Anxiety not improving, but I am trying hard...

[Anxiously_Mikey]

This is my 3rd week since I had my big anxiety meltdown. It has certainly overlapped into depression a bit. I have learned a LOT in the past few weeks by reading stuff and a few visits to a therapist (which I am continuing). As incredibly, incredibly hard as it is to do some certain that everyone recommends (sometimes exercise in the morning, pay attend to your breath, meditate, be mindful of thoughts, etc.) I am doing a LOT of these things. But I am experiencing little-to -no return on that investment. The ONLY thing that makes me feel normal for a very, very short amount of time, is having a few alcoholic drinks… I won’t exceed 4-5. (I am smart enough to know that this is not ideal, and I only do that about once or twice per week, and I definitely will not let myself do it any more frequently than that). Anyways.. I need some hope. Will any of this anxiety/depression start to subside if I stay on this path (therapist weekly, sometimes exercise in the morning, pay attend to your breath, meditate, be mindful of thoughts, etc.) ?

[Hidden]

Hi Mikey

We all understand here where your coming from, so remember your not alone with your struggle.its good that your persevering with therapy and continuing to try and recover despite your anxiety of wondering if you'll get better. People do and can recover from this mikey, the problem is they.often try to hard, I know that sounds silly but its true, trying too hard just turns it into a battle, you have to stop fighting and instead just accept your symptoms/thoughts, acceptance is the key to our success in recovery, just allow your symptoms to come and go without fighting or trying to hard to rid yourself of them, look up some if the posts here written by "BeeVee" you'll find them very useful and he explains it perfectly, it takes acceptance and time to recover, but please look up those posts I mentioned, you'll soon understand what it means :-)'xxx

[Anxiously_Mikey in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Suzie. That is some good insight. And, per your recommendation, I am reading BeeVee posts, lots of encouraging stuff...

[Hidden in reply to Anxiously_Mikey]

Thats great mikey, BeeVees post are so inspirational and he explains it so well, you can get through this, don't be discouraged and just give it time, perseverance and acceptance, keep intouch and you know we're hear right behind you xxx

[Crystal88]

Thats like me i drink alcohol to make me feel better i thought i was the only once i drink 2 or 3 maybe 4 but im not drunk ....i realize that once i stop drinking i feel sick after and my heart starts to beat weird . But ill give you dome pointers i used to have really bad anxitey like super bad but a friend of mine told me to buy ginger tea with lemon and honey it worked !!! Drink it once a day for a whole week trust me u have to beileve in it i didnt and wasnt drinking it often ...because i thought it was stupid ...theres another one u can buy at the store its called chamolie i think thats how u spell it ill check in a bit that does wonders fir me fir when i feel anxious . Please give it a try google it if u want lmk how it goes

[Anxiously_Mikey]

yeah, its mostly job unhappiness (that has been slowly growing for years) that blew the lid and made this whole anxiety thing overflow like a volcano. Actually, job not really all that bad- it just 'changed'... and I tend to view it more as a 'threat'. But my therapist mentioned that there is so much underlying from my deep past (parents divorce, bad car crash, difficulty accepting my introversion, trouble with self confidence) that may not have been dealt with properly. Parts of me realize I am on the right path, yet I occasionally get overwhelmed thinking "wow, I have been a wreck this long and was not aware of it!?".. which of course, spikes the anxiety.

[Catahrina]

I think it all depends on what caused your anxiety/depression. There's always something thats been triggering an anxiety period. I just recovered from my 3 years anxiety and depression. I found what was bothering me, which took me whole 3 years, so I'm not saying i'ts easy work. And made myself think less and less about it, by thinking about it, letting it get to me, as much as possible. It's not easy. But sure, meditate and all that might work for some people too, i tried medication, seeing therapists, but the only thing that helped me in the end was my own method. It's way more complicated than this 7 line paragraph sure, but it works.

I hope you will get anxiety out of your way soon budd, stay strong

[Anxiously_Mikey in reply to Catahrina]

Interesting, Zayde. You mention "made myself think less and less about it, by thinking about it, letting it get to me, as much as possible." Which seems kind of the opposite of most recommended courses of action (seems like we are usually told to NOT think about it and let it pass on its own.. which seems impossible for me at this stage). But of course- whatever works for you is all that matters.

[Catahrina in reply to Anxiously_Mikey]

well, if someone tells you not to think about a certain thing, you will most likely think of it even more.

Dont think about what I just said. Don't think about it at all. Did it work?

You cant run from your thoughts and neither what's causing your anxiety.

[Anxiously_Mikey in reply to Catahrina]

very good point.

[Beevee]

You can think anything you like when you have anxiety. The thoughts will come anyway, albeit heavily laced with a large dollop of anxiety/fear which magnifies their intensity so much, the thought grabs your attention to the extent that it can stop you in your tracks. You cannot stop them coming or "unthink" them but make the mistake of assuming they must be of great importantance and give them lots of attention.

Anxiety is simply adrenalin looking for an outlet, one of which is to manifest itself into frightening, irrational or strange thoughts. You must realise that these thoughts are just figments of an anxious mind because you have anxiety. They are not important and should just be seen for what they are, anxiety just playing tricks.

The more you "try" to push them away, the longer they linger and the stronger their impact. If you welcome the thoughts and let them take centre stage in the spotlight without trying to push them off stage, heckle or boo, they start to lose their significance and quickly diminish.

Allow the thoughts to flow in and flow out and DO NOT react. DO NOT try to force them out. Gradually, you will notice that the intensity of the thoughts reduces and you begin to pay less attention to them. Stop fighting them and do the opposite by inviting them in. They are not important and you should not give them any respect and not care about them.

Don’t ever tell yourself that you must not think these thoughts. Let all the thoughts come. DO NOT run away from them. They are only thoughts, grossly exaggerated because of the way you feel. They are completely harmless and don't mean anything. They won’t be around when you recover, so dont give them any respect.

Fighting thoughts and trying to rid yourself of them is a battle you cannot hope to win. You must realise that you are actually fighting something that is entirely normal under the circumstances so DO NOT try and fight or change the way you think.

In summary, you have two choices. You either create a battle in your own head trying to figure it all out or you leave the thoughts alone and just let them go.

What is it to be?

[Satsuma]

It is so hard Anxiously_Mikey I am too a fellow sufferer .. Will check out Beevee and Thankyou to Hidden