Chasing My Tail

[tonkaboy]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some tips.

If you look at my thread on Introducing Myself, you'll see that I have an anxiety problem. In recent months, it's gone from being a very physical problem (sweating, tense muscles, difficulty sleeping, no appetite) to more of a thought problem. The physical symptoms don't seem as bad and I can deal with them but I now find myself wrestling with my thoughts. Some are really bizarre but they all seem to revolve around a fear of behaving badly or doing something wrong. For example, as I sit at my desk, I suddenly will think, 'what if I can't make myself do my job?' or 'what if I do it wrong deliberatley?'. I then develop a mental block about these issues and find I cannot dismiss the thought even though I know it's irrational and sit here frightened that I might not be able to get my head around this. Another common thought is 'what if I forget how to drive?'. It feels like that in any situation I think, what mustn't I think in this situation and then I get obsessed with it. I'm sure this all sounds daft but I find myself chasing my tail trying to sort out my head.

I'm looking to see if anyone can relate to this and offer me any tips on how to overcome this.

Cheers

A

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is from the symptoms page on the left....

Fear of losing control


What you feel:


In a crowd or group, you may feel that you will do something to make you feel embarrassed like passing out, vomiting, gagging, stumbling and so on. You may feel that you might not be able to control your body or what you'll say. You may become very self-conscious among people.

What causes this:

When an anxiety attack occurs, the high stress biology causes fear and anxiety as a side effect. This means that our state of reasoning is impaired and often overshadowed by anxious thoughts. At the root of these anxious thoughts is an underlying sense of doom which threatens our mental stability. Because an over stimulated nervous system can also impair our judgment and reasoning, the feeling of losing control is very common for those who experience anxiety disorder. As a matter of fact, it is one of the most common symptoms.

When you experience this fear, just remember that it is a ‘false’ impression and that as the nervous system gets sufficient rest, this symptom will diminish and subside. You can also thought stop and thought swap to remain calm as the fear of losing control is only a false thought or impression, nothing more. By not reacting to it with more fear, it will fade away as the other symptoms do.

This symptom will come and go in nature, but can become ingrained if the individual begins to dwell on it. But again remember, it is only a false thought, a symptom of an over active nervous system, nothing more. With sufficient rest, this symptom will diminish and eventually fade away completely.




The Fears: going crazy, of dying, of impending doom, of normal things, unusual feelings and emotions, unusually frightening thoughts or feelings



What you feel:

You suddenly become afraid that you might lose your mind or that you are not able to think. You may also feel that you are not able to remember things as easily as you once did. Sometimes you become afraid of having a nervous breakdown. You also may have periods of 'crazy' thoughts that frighten you, or those thoughts ‘just pop up’ are bothersome by the content.

You fear that what you have is terminal and nobody knows. You may also fear that the chest pains are a deadly heart attack or that the shooting pains in your head are the result of a tumour or aneurysm. You feel that any one of the symptoms you experience are life threatening. You feel an intense fear when you think of dying, or you may think of it more often than normal, or can’t get it out of your mind.

You feel as though something extremely bad is going to happen but you are not sure what. You may also feel as though your world is coming to an end.

You may become afraid of something that you had normally thought was not fearful. It may be a sudden fear of being alone, a fear of inanimate objects moving or talking, or an unsubstantiated fear for your safety to name a few (the fear that you may hurt someone or yourself when using a household knife is common. For example: you fear that you may uncontrollably stab a child, mate or yourself when using a kitchen knife).

You may feel that now you are frightened or have fearful feelings about almost everything, even things that have no real reason to feel that way do. Even small challenges well up fear in you, and seem difficult or destined to doom or failure.


What causes this:
An over stimulated nervous system can alter our feelings, impressions, thoughts and sensations involuntarily (by itself), because it is so interconnected with the brain. In addition, high stress biology produces increased feelings of fear and anxiety as a side effect. When you couple these heightened levels of fear and anxiety with randomly altered moods and thoughts, it becomes clear how these distressing and bizarre thoughts can seem so frightening, confusing and real. Simply stated, when the brain and nervous system are stressed, they can play tricks on your perceptions.

When these symptoms first appear, they often shake the individual’s composure. Further episodes can erode their confidence leading the individual to question their sanity and stability. With the growing apprehension and concern over their questionable mental state, added anxiety increases the already high levels of stress biology which in turn produces more fear and more anxious thinking. If left unaddressed, these symptoms and the concern about them can become entrenched.

In this situation, it is important to remember that both the increased fear AND irrational thoughts are symptoms of an over stimulated nervous system. Despite how real these feelings may seem, they are false impressions caused by high stress biology. They are not signs of serious mental illness. They are symptoms only.

To remedy this, when the symptoms appear:

Recognize that these irrational fears are caused by the over stimulated nervous system and are symptoms only, not a serious mental illness.
Do your best to remain calm, since added fear only compounds the symptoms.
Thought stop or thought swap to change your self talk about what you are feeling.
Make sure you are giving your nervous system ample rest.
Accept the fact that these symptoms will come and go until your nervous system has received sufficient rest.
Remember that you have the choice on what to do with each thought that comes along. You can dismiss, change, or act on them. You do so by choice.

Hope that helps!

[tonkaboy]

Thanks Nicola, I've read these bits when I've been browsing the site. My trouble is accepting that all of this is true, even though I know it is - that must sound a bit double dutch. I can't seem to accept what is obviously true without continuing to chew on it. If I could, then I'd no longer be anxious (maybe).

Part of my trouble is I'm an engineer and so all my training and experience leads me to analyse data and observations to come up with answers and this anxiety thing seems to defy logic. In my life, I've usually found that if I think about a problem enough and do a bit of research and apply my mind, I can figure out the answer. I've never lacked determination and tenacity but anxiety doesn't seem to respond to this approach and so I'm totally lost.

I've read Claire Weekes books and think I understand the accept and float past concept but I don't seem to be able to put into practice.

Hmm.

Got any advice?

All the best.

A

[tonyp]

Hi All

I have read nicolas message, she states that we should rest our nevous system, Nichola how do we do this, wha techniques do we need to learn, any methods would be much appteciated

Tony