Anxiety runing my life!?!?

[Terry_Towelling]

Hi,

To introduce myself - I'm 32 from Northern England. I have had a relatively decent life save for the last 10 odd years I had had to put up with extended periods of extreme anxiety.

In the past it has manifsted itself in panic attacks and general lack of confidence.

At the moment - and for about 1 1/2 years, I feel it has been getting out of control again and is damaging my social and work life.

My current symptoms are - sweating and chronic blushing in social / work situations. The latter aspect if particularly depressing me as I cannot understand why I blush so badly - im no prude and have in the past been the joker, life and soul and the one people rely upon to lift a situation!

I have in the past tried CBT and not got on with it. I am desperate to get on with life in a relatively happy state of mind. I feel I deserve it. Although divorced, I have a beautiful daughter and lots of friends. Although I feel mu friendships, and chances of meeting a new girl, are being jeopardised by my persistent and relatively new social anxiety.
Don't let this thing get a grip on me!

I think I do beat myself up loads and let my marriage failure prey on my mind. I think I have low self esteem but at the same time realise I have loads going for me. Whats wrong with me!?!?!?

Most of all I want the freedom to relax in large groups and not blush in awkward situations. It is this which is most upsetting. I am strongly considering hypnotherapy and feel this would relax me at the same time (I am very wound up!). Any advice on this in particular would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks folks.

[nomorepanic]

Hi Terry and welcome aboard. Lovely to see you here.

Blushing is quite common for a lot of people so you are not alone with that.

Can I ask why you didn't get on with the CBT?

Hypnotherapy is very good as they can help with the low self esteem and build your confidence a lot. You may want to consider that.

Hope you get some support on here and meet some lovely people.

Nicola

[ERP]

Hi Terry,

Welcome aboard.

I too have had a gradual decline in self confidence and find social situations quite difficult when it used to be everything I lived for.

Remember how you used to be and slowly the old characteristics will start to manifest so as you start to become more comfortable with yourself again. Don't put pressure on yourself to always be the life and soul because it can have negative effects as we have experienced.

Take care and good luck

Elly

[trac67]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to the forum, you will get a lot of good advice here and make some new friends.

Take care

Trac XX

'Live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten'

[tracyp584]

Hey Terry,

Welcome to the site!

tracy x x



Every time you avoid your fears they become stronger,every time you face your fears they become weaker.

[Ma Larkin]

Hi Terry, I used to have a problem with blushing. I too went through a terrible time with a marital break-up with 3 kids, who I now bring up on my own as a single parent. I think I used to blush because I thought that everyone could see my depression & anxiety as if it was some kind of great big wart on my face! I was the life & soul, the one who got invited to all the parties cos I was such a nutter & made everyone laugh. When things got to their worst I took an overdose. The whole town was in shock. No-one could believe that I could be so low that I would do such a thing & that's when the blushing started because I did something so drastic & felt that everyone was staring at me & judging me. I had all the pep talks from my close friends & eventually overcome it all. I'm pretty much back to my normal self in the fact that I can walk into a room & forget all my troubles, but when i'm sat at home on my own when the kids are in bed, i'm in turmoil. Still, things can only get better. I used to hate it when people said time is a great healer, but they are the truest words I have ever heard, even though you won't think so in times of despair. You will overcome it mate. Its taken me a long time. I haven't met anyone else, had one failed relationship since my marriage, which broke my heart, so i'm just trying my best to get on with my job, my kids & my friends will support me any time I need them. People on this site meet up. Try & find someone in your area that you can meet who are in a similar situation than you. You may blush initially, but remember we are all in the same boat & its one step closer to getting back to normality. Take care mate, Lesley. P.S. I live in Manchester, whereabouts in the North are you?

[Terry_Towelling]

Hi all and thanks so much for the stories and encouragment. it is helping me to start being open and confronting my problems. I think I will press on with Hypno as I need to start thinking more positively about myself. To Lesley, thanks for sharing your story - sounds like you have the courage and humour to pull through most things in life!