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 just got off the phone with my therapist and we had a good conversation. I definitely showed up ready to talk about stuff, lol. The hard part though is actually applying and implementing everything we talked about. It's like I ride this "high" after the appointment and feel like I can handle myself and everything I brought to her. But after a day or so, I feel like I've taken steps backwards. I start to get weighed down by the mundaneness of life and get irritable, and then feel like shit for feeling that way. OR if I am feeling good for a steady amount of time, I will have "background anxiety" that says I'm going to mess up soon. I know messing up is normal, I just I feel like not doing well means I am hopeless (which is something I only apply to myself and not others).
The point is, it's one thing to talk the talk, and another to walk the walk. It's hard for me to be kind and gentle with myself. I don't know how to let myself just BE and LIVE MY LIFE because there is always some kind of critical/negative self talk and it's draining. I guess i'm just getting this out and wondering if anyone else feels similar?
-
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.
-
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.
It remains pretty high on my wish list for the do to be as easy as the say. Alas, humans are creatures of habit, as are most of Nature's creatures. Getting myself to leave off the negative self-talk and self-flagellation was/is no justy affair. The good news is that the more I practice, the better I get and the quicker I can catch myself before I can give myself too many black eyes.
Support helps. If nothing else, it helps to know I'm not alone with this irony.
Be gentle with yourself and patient with the process. It ain't as easy as it sounds.
You could talk to your therapist about you wanting to work on negative self talk.
You could ask for two sessions a week (are you doing once per week now?)
Mindfulness and acceptance helped a lot. Trying to forgive myself is sometimes harder than forgiving others. My go to when things get bad is a cold pack on the forehead and YouTube videos about stoicism and Buddhist philosophy.
More sessions is an option if your insurance allows it and if the therapist can justify the medical need .However, sometimes we need time in between sessions to do the work ( depending on the participlar case)
Other times, we just need other kind of therapy or therapist.I had 2 therapists in 5 years and find that the former one was not as helpful.
Did your therapist suggest working on anything? Therapy doesn't do a lot of good if you don't do your own work in between sessions. Do you have any assignments, things you're supposed to be working on? If so, doing these things during the week will really be helpful.
Therapy by itself is not a magic wand that is going to fix everything. Therapists are there to guide us... they can't *be* us. We have to do the work.
A lot of people do not call them assignment and they do great with the 'talk' portion of the therapy. That's an excellent way to choose what you want to work on at home - the one that catches your interest.
Write it down to help you when you feel "...".
Welcome to the anxiety board at DS.
I talk with my therapist every 2 weeks, and even though an hour every two weeks doesn't cover everything I want to talk about, it just works with my schedule rn because I'm a college student. We talked a lot about how I feel like I have to be critical because without that voice I don't have anything to "keep me in check." She said I feel like I need that voice because it's all I know at this point. She suggested to start by saying at LEAST 1 nice thing to myself each day and she also suggested medication (sigh).
Again thank you for the warm welcomes and support! Maybe today you could also say 1 nice thing to yourself ??????