Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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blue200604 08/01/2013

Hi I haven't been on here for quite some time, Lexapro has been a God sent for me. However I find myself full of anxiety again the past few months. More specifically I have a horrible irrational terrible fear of death, and a newish fear of time. I feel like such a freak and that no one will understand. I am turning 26 next month, I know I'm young but I am so, so, so scared of death, dying and where we go after. I am catholic and found that my faith in God has probably left. The thought of leaving the earth completely weirds me out and scares me to the point of where I am obsessing over it 24/7. This was happening last year so I started Lexapro and it has helped a lot. I am still on it, but for some reason I find myself obsessing over it again. I am afraid this fear will stay forever and I will never lead a normal life again. I fear the passage of time, how one minute I'm doing something, then it immediately becomes a minute of the past, never to be revisited again. I read a quote, "right now you are the oldest you've ever been and the youngest you will ever be." that made me start this insane cycle of obsessing over time and how I am getting older and can do nothing about it. The thought of heaven, rather than making me joyful and excited makes me fearful that I will be on a different planet, space of time, not knowing who I am or what my life was like. The thought of eternity and time/space never ending sends me into panic attacks. Please help and please don't scare me worse, I feel like I am a lost cause.

Erica71 08/01/2013

Hi.....oh if I only had the space here for the incredibly long list's of things I have obsessed over through the years. The kind of thought you describe is a tough one and I've had similar ones. They leave you feeling very spacey and weirded out....and they are hard to shake. If you can take a few time outs through the day where you make the conscious decision to think on other things....I think that will help. Or you could do this....treat it like any other worry...and say to yourself...."I'm going to give myself 15 minutes to think about nothing else but this particular worry"...really mull it over. Then...after 15 minutes get busy doing something else..and when it creeps it...just remind yourself that you've already given it it's time and move on to something else. You'll have to slap it around a few times to get it gone..but just get your mind on something else. Even if it's putting on some music and dancing like a wild person. Whatever it takes. You probably feel weird for having these thoughts...let me assure you...you're not. There is nothing you've thought about that someone here can't relate to. You'll be fine. =)

deleted_user 08/01/2013

I suffer with this as well. I'm sacred to be addicted to medicine so I haven't really started my zoloft. Please know you are not alone in this. I am very afraid of death. sometimes I feel it will never end.

deleted_user 08/01/2013

I understand how you are feeling entirely. I, too, have fretted and worried over that. Many times.

I know that your anxiety will go away. If it comes back, more than likely it'll be focused on something else.

This is temporary. It WILL PASS.

Is there anything that you can do to get your mind off of thinking about it? T.V. shows? Music? Hanging out with a friend? Meditation?
Find something that will allow you some peace, and know that you are the one in control. Not the fear. Perhaps start out with planting that thought in your brain. Put it on a sticky note. Put it on sticky notes all over your place. Where you can see them. At first, you might think it's not working or helping. It's not magic. It's not going to stop your brain from being caught in that loop right away. But it's a chip in the wall of your anxiety. It's a step towards you having the control again.
Also, talk to your doctor. You have a tool there and I suggest you use it. You might just need help over this little bump in the road.

George70101 08/01/2013

Sounds like you need a dosage adjustment on the Lexapro, I'm assuming you're on 20 mg daily, which is considered the clinical dose for Lexapro. Talk to your doctor about an increase, its very common to increase the dosage of an SSRI's over time, even weeks and months after starting.

deleted_user 08/01/2013

Thanks all. I feel so completely lost and spaced out. I don't know how to stop. The thoughts of my anxiety and panic coming back make me what to sob. I'm so afraid.

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