Help with anxiety

LegacyUser

Hello,
I'm really struggling with anxiety atm. I have struggled with it for many years but never this bad.
I'm on job seekers and have just finished a 2 year course that I enjoyed doing. I got a letter from job path last week and my head has been going 100mph since. I haven't been able to eat much or just function normally. I'm can't stop my brain from over analysing everything. I'm running through possible scenarios and conversations in my head the whole time. I can't get a moments peace! I taught it would be OK for the weekend but it made no difference.
I'm going to make an appointment with the doctor tomorrow but I'm not sure what to even say? I try explain it to my partner (who is amazing BTW) and it just sounds stupid and now I have her all worried too.
I read there can be over a month waiting to see a cognitive behaviour therapist and I just can't cope with my head like this for a month.
What can I do to help myself?

Rigsby

Hi. Sorry to learn of your predicament. For what it's worth..you are not alone.

Have you considered mindfulness/meditation ? Lots of people who are suffering from the same issues as yourself are turning to it. Most likely, a doctor will simply prescribe tranquilizers, which will give some relief, but won't get to the hub of the problem.

Ideally it would be best to go to a meditation class to get the most benefit. Google meditation classes for your area. I myself am half way through a meditation course at present. There are about twenty five people taking part. From talking to them, it would appear that most are suffering anxiety to various degrees. If classes don't appeal to you there are lots of apps which offer meditation sessions for both beginners and more seasoned meditators alike. My favourite is :https://insighttimer.com It is free, with the option to upgrade if you wish. I have been using it for over a year and dont feel the need to upgrade. There are thousands of free meditations to choose from including beginner recommendations. It also contains a community where you can post your issues and share them with like minded people.

If you do decide to go the meditation route it would be a good idea to first do some research on the basics, as the "Insight Timer" app generally assumes that you know this.

Again, Google is your friend here, or there are lots of books on getting started.

IMO mindfulness/meditation is definitely worth trying. Most people I have spoken to on my course say it has helped to quieten/calm their mind. Granted, some of them had been meditating previously.

For myself, although I would not say I suffer from anxiety, I turned to meditation just over a year ago to calm my always racing mind. It has certainly been of help.

One thing to remember...mindfulness/meditation is not an instant cure all. It is more a "way of life habit". If you are simply looking for a distraction..mindfulness is not for you.

Best of luck. Hope my post will be of some help to you. I am happy to answer any other questions you have...if I can.

Finchie1276

Hi,

I used to suffer from anxiety and severe panic attacks. I did CBT and I also used a mindfulness app twice a day. I did 2 sets of mindfulness courses. A mindfulness 6 - 8 week course would be highly recommended. I had the option of using medication but my psychotherapist said they would really only mask the issue which was overthinking.

Read up/ You Tube Jon Kabat Zinn + Pema Chodron - both excellent.

Your Dr may want to investigate further to make sure there is no other cause so do bear that in mind.

Best of Luck.

MissD93

Hi there , first of all it's a massive step that your recognizing the issue at hand going to the doctor, you should be extremely proud of yourself, when I struggle years ago with my mental health I went to the doctor and freaked out and lied ( which was part of my problem at the time I was a compulsive liar and very delusional) left after telling him I was worrying about my thyroid, and obviously no better off the next time I decided I was going back I forced my self to write it all down and handed to the doctor. I'm very lucky too that I have a very good partner and that I got the help I needed, this was years ago and I doing what I never thought possible, but even this evening I was freaking out which shows that it can also be about sometimes but you learn to deal with those moments when they come about with the right help . Good luck OP

LegacyUser

I suffer from situational anxiety - so, things like clothes shopping would cause my heart racing, thoughts tumbling, really prevents me from doing lots of things.

Over time, catching this as it's happening and shifting my focus to my lower abdomen, breathing deeply, has helped me get on top of the situation. Happened to me as recently as Saturday morning, and it's become almost second nature to me now to shift focus down and breathe through it.

You're likely to get 99 different strategies and thoughts from people, and I know everyone's different, but this is how I've learned to handle anxiety.

Stateofyou

CBT, meditation, and EFT tapping are all good exercises for this. Years ago someone I know who did EFT tapping told me about it after confiding about the anxiety I was having; I had never heard of it before. Now that I know about it and have done it myself, I'll recommend it to others forever! It combines traditional talk therapy and using your fingertips to tap certain parts of your body repetitively. It's good to go to regular therapy but also the beauty of it is you can do it on your own, anytime, in the car, bathroom, plane-- whenever you need it. The science of it has shown it dramatically lowers the cortisol (stress) in your body. I thought of that for you since a big reason it has the success it does is by acknowledging your thoughts and feelings. By spending some time with them and fully feeling them and then letting them go, you've dealt with them. Instead of pushing them under a rug or letting them run rampant. If you keep doing this and then when you start ruminating, make yourself think of something else instead, your body calms and you can eventually get yourself out of that rut/track it runs on. I also carried Xanax with me at the height of it all and sometimes even just having it with and knowing I could rely on it to work quickly if I needed it, was enough.
There's no one best solution for managing anxiety, you'll need to find what works best for you. Drinking lots of water, exercising, putting healthy boundaries on the stressors in your life will all help too. Wishing you all the best.

B.A._Baracus

Hi
My friend suffers from it and from what you said it reminded so much of what they said.
You have to go the doctors. You'll probably be given meds to deal with it. Which do help by the way.

Ring up docs asap.

LegacyUser

Thanks very much for the replies. I have been reading them.
I went to the doctors. Found it hard to fully explain what was going on in my head, got all choked up. He had a little quiz thing that I could fill out and I'm glad he did. The results should my anxiety was off the scale, stress was severe and depression was just inside the severe as well. I wouldn't have said I was depressed but he said they all go hand in hand.
He has referred me for counselling and I'm on an anti anxiety tablet. I didn't really want to go the tablet route and the doctor even said the tablet will not cure me but it will give me time and a more stable head to work on the problem. Counselling could take a few months to start.

From comments here and from the doctor I have started using the 'smiling mind' app for mindfulness/meditation. Just getting into it now. One thing it has shown me is I tend to tense my tongue against my top teeth when struggling with a situation which I think causes me to trip over my words and thus making my anxiety worse.
I will have a look at EFT tapping.
I fill better having gone to the doctor, only wish I had gone about 5 years ago. My head is still racing and annoyingly, I'm finding myself struggling with situations I didn't struggle with before eg. going into local shop, meeting relatives/friends randomly I find I tense up a lot more and struggle with conversation.
But I've got the ball rolling on getting better.
Thanks again for your comments!