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...
i've had anxiety all my life to some degree but this has by far been the worst! i used to have "past" anxiety...i would re-live past events over & over & over for like months on end. i finally talked myself into the fact that the past is over! yes the event was tramatic to me but its over and can't hurt me anymore! that killed the "past" anxiety issue.
i would also have anxiety about "near term" events. an example would be having a deadline of 4 weeks at work and the work was hard. i would be anxious that i couldn't figure things out or whatever. another example would be a trip of some sort. i love to fly but sometimes i would freak out like seveal weeks before the trip. i killed the "near term" anxiety because i found its weakness...a timeline! that's right...having "near term" anxiety...guess what...it will be over soon! let's take the examples above...work deadline in 4 weeks...guess what in 4 weeks its over! good, bad or otherwise i knew the anxiety would be over in 4 weeks no matter what...and the anxiety was gone! worried about an upcoming trip on june 10th...guess what...i know on june 11th the anxiety will be over....and the current anxiety had nothing to live on
so lets review...i killed the "past" anxiety because its over and the past can't harm you anymore...its PAST! i killed the "near term" anxiety because it has a "timeline" meaning i know exactly when this anxiety will be over good, bad or otherwise it will be over on this date/time and the current anxiety had nothing to live on! neat right!
ok...so what's left to be anxious about....you got it..."FUTURE"! oh yes the dreaded future...God knows i couldn't get through this lifetime by only defeating 2 out of 3 demons! the "future" anxiety is new to me. i've had it for about 1 year but it didn't really kick in big time until about 3 months ago (long story see previous posts). anyway i have yet to find the weakness in the "future" anxiety demon. i find the worst part of "future" anxiety is you don't have a timeline. my current situation finds me wanting to sell a place i dislike (we don't say hate anymore!) but with our economy in the gutter, housing market a mess, credit crunch, lost jobs...do i really need to continue? tune into cnn for more depressing news!! anyway, my point is i have no timeframe at all. my best case scenario is 2-3 years if i'm lucky. in the mean time i keep paying the bills and waiting for the next shoe to drop in every worst-case scenario i can imagine!! my logical mind knows that i will end up losing money on the deal (of course my logical mind is negative too :) my anxious mind has me losing everything and still having to deal with this place for the rest of my natural born days....scary right! It may not sound scary to you but for whatever reason it haunts me 24/7 and I find myself feeling hopeless/joyless most of the time. Im a bit better as I write this but its always there to haunt me. I find envisioning the day that place sells and exits my life forever brings me no end of relief and joybut that feeling only lasts a few momentsthen the ugly reality sets inand it back to the future for me.a dark and scary place right now :(
wow...i talk a lot! long story short i need to kill the 3rd (and hopefully final!) "future" anxiety demon!
any help will be welcome!
i would also have anxiety about "near term" events. an example would be having a deadline of 4 weeks at work and the work was hard. i would be anxious that i couldn't figure things out or whatever. another example would be a trip of some sort. i love to fly but sometimes i would freak out like seveal weeks before the trip. i killed the "near term" anxiety because i found its weakness...a timeline! that's right...having "near term" anxiety...guess what...it will be over soon! let's take the examples above...work deadline in 4 weeks...guess what in 4 weeks its over! good, bad or otherwise i knew the anxiety would be over in 4 weeks no matter what...and the anxiety was gone! worried about an upcoming trip on june 10th...guess what...i know on june 11th the anxiety will be over....and the current anxiety had nothing to live on
so lets review...i killed the "past" anxiety because its over and the past can't harm you anymore...its PAST! i killed the "near term" anxiety because it has a "timeline" meaning i know exactly when this anxiety will be over good, bad or otherwise it will be over on this date/time and the current anxiety had nothing to live on! neat right!
ok...so what's left to be anxious about....you got it..."FUTURE"! oh yes the dreaded future...God knows i couldn't get through this lifetime by only defeating 2 out of 3 demons! the "future" anxiety is new to me. i've had it for about 1 year but it didn't really kick in big time until about 3 months ago (long story see previous posts). anyway i have yet to find the weakness in the "future" anxiety demon. i find the worst part of "future" anxiety is you don't have a timeline. my current situation finds me wanting to sell a place i dislike (we don't say hate anymore!) but with our economy in the gutter, housing market a mess, credit crunch, lost jobs...do i really need to continue? tune into cnn for more depressing news!! anyway, my point is i have no timeframe at all. my best case scenario is 2-3 years if i'm lucky. in the mean time i keep paying the bills and waiting for the next shoe to drop in every worst-case scenario i can imagine!! my logical mind knows that i will end up losing money on the deal (of course my logical mind is negative too :) my anxious mind has me losing everything and still having to deal with this place for the rest of my natural born days....scary right! It may not sound scary to you but for whatever reason it haunts me 24/7 and I find myself feeling hopeless/joyless most of the time. Im a bit better as I write this but its always there to haunt me. I find envisioning the day that place sells and exits my life forever brings me no end of relief and joybut that feeling only lasts a few momentsthen the ugly reality sets inand it back to the future for me.a dark and scary place right now :(
wow...i talk a lot! long story short i need to kill the 3rd (and hopefully final!) "future" anxiety demon!
any help will be welcome!
I liked what you had to say, your very insightfull.
A Very Big Well Done On Getting Rid Of Past Anxiety!!
Yes, the PAST is what has caused me to be a negative person, therefore, anything that can, WILL go wrong.
Which is what causes me FUTURE anxiety and that is ALL the anxiety I have.
Just divorced so how do I live without him as he's been my life for 25 years?
How do I live without insurance?
How do I get to work when my 12 year old car dies?
And the future doesn't have to be that far off.
Which way do I take my walk today so that I don't have to cross any busy streets?
What time EXACTLY do I leave for work that will get me there on time?
(Hmmm....guess that's PRESENT anxiety) but I get anxious over it BEFORE I do it (hence FUTURE) and not so much while I'm in the moment.
And on and on and on......
Yeah, it's the FUTURE anxiety that is slowly killing me and I like you, would LOVE an answer on how to stop it.
Thanks for the question and hope WE find an answer! :)