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...
Hi everyone. I am not doing so well right now. I just switched to a new medicine Viibryd. I am just starting week 3 with it and my doctor has told me I need to give it 6 to 8 weeks to see if it is going to work. I also take klonopin 3 times a day for my anxiety. I have been on the same dose for about 3 years so I am sure it is not working because my body has become immune to it. I have had trouble keeping a job. This is a big problem for me and my husband. He does not make enough to pay all of our bills. He use to but lost his other job and had to take another job that pays a lot less. I can't get social security disability because I don't have enough work credit hours and can't get SSI because my husband's income and our cars. Sorry this is so long but I only have a short time to find a job and be able to keep it before we lose our house. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to work with this anxiety until the medicine can help?
Exercise and meditation/mindfulness are both good anxiety relievers. I recommend doing them in combination with your medication.
People like different kinds of exercises. I personally like walking and hiking for stress relief.
Here's a good, short guide on meditating: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/how-to-meditate
Also, it can help to just do anything you can to improve your life, even small things that will help you to deal with what you're going through, like taking a few minutes to organize your job search files or to make a change to your resume that you've been meaning to make. Small changes in your life affairs can be the foundation for larger changes in your emotional well being.
I hope you're doing better. Please keep us up to date on this board about how you are.
Up your protein: like roasted chicken breast and hard boiled eggs and nut butter.
Eat lots of fresh raw or lightly steamed/cooked veggies.
Instead of bread or pasta or white rice, use lettuce leaves to make wraps, zucchini sliced thin to make a lasagna, and healthier grains such as quinoa or bulgur or freekeh instead of rice. You can also process cauliflower in a food processor to make a rice alternative. I've done that for stir fried "rice" and it's actually really good! I've also used cauliflower "rice" in burritos and soup.
AVOID: caffeine, sugar, artificial colors, artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, preservatives. Avoid boxed or processed foods. Avoid white things: white bread, white rice, pasta. Limit sodium intake. 86 the sodas and junk food. Remember even decaf coffee actually has some caffeine in it. Stick with hot water with lemon if you want a warm drink.
Good luck with everything cls. ((hugs))
Also: lying. I say this but unless they've been there, I don't think people realise. You HAVE to survive. You HAVE to have a job, that's just plain not negotiable, so you have to do whatever you have to do to get it, and keep it. This is very clarifying: when you really accept that you HAVE to keep it, it changes how you operate.
I was a solo mother far from home with a relationship broken up and no help. No friends, I had not been there long enough, all my friends were his friends' wives, if you know what I mean.
I had to work, and I had to fake it till I made it. I was in a workplace where one of the bosses was an absolute hitler. If I had been strong, I would have eaten that little jerk for breakfast and spat out the pips, but I was not strong. And he had power.
So I did. One of the main things on my mind was fear that I would react to someone being horrible. I made a silent vow to myself not to react to anything (I could not tell what was real and what was not) and to try and figure it out later after the inevitable anxiety attack passed.
I would cry in the loo, come out, smile into the mirror. Check the makeup. Makeup is vital, because my face goes red. Nothing I can do about the blood shot eyes but lie about hayfever. That helps explain the runny nose sometimes also, and means if I start to cry, I look hayfeverish. All I have to do is find a way to grin and say something funny. I practiced this.
Counselling: Because so many things would confuse and bewilder me, brain not working, grief extreme as well as recent nervous breakdown, I got a counsellor. Things I could not understand I would take to him once a week. He was from catholic social services and took what payment I could afford to give, which was very little. He was a total lifesaver and if I ever win lotto, they're getting $100,000.
Saying how you are: NEVER DO THIS. Practice this: I'm great! Never better! Brilliant! Practice being chirpy and upbeat and happy. lie your head off. Whistle a happy tune as the song goes. Fake it till you make it. Don't ever tell anyone how you are unless you really, really trust them, and ARE DOING YOUR JOB WELL AND THEY KNOW IT.
Otherwise they are kind and loving to your face and work out ways to shuffle you sideways till you drop off the planet.
So as to what job? What jobs do people get who have no strength right now? gardening, cleaning. orchard work. Farm work. Look in the paper, go to your seasonal work job centre, look around and apply for absolutely everything you see.
Once you have a job and treat it as your absolute no. 1 priority doing whatever you have to to keep it, you can strengthen, and become better again. Part of feeling strong is feeling in control.
So consider this a growth phase. You don't get the job you want right now. You get whatever you can get right now, and earn a good reference if it kills you. Stab your fingernails into your palm when you want to cry or be desperate.
Move on when you strengthen. :)