Weekends Are The Worst?

[samtheman]

Do you find this? I work all week in a job I hate, fed up dreaming of the weekend to come. On a Saturday morning I am up at the crack of dawn not wanting to miss any of my time off, You get breakfast, you then realise theres nothing to do, you get bored, then depressed, then anxious and sad to say you end up in bed by about 10pm bored depressed and anxious.

The only good thing about my job is it keeps me occupied or every day would be the same.

I could go and do something at the weekends but I'm to scared, why? I don't know, i've not had a panic attack in years, I suppose I just afraid to leave my comfort zone. However when I do leave it I find I don't have any interest or enjoy anything and just can't wait to get back home to be bored so its a no win situation.

Can you relate to any of this?

[Coni]

Hi Sam,

yes this is me...I find weekends are really difficult. My job is really stressful and I cant wait for Friday but as the end of the day approaches I end up feeling even worse then spend the weekend feeling really anxious and mulling over all the potential disasters that may be about to happen....or may have happened that Im unaware of...then come Monday I'm absolutely shattered and so it goes on and on and on. I even contemplated working extra shifts at the weekend but I have three children so thats not ideal either.

I dont know what the answer is Sam...distraction I suppose...but I'm sure you already know that...and its difficult if you find the actual distraction itself a bit scary.....but sometimes not thinking about it and just doing it can be the answer.

Ive been discussing this with my psychologist who also suggested checking my breathing and muscles regularly to hopefully 'catch' myself becoming anxious at an earlier stage before it becomes such a problem that I'm totally agitated and cant do much about it. I'm trying this just now...variable success so far (I'm learning how unaware of my own body I am lol)...but I suppose its a work in progress.

I have also found the gym (or any kind of excercise) helps as it burns off all that extra adrenaline....I plug my ipod in with some rousing music and that definitely helps.

Sorry if this is not much use, but I sympathise.

luv Coni XX

[samtheman]

Hi Sam,

yes this is me...I find weekends are really difficult. My job is really stressful and I cant wait for Friday but as the end of the day approaches I end up feeling even worse then spend the weekend feeling really anxious and mulling over all the potential disasters that may be about to happen....or may have happened that Im unaware of...then come Monday I'm absolutely shattered and so it goes on and on and on. I even contemplated working extra shifts at the weekend but I have three children so thats not ideal either.

I dont know what the answer is Sam...distraction I suppose...but I'm sure you already know that...and its difficult if you find the actual distraction itself a bit scary.....but sometimes not thinking about it and just doing it can be the answer.

Ive been discussing this with my psychologist who also suggested checking my breathing and muscles regularly to hopefully 'catch' myself becoming anxious at an earlier stage before it becomes such a problem that I'm totally agitated and cant do much about it. I'm trying this just now...variable success so far (I'm learning how unaware of my own body I am lol)...but I suppose its a work in progress.

I have also found the gym (or any kind of excercise) helps as it burns off all that extra adrenaline....I plug my ipod in with some rousing music and that definitely helps.

Sorry if this is not much use, but I sympathise.

luv Coni XX

Yes I had thought about extra shifts also but again I also have kids and its not ideal.

My problem I suppose is having free time on my hands because I fill that free time with being anxious, but then I get anxious when I go out and do things and I generally don't enjoy doing them anyway.

Yes I bought a treadmill after xmas to get some exercise, problem is even with music on its so bloody boring, a 1 min feels like 10.

Hard to know what to do to do right really

[Bill]

If we hate the job we're doing 5 days a week, on Friday evening our subconscious will start reminding us it'll soon be Monday morning so we'll feel anxious all weekend and be unable to enjoy our free time.

Job satisfaction is Very important, especially with anxiety.

If we Hate our job, we Have to find a new job we think we'll enjoy and then the fear and low feelings won't be with us all weekend.

If we Enjoy our job but feel too stressed due to the workload, we need to look at ways to ease the pressures by accepting we can only do what's humanly possible, not seek perfection, do all ourselves and be prepared to delegate.

I've been in jobs I've hated and as a result, these jobs made my anxiety Much worse but I've also don jobs I've looked forward to and these jobs have helped me to cope with my anxieties much better.

[overtherainbow]

Hi Sam,

Oh yes, I can definitely relate to this, though for different reasons maybe. On Friday I was offered a lift home by a colleague who is dead sweet and approachable...without any intention or warning, as we neared my house I became very emotional and told her how much I hated weekends and that although I have a highly stressful job (which, on the whole I enjoy) I still felt better being in the middle of a week because it was a distraction from the usual tensions of the weekends.

I'm sorry I can't offer any more than this, but I just wanted to let you know that I hope you manage to find a way to get through your weekends better. Are there any new activities that you haven't yet tried that you'd like to get into? I personally don't have time for hobbies any more, but when I did I got totally consumed by creative stuff such as making cards, drawing and anything visual, and I also got into digital music making. All of these activities were things that I would start, then raise my head and find that five hours had passed.

I'm sorry you feel like this...I hope it gets better soon.

Darcy