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...
A lot has been going on lately. My parents are worse than ever. The abuse from my dad is getting worse by the day, and I don't know what to do to stop it. I feel unsafe, unsettled, and scared all the time. My chronic health issues have been getting worse every day, and that is really dragging me down. I have recently had them diagnosed and been told that although they are not life threatening, it is something that I am going to have to live with for the rest of my life. These health issues forced me to quit basketball, and now I feel so alone, and I feel like I have nobody to talk to. It was my favorite sport and was a way for me to get out of the house for a while.
My anxiety is through the roof, as my younger sister has been turning to me for help because she is having suicidal thoughts and has even come extremely close to attempting. I try to talk to her, but it is a lot to process. She is too scared to talk to our parents about it because of their views on mental health. Their reaction would most likely be to get mad at her and possibly punish her, as they have done this as a way to "help" her with her depression in the past. I am so scared for her. She takes daily medication for physical reasons, and has thought of overdosing. I am so nervous all the time that she will go through with it, and I know it's selfish, but I don't know what that would do to me. I honestly don't think I could go on living if she died. I am planning on going and talking to just my mom, as she would be more understanding of my sister's situation and may even be able to help her.
My breaking point was when my pet died today. He died in a freak accident that left him horribly mangled, and I found his body when I went to feed him. I was devastated, as this is the second pet I have lost in two months, and I lost them both in extremely horrible circumstances. My pets were my lifeline of support, and were helping to keep me happy. I am in a new town with absolutely nobody to help me, and they were really helping me to stay out of a depressive state.
I just needed to vent, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know that there are others out there who have it worse than me, so I sometimes feel guilty for complaining, but I just can't help it. I am at my limit and don't know what I can do to drag myself out of this spiral.
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Ever since I stopped doing therapy because of insurance, I've been feeling that old tense and irritable sense of anxiety and stress. I hate that. I was making so many strides and changes during therapy, my therapist would acknowledge all of my progress and accomplishments, and I miss that reassurance. Today I thought about it, and I made those changes! She would always tell me that I chose to...
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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.
I love the notion of talking this over with your mother. Continued venting here can be helpful, as well. Listening. . .
You are not alone.
Grief is part of life. There is both joy and sadness in the circle of grief. Remember the joy when the sadness is overwhelming.
Anxiety is natural and it is there as a 'helper' for you to balance all the feelings.
When it comes to how parents treat their growing up children, it's learning how to separate the feelings from the worries and to work from the facts alone when necessary to move through those challenges.
You are NOT responsible for what others say, do, act, react, and respond. You are responsible for what you say, do, act, react, and respond. Once you begin taking care of your well-being by responding in a positive way that improves your well-being, it will probably result in worse reactions and responses before it improves.
Just remember your goal is to live your life, not your parents', not your sister's, yours. You choose how you want to live it.
Learning how to make a chronic medical condition be a strength can be done. However, it has to be your decision.
I'm going to give you a different insight about talking with your mom about any of this. Be cautious. The result of sharing it may be far more worse than already experienced, experiencing.
The reason would be because as your parents worry - they are doing it from their perspective which does NOT include overwhelming anxiety being acknowledged. They grew up in a time when the normal response to this was "suck it up and keep going". The unintended consequence of this is their reaction to the current situation all of you are facing within the same household.
Counseling is an option, once communication is opened up in a way that provides a positive connection for your parents to accept that it will 'help' without shame on anyone.
You are not alone in this. Sorry for your loss of your animal companions.