Anxiety & No one to speak too

Hi Guys,

I am new to this and have recently been to the doctor who has suggested speaking to people who may understand me.

I am struggling a lot with anxiety, with hardly any sleep for 2 weeks and waking up with heart palpitations. I have recognized that stress triggers a lot of my anxiety. Would anyone be able to help with any coping mechanisms?

Thank you!!

[Jeff1943]

Welcome to the Mad House, Brianna1234, I would have thought it was your doctor's job to understand you, but we're more than happy to do the task. It certainly sounds like your inability to sleep and heart palpitations are all down to anxiety. It sounds like you may have been worried and stressed lately, if that continues for a while our whole nervous system can become sensitised. Suddenly small everyday problems at home and work seem like major obstacles and we can experience all kinds of symptoms like palpitations that imitate genuine organic illnesses but aren't, sensitised nerves are very good at faking real illnesses. But no matter how troubling the symptoms of anxiety disorder may be they are never life threatening, they can never do permanent damage to your body.

I presume you have mentioned your palpitations to your doctor and he or she is satisfied they are 'only' nerves. The best coping mechanism that I know of is simply accepting the symptoms of nervous sensitisation for the moment, and now you know that they are not real but just glitches in your nervous system to accept them without fear, without adding more anxiety to your nervous system. So practicing acceptance is the best coping mechanism for it stops second fear and the vicious circle of anxiety-symptoms-anxiety- symptoms etc constantly thrashing your sensitised nerves.

It takes time and much practice to achieve acceptance, no five minute fix I'm afraid, but eventually your nervius system becomes desensitised and returns to normal and all the symptoms of anxiety fade away and you return to feeling normal. So when anxiety next makes itself felt don't fight it, don't keep constantly testing yourself in a panic of introspection, instead feel all the muscles in you whole body relaxing and going limp one by one. This won't stop the bad feelings there and then but just acceot them without fear or causing further anxiety, they are after all phantoms that don't really exist in the normal organic sense, and in the fullness of time you will feel yourself recovering more day by day. We on this forum have all been through what you are experiencing now, you are not alone, so do feel welcome to return and ask any question you like and profit by the experience of others. You will recover, be certain of that, but you must be persistant in persuing the coping mechanism of Acceptance.

[Hidden in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you so much for your help and advice. I think it might just be accepting who I am and how I deal with things!

Thanks again