Another Letdown

[Trish23]

I deal with anxiety off and on. I don’t have a bad life at all so I get angry with myself for feeling this. I am starting to notice I fight it more after a change like after holidays, after I retired etc. I monitor my thoughts constantly to see if I am anxious etc. trouble sleeping. I have a therapist I can see but she always says my anxiety is based in a fear of dying??? I don’t think anyone wants to but I don’t find myself thinking about it a lot so not sure why that is her philosophy. I am trying not to let it escalate but again I just start watching all my thoughts like a broken record. It almost is like an obsessive pattern. Do others have this and if so what do you do to help change your thought patterns.

[designguy]

Hello Trish, I just saw your post and can relate, i've had anxiety issues on and off for years. And to be blunt, I think your therapist is full of crap, a lot of anxiety is about the fear of living not dying. Anxiety can be caused by your experiences/beliefs from the past, present or future. A panic attack can feel like we are dying. Anxiety/panic is our bodies builtin warning system to keep us from harm and when we experience it we are naturally going to have more thoughts about anxiety and dying. I'm retired too and I think it may also have to do with facing our own mortality. I also find that when I am having some anxiety my OCD kicks in and it is more difficult to let the thoughts go instead of ruminating about it so you are not alone.

[Trish23 in reply to designguy]

Thanks for your response. It helps to hear others views. I would just like to figure out how to turn off the constant thought monitoring. Hope you are doing ok.

[designguy in reply to Trish23]

You're welcome and here are a couple resources you might check out for ruminating: the youtube videos of Paige Pradko. She is a therapist that healed her OCD and other anxiety issues and now helps others deal with it and heal. Another good resource I found is Matthew Codde at restoredminds.com/ he is also a therapist who had OCD and anxiety and healed himself and now helps others heal. Also practicing simple mindfulness meditation helps me. But honestly, when i'm triggered and the thoughts are sticky and I get stuck in the ruminating, like I have been lately I haven't found a quick solution.