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,
Does anyone's anxiety cause you to become a bit disconnected. That's a scary symptom. I just been feeling out of it sometimes. Very exhausting
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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...
Used well, it can help us get through tedious and/or traumatic situations. Used badly, it can be a living nightmare.
Tactile grounding exercises are my go-to tool for coming back. I can do many of my tactile grounding exercises without anyone around me noticing I am doing them There are tons of suggestions for those on the internet, but my simple summary is that I am using my senses to come back to or to retain my senses if I catch the episode early enough. Sight, sound, touch, smell and/or taste are all equally powerful in my personal tactile grounding. Tapping and humming/singing are my faves. I'm not afraid of getting creative in customizing and/or creating my own. In fact, I believe my own creations are quicker to break through the dissociative fog.
I have disassociation also. I have multiple types of episodes. I think it has to do with the situation I am in when it happens.
One is the type you refer to where I can hear what’s going on around me but I am in a fog and disconnected.
I also have the type that Arfie mentions where I am in a catatonic state and just shut down.
The other type is going into disassociation which can be minutes to several hours. This happens when the trigger is sudden and I normally don’t have time to respond and ground myself. During these episodes I don’t know what I did during that time or how I got to a location. I am often snapped out of these episodes when someone talks to me or my phone rings. But not always. When I do snap out of it, I am normally lost because I have to figure out where I am at, Did I drive or walk there, what I was doing. This is disassociation with amnesia.
As argue mentions in her post, grounding techniques help if you know you are triggered and feel an episode coming on. I keep an object such as a stone, coin, necklace or I have a titanium ball with groves in it. I feel these objects and describe them to mysel to keep me present. If you don’t have anything with you, you can also describe your surroundings..names of stores, houses, landscape, colors, shapes addresses, texture anything you see.
Do you have a therapist? They can help you identify triggers and coping skills.
I hope you are able to find a solution that helps you. Best wishes.
I do have a therapist and I have to start practicing more coping skills. When it happens I try not to fight it too much because that sends me into a panic. Im not sure what the triggers are. I’ve stopped drinking and vaping. No caffeine and try to get a lot of rest.