Heightened anxiety and negative thoughts before a Big Day

[NoPoet]

Hi all,

I have found my anxiety getting out of hand all week and I am finding that negative thoughts from days gone by are coming back.

Basically my new girlfriend and I are heading to Santa Pod tomorrow to drag-race my car. We need to be up at stupid o'clock in the morning, and I associate early morning wake-ups with anxiety attacks from back when I was really ill with anxiety.

So instead of looking forward to a big day out, I am dreading waking up in case it makes me feel depressed and anxious.

And the thoughts of "every day is gonna be the same" are coming back -- they have really bothered me this week. I've had a nice week, but when I think back over it I feel down and scared, like my anxiety is tainting my happy memories.

I'll probably feel fine again tomorrow on the way home... but it's scary to feel like this again :(

[NoPoet]

I just found this on another forum, which has made me feel so relieved I could almost cry -- I have finally found an explanation for some of my problems!!

The amygdala, the part of the brain that registers fear, is told that the individual is in great danger. You look around you and see no threat – no bears, spiders etc! But you are still fearful and anxious. So the amygdala must register your very environment as dangerous. You might say that it has nowhere to go, nothing to focus on; there is nothing specific to be worried about, so the fear is projected onto anything and everything. Suddenly, your kitchen or bedroom can seem terribly frightening. You know deep down that there is nothing to be afraid of here – but the fear itself won’t accept that.

I also posted this into the "tips for dealing with anxiety" thread because I think it's important info!!

[mollymahoney]

I can completely relate, I don't function well if I don't sleep well. I feel like I won't be able to survive the day, or that I'm prone to have panic attacks. I dread not being able to sleep and counting the number of hours I've only slept. I am super exhausted by the time I do have the time to sleep, but I'm not always sleepy eventhough I'm exhausted. I feel like I'm breathing my last breath.

"everyday is gonna be the same" is my current problem now...one of the prevailing themes in my life. i've been out of work and fear going back to work because i fear i'm going to be depressed at work and fail again.

[Josie]

Hey,

I know exactly how you feel. I went to London last weekend and I was terrified about going. However, I didn't want to let my bfriend down (as he had been really looking forward to going) so I went. I've got to admit I was anxious for almost the entire two days, but to be honest I still had a good time. Okay the anxiety upset me, but I thought if I'm going to be anxious anyway I might as well be anxious in London experiencing new things than sitting at home and being worried here.

What I'm trying to say is, you might surprise yourself and not be as anxious as you think you will be and even if you are, try not let it stop you from doing things you enjoy. You deserve to be happy and enjoy life. I hope evrything works out.

Joanne

[NoPoet]

"everyday is gonna be the same" is my current problem now...one of the prevailing themes in my life. i've been out of work and fear going back to work because i fear i'm going to be depressed at work and fail again.
I'm in the same boat completely. I have got a number of things to deal with at the moment but I am putting together some research on anxiety and negative thoughts, and this is one of the worst problems I have, so maybe if anyone else can share their experiences we can pool our knowledge and find a way to beat it.


What I'm trying to say is, you might surprise yourself and not be as anxious as you think you will be and even if you are, try not let it stop you from doing things you enjoy. You deserve to be happy and enjoy life. I hope evrything works out.
Thank you, that is excellent advice. Ten quid says I'm on here tomorrow evening posting about what a wonderful day I had. Fingers crossed :hugs:

[krog]

I think the link between lack of sleep before a 'big-day' is very important.

I can relate this back to my recent holiday.
I was really looking forward to the break and hence slept very little the night before. I then had a five hour drive to cope with before I actually arrived at my destination.

The apartment then had really uncomfortable beds which meant poor nights rest. This all accumulated up to feeling anxious all through the holiday because of lack of proper rest.

For me, rest and relaxation is key to dealing with my anxiety and I prove it to myself every time I am really feeling bad.

I take myself away to my bedroom and just lie on the bed for half an hour listening to a relaxation CD. The end result is that I feel 100% calmer and able to move forward again.

Anyway, enough of that, onto something more interesting !
Do you drag your road car of have you got something a little more exotic ?
Always wanted to take my car on a track day, but I'm afraid I might trash it :) .

Cheers,
krog