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...
Mom just asked me if it's safe to not have any written paper from the new insurance company. The new company said the insurance will take effect at midnight tonight. But the policy mom has to sign won't get to her house till next week. Then she has to mail back. She asked me what to tell the old insurance companies about the start date of the new insurance if they ask. I tol her to tell them she wasn't renewing their policys. I was almost screaming at her. This changing insurance has been a lot of anxiety on her part. And it has been over a three week period. Off and on that I have been calling insurance companies and telling mom what they said. And listening to her constant worry about the subject. I understand her GAD because I have it but it's driving me crazy. When this is settled she will be on to the next thing to worry about. She is on meds. Won't try different ones. Cont up dose cause of age and other meds. Therapy never helped. She felt the therapist was supposed to fix her problems. Not her.
Barbara
Barbara
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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...
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I don't really know how to label this but I having a rough week and I can't say it's one thing.... I have a lot on my plate which is nothing new and I try to cope in many positive ways and do but I still have my moments.My kids more so my daughters talk to me about everything which I know it's cause of comfort and we are close.... however I really struggle with the venting about their dad which...
Your mom knows that she has anxiety based on the history you mentioned. How does she cope with it now, apart from the meds? Can she talk about it in a constructive way? Has she tried reading books or things like exercise and meditation?
One thing you might try to open a dialogue is to first acknowledge that dealing with insurance paper work is stressful for everyone, but then let her know that if she focuses on it to much, it affects you too.
If they say, "I don't know," you can talk them through it. Start with a few deep breaths. Then ask them to come up with an idea and say - "and how would that work out?" In effect, you're teaching them to solve their own anxiety so they call you less in the future.
Hope that helps a little bit.
From the nanosecond at which you agree to the terms of your insurance, you have created a contract, and the insurance agent at the other end of the line has written you out a thing called a 'cover note.' It's a done thing. So if you got off the phone to the insurance company and drove your car straight into a garage, you're covered.
They tape their telephone calls. If she is ever worried, get her to write down the time of the call, and the name of the person she spoke to. Or she can write an email immediately to that insurance company thanking x person for the talk, thanking them for arranging cover for xyz, and looking forward to receiving the documentation in the mail.
I wonder if she has more than anxiety. If she is getting on, it could be compounded by the beginnings of dementia, which will mean no new learning, basically.
When a person feels that the therapist is supposed to fix it, not themselves, it means that they are not prepared to make changes. As long as their usual response fits, they will continue this pattern. You can not change them, however, you can change the pattern by changing how you respond to the anxiety.
This is very important in family situations where the adult child is working with the aging parent, reversing roles. Their style of worrying we acknowledge, understand, and work with. So, when it is not working, we have to step up the pattern.
Best wishes! You are not alone in this.