Ruminating

[jwhitleyjr]

I just wanted advice. Do you think it is best to just go live my life and worry to much about my anxiety then my mind can decrease in thinking irrational fears? I don't mean to act like it's not there. But not to make it my whole life all day. But it's hard to do with the physical symptoms. Especially my fear the heart constantly racing.

[Beevee]

Congratulations! You have just summed up the type of attitude required to overcome your disorder. To recover, focus on other things, make your life bigger than anxiety and simply take it with you for the ride. By doing normal things, your focus slowly shifts away from yourself and on to the outside world. Anxiety takes a back seat and only a matter of time until you completely forget about it.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

[jwhitleyjr in reply to Beevee]

I needed this. Thank you so much. God Bless you.

[jwhitleyjr in reply to Beevee]

I just hope the fear will kill me. I hate to say that. I am sorry. I am just tired of palpitations and the feeling of having a heart attack.

[Beevee in reply to jwhitleyjr]

It won’t kill you because it is our own natural defences kicking in to protect us from perceived danger. The fight/flight response. You fear the feelings of fear so your defences are always in full alert and the adrenal glands pumping adrenalin around the body preparing you to fight or run. That is all it is. It is uncomfortable but it’s not dangerous. People experience the same feelings on a roller coaster ride but don’t question them because they associate it with enjoyment and don’t monitor themselves. The heart rate goes down all by itself.

[jwhitleyjr in reply to Beevee]

One last question. The things that trigger me. Do you have advice on how I can retrain my brain from thinking they are threats. Because I overthink and its seems like out of the blue I think that it is a danger. I say in my mind it's a danger and my mind believes it. So what is wrong with me? I really feel like I am going crazy.

[Beevee in reply to jwhitleyjr]

Keep doing the things that trigger your anxiety and learn not to recoil even more following the initial fear flash, which might be a scary thought. People remain trapped in the cycle because they panic about panic. They fear the feelings of fear.

To save me repeating myself, I have posted a lot of information and detail on this forum about my recovery which I achieved by following the teachings of Dr Claire Weekes and Paul David [anxietynomore.co.uk]. Feel free to take a look.

In a nutshell, it is all about accepting the way you currently think and feel and doing absolutely nothing to try and change it or rid yourself of the symptoms which might be intrusive thoughts or physical symptoms caused by stress. The primary reason people stay stuck is because the natural thing to do is to fight the symptoms, to try and get rid of them, but all of that has the opposite effect to the one desired.

Most sufferers don’t have any underlying ailment or a particular unsolved problem creating the anxiety. The only problem the have is trying to cope with their anxious thoughts and feelings. If you fall into this camp, you can overcome your disorder by learning to let go of it.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Beevee

[jwhitleyjr in reply to Beevee]

Thank you so much.

[Beevee in reply to jwhitleyjr]

My pleasure!

[jwhitleyjr in reply to Beevee]

But I just hope not to be afraid of everything. It is like my fear is transferring from one thing to the next.

[Beevee in reply to jwhitleyjr]

It's just negative energy being released and the mind and body's way of healing naturally after the battering you have given it, worrying constantly about how you are feeling!

This is why the best thing to do is nothing and just let the thoughts and fears be there and not give them the respect they need to keep going. As with most things in life, they die when they stop being fed.

[jwhitleyjr in reply to Beevee]

Sorry for being a pain. I am trying my best to get on with my regular life routine. But it's like I am waiting for a negative thought to come up. Because of my fear of the physical symptoms.

[jwhitleyjr in reply to jwhitleyjr]

Can I ask you this. What if something is implanted in your mind that you are always seeing and you feel constantly triggered. What should I do?