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 sitting here spinning in my mind about what ifs. What happened: after paying a cashier in a store, when wheeling out the shopping cart, I felt something weird ... The girl who bagged my items said "Oops!" so I thought maybe I ran over her foot. I said I'm sorry and left. Then I started spinning..."Did I hurt her? Is she ok? Will she try to sue me? Am I going to get a lawyer's letter in the mail? knock on the door (police)?
I thought I saw her looking out the store window. I was so upset I went BACK in the store, pretending to look for something, to really see if she was ok. She wasn't limping. She was still working, walking around, like normal. Of course THAT didn't ease my mind.
What if she goes home and then someone tells her to go to a doctor/ call a lawyer. I'm actually getting so stressed over this.
I searched online for anxiety groups. This one turned up. I didn't even realize I'd joined AND posted a "what-if" spinout some months ago.
Rationally, I think my triggers this time are... EXTREME stress at work... I'm a teacher...kids are OFF the charts with behaviors...also they're dropping like crazy from covid positives, almost a hundred cases in a week!..also we're going on strike in a few days and I'll have no paycheck OR health insurance...winter's coming and I hate being alone and dealing with all that.
Thanks for listening, any/everyone!
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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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Years ago, I won a mirrored armoire from my job. It's in my bedroom but I rarely stand in front of it. Yesterday, I had to have a dexascan done so I had to change into a gown. There was a full length mirror in the changing room. I'm aware that I gained 5 to 7 pounds over the last year from cheating on Keto but I didn't know what it looked like. It was a reality check.
From what you have written it sounds like the bagger at the grocery store is okay. Maybe she said “oops” because she made a mistake while bagging and it wasn’t even anything you did. Be kind to yourself and try to let it go.
It sounds like you have a lot going on at work and that is making you more sensitive to things going on around you.
Keep visiting and writing here for support.
I hope you can give yourself permission to relax a bit and take some deep breaths.
The what ifs are one of my meaner stress symptoms, too. In our litigious culture and with my own litigious family members, people coming after me with lawsuits is one of my meaner If Sets, especially now when I have an especially litigious SIL coming after me with lawyers. She isn't even *my* SIL. She is my departed son's SIL.
A post like this one helps me allot when my anxiety starts escalating. Getting my anxieties in writing and sharing about them within my therapy support network makes it easier to get a handle on them.
Did it help you any? Keep venting. It helps in sorting the facts from the anxiety.
The what if’s are a killer for me and I agree they can really spin you up. My therapist always encouraged me to challenge the what if’s by saying things like, what if x doesn’t happen. What if everything is ok and nothing happens. She always told me I had enough going on with out worrying about things that may or may not happen. She convinced me it was a waste of my time to worry about something that may or may not happen in the future. She use to tell me that if it happened I would still have plenty of time to worry about it. She also reminded me that I was not a fortune teller and could not know what the future would bring. When I catch myself in the what If trap I fall back in this. Sometimes it actually helps me. Hugs
I then challenge myself to "Get the IF out of ^it^." If I can't say ^it^ without the if, I ply therapy tools for my OCD instead of letting myself slide further down the iffing rabbit hole.
Steadying support while you navigate the challenges ahead. That is quite allot to process. Vent freely. Lean often.
What if everything works out for the best?
Sometimes, you have to take the step back to see the view in full. Stop, pause, breathe, repeat until calm and clear headed.
When you find yourself jumping in quickly-stop. Take the time to assess the pause and purpose before you say, do, act, react, or respond.