I came across this site by chance.I am 61 years of age and I my earlier life some 30 years ago experienced the most crippling anxiety and depression.Something I thought I would never recover from.It took a few years to understand why I was ill and how to steer my life back on track, no one teaches you any of these basic skills when you are at school.Getting your life balanced before it unbalances you.
I have never tried to share some of the things I did to gain the upper hand over this awful affliction, and for that I am ashamed.
Anyone who is reading this please realise there is a light out of this darkness and if I can help someone back towards it that would be reward enough.
Its great to receive feedback from someone who overcame this. Please do share with us how u surpassed it
Hello & Welcome
I agree with Godiswithme02 and look forward to hearing about more of your story and how your road to recovery
Take Care x
Switched my thinking from one where I thought I was on the verge of death to the opposite.Every thought ...feeling...symptom...is just that .....and no matter how bad the symptoms become....they will not kill you... you just end up exhausted and afraid because anxiety does not kill you.It just makes your life a living death.
Now that's out of the way, everytime you get a symptom just accept it and tell yourself this too shall pass and try to do something other that sit and contemplate on what ifs.
Float like a cloud through the moment and keep saying this is just a feeling nothing more.Pay less heed to troublesome symptoms once you are sure they are part of you anxiety state.
The mental approach has to be accompanied at a physical level to really win and overcome an anxiety state.So begin with small daily walk.if you have agoraphobia then you may find walking at night easier.or yoga or running on the spot, anything that raises your basal heart rate to about 120 beats a minute.Do not ponder on how you feel but allow them to happen and keep reassuring yourself everything is normal.
And finally diet and relaxation are just as important.Use vitamin C and B leave The A And E ones alone.Google relaxation therapies and CDs.Any of the above is the road back to recovery.
Finally anxiety is like a fire... if you feed it more wood it continues to burn...some days will be better than others and you will get setbacks.This is normal and to be expected because your equilibrium is out of whack.Eventually the light at the end of the tunnel begins to seem closer and your days have more sunshine than rain.best wishes.
Thank you so much for posting this. My health anxiety is out of control and I can't seem to reel it back in. I've had five months of thinking I have some terrible disease, only to move to another one once I have the tests done to rule out the last disease. For instance, I was really short of breath-convinced something wrong with my lungs. Spiro test turned out ok and the symptoms vanished. Then I thought I had heart problems, my chest hurt bad. Heart checked out and those went away. Now I think I have MS or some other neurological disease. Now my hands are tingly, my feet are tingly, I'm super clumsy and lightheaded. I feel so defeated and embarrassed. I know it's not likely I have MS, but why do I feel this way...what If I do? I've also had an MRI when I was worried about another disease, but that came out clear. I just want to give up sometimes.
Usually I'm more positive. But, today is a bad day.
Hi Jomico, what are some of the things you did to get the upper hand. I am 39, single mom of two kids, recently divorced. Struggling with severe anxiety since my early 20's.
I wanted to reply on the forum but have decided not to post anymore stuff on there as it has pretty much been covered by other people.
You will gain a lot by reading one book called Self help for your nerves by Dr Claire Weekes.Amazon or EBay are excellent sources to buy it.
You need to take stock of your life and address any issues one by one.Its abit like redecorating a house.One room at a time is better than trying to start each room all at once.
I realise you must have tried several things to gain an upper hand but here's my take on it.
Some pointers....
Anxiety can't kill you ...it just depletes your energy and interferes with you peace of mind to the point it hinders every waking minute as it is a vicious circle you have to breach part of the cycle.
The best way to begin is to....
Give yourself a simple sentence (mantra) that you can remember and repeat as often and whenever your anxiety starts to spin out of control...Mine was
" Stop! I am going to stay calm and relaxed....relaxed and calm!"
Along with breathing control excercises using your diaphragm.This technique should also be practiced when you are laying down during relaxation excercises.And you must try at least once a day to do them.
Excercises...you must try to walk for at least 20 minutes a day ...everyday ...somewhere away from hustle and bustle.I started by using a step stool for 10 minutes followed by deep relaxation ...morning and afternoon.
If you can keep this up for 20 days you will see big changes in your anxiety levels....But it has to be on going if you want to stay healthy!
Diet... You have to steer towards an alkaline diet and avoid caffeine......sugar.
Dark Chocolate now and again as a treat / reward!Look at getting a liquidiser and blitz fresh fruit and vegetables as well as increase intake of vitamin c.Sometimes top up with multivitamins as anxiety states deplete these quickly.
Always have a quiet time and keep notes in a special book on things that help and hinder but keep it simple.
Anxiety causes your muscle groups to tense up as your body produces more adrenaline and noradrenaline.
The intercostal muscles in the spaces between you ribs tighten so it becomes hard to take a deep breath, so eventually you breath from the upper part of the lungs which causes dizziness and nausea.The diaphragm is also a big sheet of muscle that tightens and works against you getting a satisfactory breath....so it's important to practise the breathing techniques that excercises breathing from the diaphragm.The oesophagus is a series of muscular rings which too tighten up with excess anxiety...again giving rise to chest discomfort and acid reflux and nausea.
So you see learning to relax and reduce tension will reduce output of the
Hormones that cause muscle tension which then creates symptoms which then create anxiety.Hence the nasty circle.
A merry go round should be for children and bring laughter and joy, not misery and pain.
Hope some of these things are of help and yes I do realise you may have heard or tried some if not all the above, but you are not alone, many people experience this affliction but don't know where to begin.
You can and will regain your peace of mind and well being if you keep at it and don't be disheartened if you get bad days...that is normal...and sooner or later the gaps between good and bad get wider and the smiles return to your face.
Obviously I didn't mention simple root causes that begin to create anxious thinking
Like an unhappy relationship, a bad job, debt, health issues with loved ones, too many to list ...but you really do need to take a good long hard look at the cards in your hand and decide if you need to make changes.
You think like I do. It took many years to come to this conclusion as you have. I could have saved myself a lot of time, had I believed the therapists who repeated over and over what you are saying. I enjoy your posts. Keep writing
Thankyou Agora1.... It is so not understood by those that do not have it and those that do.Everyone seems to think that the only ill people in this world are those with a physical illness that you can actually see and everyone else is swinging the lead.
My own mother was a Senior staff nurse for most of her life and her best advice to me was pull yourself together.Even at the point of a full breakdown I was put into a mental health unit where the staff didn't help anyone but sat in their office chatting about what was on tv the night before.At that point I was on 28 tablets a day and wanted to die.I was 29 .....I stopped all the drugs/medication that did nothing but subdue me and went through a two year withdrawal, it took a further three years to get things back to some normality so I may understand what it is like to listen to therapists telling you it's all in the mind whilst you have a pounding heart and chest pain and unable to take a satisfactory breath as you feel all the walls closing in.
There are many ways to trick the mind into doing something else because the weird thing is the mind at the basic conscious level does not know the difference between real and imagined.Each person who is trying to recover has to find their own comfort level at a pace that suits their needs so there just isn't a quick fix cure all that tailor fits everyone.
But the first step is actually admitting to yourself that it isn't a serious medical condition or disease ..just that old faker ...Anxiety! Wish you and everyone who reads this a full and complete recovery.
Your posts are very easy to read and full of good advice. Thankyou and please continue as they will help a lot who suffer anxiety including me from Lin x
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