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'm new and have joined a couple of groups, but you all will know what I'm talking about here.
It's been a stressful time (read: actually pretty traumatic) for the last week or so. I'm running six-cylinders on every coping mechanism at my disposal. For a few moments I feel ok. Not like, really ok, but anxious ok. You get it.
Then, the phone rings. Someone doesn't have the insurance card the need for the treatment they need, oh and by the way, we need it in the next hour.
Well, it's not my emergency. It's not my card. It's not for one of my kids. In fact, it's for my husband who can't call me himself because there's a no-contact order in place.
At this point, I wish I would have taken a breath, stayed calm, and gone about helping the best I could (it's a medical emergency. I mean, I'm not just going to hang him out to dry).
What do I do instead? I'm glad you asked. My adreline immediately shot up, I felt like I was fighting a fire, my anxiety goes through the roof. I am the exact opposite of calm and effective.
Now, I feel foolish and week because I know HOW I want to handle those things, and it's once again exactly how I DID NOT.
UGH.
About the only thing left I could do was jog his memory about where he was when he opened the card -- the perforation was weird and it became notable. That did it. He knew exactly where IN HIS WALLET he put it.
Case closed.
Except for me, who was in the middle of trying to organize, plan and structure certain things to help me maintain my anxiety over the next few days. I feel to agitated to go back to what I was doing. I'm still vibrating. By the time it passes I'll be exhausted. I'll feel behind from word go tomorrow. Anxiety will once again ensue.
I REALLY wish I could get a better grip on acting instead of reacting and not going immediately into panic mode.
Anyone find ways to manage that? Care to help a girl out?
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Hey all, i know its been quite awhile since i posted on here. Its been a summer all right. Its been something else........... You know how they say not to open the can of worms? Well a few months ago i decided to find out what my due date would have been for my first baby, the one conceived by r***. My baby would have been due on March 4th of 2006. They would be 20 years old. I was R**** on June...
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My day...today...misplaced my debit card...didn't realize it until I got to the register after shopping to a full cart. Used a different debit card and pulled apart everything looking for missing debit card before I left parking lot. Got home, dropped keys. So now I have a missing debit card, missing keys. A full cartload to unload and put away. I got everything put away.Dumped purse for a...
You are currently working one of the tools I use to act instead of react. Writing and sharing honestly and open about the times like you describe here helps me get a handle on how I can improve the situation. After working this step often enough, I can get it through my thick, volatile head to begin plying the tool **before** I explode and create unnecessary collateral damage.
Gentle support while you find what works for you. Welcome aboard.
The cold on the face for sure works if you want an immediate remedy. The mindset will take time but put that effort forth.
I’ll definitely try it Bd report back. Makes the whole things hound more fun.
If nothing else, there still be that split second before freak out when I ask myself “Really?! Do we really want to put out face in ice water again? We’re getting frost bite!” And it will snap me out of immediate reacting. :)
I MAKE it MY issue. I can choose not to. It will just take work.
The other thing that’s so hard to deal with is the intensity. Time seems to speed up. I really want to figure out a way do slow down instead.
I think “Do the opposite” is a DBT thing, but I can’t quite remember and I’m just now going back through it all.
Thank you!
I've been there. Some days I am on top of managing the anxiety. The next, it takes hold of you and you haven't realized it until you've already gone off the deep end and the days over.
One thing that I have done it meditate more to increase mindfulness. I've started to add more time in the mornings before I begin anything to "set the tone" and remember to remain mindful of how I feel. This helps me throughout the day catch myself as I am about to spiral into an anxiety attack.
Sometimes I can recognize this right away and that is when I take a 1-3 minute meditation break to reset.
I have also purchased one of those cognitive behavioral therapy books which helps. By the time I am done with my entry, I am a bit calmer.
It does take work, but the more you do it the easier it gets to recognize it.
Still, it is entirely normal to not be in control of it once in a while. It is important to not be hard on yourself when that happens. You are only human.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/prescriptions-life/201709/7-ways-calm-your-worried-mind-and-reduce-anxiety
https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/fight-or-flight-response/