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...
My anxiety is just awful today.
For context, I'm a soon-to-be college freshman living at home, my 12 pound dog was bitten by an 80 pound german shepherd two days ago. I've been home alone watching over him. He is slowly recovering, but I constantly worry. He gets restless when I'm not around so I'm stuck to him like glue. I feel irritable and somewhat resentful about all of this, the anxiety and stress of it all, the strong obligation to be with him constantly. I worry about him eating, drinking, passing fluids and feces, his activity level, his behavior. As much as it's nice to have him indoors (he was an outside dog before this, my parents didn't want him in), I'm freaking out daily, I feel guilty whenever I make small mistakes, or whenever he seems lethargic/bored, I haven't been taking care of myself. I feel that nobody I know in my life will understand. I am overwhelmed, floating, leaning into distracting activies, and that's making me more anxious since I am very productivity-minded.
It's like I've lost all cognition of things in my life. I don't think about my hunger anymore, or my hygeine level, or how clean my house is, my laundry. I'm letting things pile up until I can't stand it anymore, then I go and fix it. It creates this feeling like I've lost control of my life.
Last night my dog wouldn't go to sleep and I got so disproportionately angry I almost wanted to kick him. I talked it out with a friend to get the anger out, but it really showed me how much my anxiety is affecting me... the stress builds up so badly that it turns into anger. I can't imagine going through life like this. What's going to happen when I'm older and stressful things happen, like a car crash, or money problems, etc? I don't know what to do.
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I haven't written in my diary on my computer since May because I thought that my computer was dying. I got away from writing but my computer is hanging in there. I think that I will start writing in it again. It's so therapeutic.
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First, I hope everyone is doing well, and continuing to fight that good fight! Keep up the great work on yourselves; I'm rooting for all of you!So, I started doing therapy at the beginning of the year, when I was in my most depressed state, but with my therapist, I made big changes and steps in the right direction. But, over a month ago, she couldn't take my insurance anymore, and I had to stop...
Gentle support while you continue to build your skills with anxiety management. Venting is an important tool for the job. Vent freely. Vent often.
You are not alone. Listening. . .
Something that really helps is having a schedule. Even if it's small just sit down for a minute and think about tomorrow. Set a time to wake up, have breakfast, brush your teeth, whatever you normally do to take care of yourself. I get very antsy and angry when I don't have a schedule. I only have a small morning routine that I follow but it helps me start the day on the right foot.
Also your dog will be fine to be left alone for a little while. I was definitely anxious to leave mine alone at first but as long as he is confined to a small area or a crate while you're out of the room he'll be just fine. It's really important to take care of yourself when taking care of others because you can't help them if you're burnt out yourself. I hope he recovers quickly and that you can get back to normal life soon!