What is stopping me

[jaded jean]

Hello All.
Day 47 of cit and I think I am going in the right direction In as much as asking my team leader for meeting minutes of all meetings I have missed.

I visited the shop where I used to work and my ex boss has given me the opportunity of interacting with people again to help me get back to my current place of work Its only 1 afternoon a week on the till.
This only came about yesterday and now I'm feeling so anxious today because this is happening and I dont go in till next week!!
Can any of you give me an idea of what I can do to calm it a bit as I dont want to miss this as I know deep down it will get me to work quicker.
Thanks for reading.
Jean

[cymraig_chris]

Post removed by author

[jaded jean]

Morning Cymraig Chris.
Brilliant- but would they accept this at work?
Jean

[keta]

Hi Jean

I found that relaxation CD or tape can be good for this to try to teach you to relax, I got one from my psychiatric nurse when i was doing my CBT and 3 years on i'm still using it when i need to relax or remind myself how to relax my body.

But great news about the job, hope it will go well for you.

Marketa

[Raindog]

Hi Jean,
I know exactly what you mean about getting anxious in this situation. My initial anxiety really kicked into overdrive one morning a few weeks back when I signed up for Jobsite.co.uk and within minutes I had emails and even a phone call from an agency with some job opportunities. I felt overwhelmed and that's when I went to the docs to see about getting some meds.

I've been anxious about not only going back to work but any sort of commitment over the past few weeks. so don't feel alone in this. Chances are the first day will be getting back into the groove but most likely nothing you can't handle.

My anxiety has caused me to procrastinate over the smallest tasks in the past few weeks, my mind telling me it seemed like such a huge task when it was done in a few minutes. I'm feeling a lot less anxious this week and my concentration level has started to return so I hope I can dive into a new job in the next month or so and get over it.

At least you have people in the charity shop that you know and they'll help out if you need it. And as mentioned above, camomile tea and bananas are good for a bit of anxiety, I've been using both recently and they do seem to help.

Get that first day out of the way and you'll realise it's not so bad.

[jaded jean]

Hi Marketa.
That is so sweet of you. I think when its early morning I tend to think of all the negatives and any which way I can get out of it.I think i need someone to push me out the door!!
Jean

[jaded jean]

Hi Raindog.
This is an unusual situation with me tho. I am off sick from my current job( I work in Retirement Homes) but there is no allowance for me to visit my scheme.So I have to stumble along doing s much as I can. Going to the shop was providence yesterday though . As soon as I was asked my heart lifted and I felt useful to someone. By evening I was suffering with the dizzies and this morning the chatterbox was back -admittedly not as prominent as before but the cheeky little bugger was there. I have got to make that leap of faith I thnk or Iwill be joining the ranks of the unemployed and that scares the bejasus out of me as I have never been out of work. I have been fortunate just to slip out of one job into another.
So, shopping list today Bananas and lots of.
Thanks for your input, it helps me a lot
Jeanxx

[keta]

You know i was told by my poor suffering boyfriend i think too negative about stuff and need to stear my mind into more positive directions, so i know how hard it can be sometimes, especially with the anxiety to keep yourself motivated or get out of the house in the first place. But you took the right step by taking on that one afteroon a week.

So just be kind to yourself (words of wisdom from my counsellor)

Marketa

[diane07]

Jean,

Remember the thought is always worse than the deed.

You could sit for a whole week thinking "what if i panic".............."what if i can't do it".........."how will i cope"

We could spend our lives thinking "what if"

But "what if" you love it, What if you feel that chuffed with yourself that the anx feelings don't even come into it.

Whatever i do and have done in life, it is never anything as bad as i think its going to be, i would say you have actually faced the biggest challenge by making the decision to do this, i find whenever the negative thoughts come into my head, then they have to be challenged with positive ones.

If we constantly tell ourselves we can't do something, then we will actually believe it.

I have every faith that you will do it and it won't be as bad as you think.

best wishes

di xx

[Raindog]

Yes, the chatterbox, creeping in when you have had time to sit and think about what you've said you'll commit yourself to. I've had that same little devil working his way into my thoughts. I started volunteering at a local community radio station a few weeks back to get myself out and about, but when the anxiety hit I felt very unsure of myself and what I was capable of when it came time to actually start getting more involved with putting some of the content together, I was happy to be along for the ride with no responsibility but once it came to me taking on a bit more I felt scared and was finding ways to back out of it in my head.

It's nice to feel needed and a part of something, but when you have a quiet moment later in the day or maybe the next morning, your anxiety starts making you question whether you can really do what is being asked of you. I've never felt so unsure of myself before and I'm only just starting to not get those horrible little rushes of doubt and panic when I think about doing even the simplest things.

Have a banana and a cup of nice camomile tea and they might help you push that little anxiety monkey off his perch. Another thing that was suggested to me was having a bowl of porridge on a morning for breakfast. I'm not normally a big breakfast sort of person but I'm finding it's become a part of my morning routine and I kind of look forward to my bowl of porridge with a squirt of honey for a bit of taste. The pharmacist said that honey is a bit better than normal sugar since it's unprocessed.

I've thought of backing out of a few things over the past week because I just felt so unsure, but I found when I bit the bullet and got on with them, it wasn't anywhere near as difficult or stressful as I'd imagined in my anxious little funk.