altogether
will - once the physical depedancy has gone - reduce you're baseline anxiety.
but if you're like me and have a high level of baseline anxiety then the AA program not only stops me from wanting to drink but it also teaches me to
live one day at a time - not in the past/future - accept the world the way it
is and realise that every emotion/feeling/fear/anxiety will pass.it also allows me to think of/help other people - when i'm not thinking about myself and my anxiety ,my anxiety is less.
there is alot more to AA than i've just described - but yes it is packed with people with anxiety disorders - that's why alot of people develop an alcohol problem - they drink to relieve their anxiety.
"the only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking" - but through it's 12 step progam you get so much more

Vinnie can I just say Congratualtions on your fantastic acheivement.

6 years and goinf strong, long may it continue.

Also you're comment about living each day for itself not in the past/future... I think like that but find it hard to do.

I Also helpingthinking of other people reducing the ime you're thinking about you're own self, and anxiety is a fantastic proactive approach ...

Well done and thanks for sharing!

X