Newby

[sugarplum]

Hi Everyone
I've just come across this website after a short bout of anxiety.. I decided enough was enough so decided to google my symptoms to check I'm not the only one out there behaving so .. irrationally. I've shed a little tear as so much of this rings true.

Sorry if this is really long..

The thing is, I seem like the really up together one. I have just graduated from uni, secured my dream job pretty much straight away, and generally managed to secure most things on my little life list as and when I wanted them. But the stupidest little things niggle me and I ifnd myself in a state of blind panic, heart racing, shortness of breath over things such as my boyfriend taking hours to reply to a text. I start to doubt that he loves me, I worry he is with someone else, or that he has finally realised what an idiot I am. Really he is just busy and I am overreacting, but I can't rest until I have heard from him.

That's just one of the things. I obsessively bite my nails and fingers, I pull at my hair and my eyebrows and I can't stop it, I don't realise I am doing it but I really want to stop.

I think I should probably go and see my GP but I even worry he wont take me seriously. I don't want to take medication I just want to talk to someone, before my obsessions drive me mad. I could go on and on about things I panic about... that I'm having a conversation and my phone is left on and someone will hear me... checking my facebook wall incase someone has written something horrible about me. I'm just so paranoid? Is that anxiety too? Or am I overreacting?

Sorry to bang on
Sugarplum xx

[Veronica H]

:welcome: Yes it sounds like anxiety, constantly thinking 'what if', and worrying so much that your nerves become sensitised and then the physical symptoms kick in.There is a brilliant book by Dr Claire Weekes called 'self help for your nerves', published by Thorsons. This is available from the NMP Shop. Her work can also be downloaded free to your MP3 from the shop. I can't recommend this enough, as it really explains what is happening to us, and how we can recover.

Veronica

[sugarplum]

Thank you for the welcome guys.
Thanks for the recommendation of the book, I shall definitely be getting a copy of that.
Now just the long hard slog to tackle it all... I can't handle those horrible butterflies and that awful pumping heart beating over the silliest things anymore!
x

[chantelle]

Hi, you could try writing down your worries and then looking at them logically. sometimes when our minds go into overdrive our thought processes are so irrational and when we see the worries written out it helps us to see them for what they really are. The worry of what ifs....are usually much worse than what actually happens.
Good luck to you & take care
Chantelle

[crazycurlz]

I also recommend a wonderful book by Dr. David Burns, called, "The Feeling Good Handbook". It was great for me b/c like you I had everything I wanted - so I'm definitely a type A person. What I like about the book was concrete worksheets and activities to do to manage the attacks.

A side note - please do go see your GP. He or she will absolutely take you seriously. There are wonderful drugs out there, with minimal side effects. They are akin to taking insulin for diabetics. If your brain is out of balance, give it the medication it needs for balance.