Craziness in my head

[Will83]

Hi all. I am a 33 year old male who is on the verge of not smoking anymore and suffer from severe anxiety issues. Today is my final day of sucking down those tar stix and it's all because I feel they are part of the reason for my anxiety issues. I take 300mg of Gabapentin daily and it tends to ward off my initial anxiety issues but doesn't seem to help when it is full blown. I travel a LOT for work and part of my job is to monitor the success of 5 restaurants....one day while driving to my furthest location I felt this intense urge to just pull over, I told myself that it was just the anxiety kicking in and kept on. 15 minutes later I came back to and my car was off the road. I had at some point blacked out from hyperventilating or something and had drifted off the road. This was a very scary moment and I was thanking god that I wasn't on the interstate when this happened. Now I find myself always looking, on my way to my stores or wherever I go, to make sure there is an urgent care or hospital nearby the location so I know I have immediate access to "help" if I need it. My issue is i feel people look at me like I'm crazy when I go into the ER for any new pain in my body because my mindset says I'm in dire need of help. AM I CRAZY?!

[Agora1]

WBoweter, NO...you are not crazy, you are suffering from severe anxiety. It is a scary disorder in not knowing when it may strike and so we look for an out. We look for the nearest sign of a hospital or even a fire department. Anywhere there may be immediate help available. Anxiety is the most loneliest illness because it can't be seen by others making us feel less in control and more vulnerable to other's comments. Don't be intimidated by what others may think, they in all likely hood thinking about their own lives. Since you are on the road a lot driving, my recommendation would be to use relaxation tapes (not the ones that put you to sleep) and do deep breathing while driving and whenever you feel tense. If it's most of the time then deep breathe most of the time, it's not going to hurt you it is going to calm your mind and body. You can't be anxious or afraid if you are deep breathing and feeling calm.

From one stop to another you will at least be calmer, more in control even to the point of feeling peaceful. Dr. Claire Weekes has a CD that you can pop in which will explain how anxiety plays with our minds and tries to fool us into believing something is wrong. I hope some of these suggestions may help you some. The thing is you are okay. There is nothing wrong with you. You just need to reverse your way of thinking and reverse you way of breathing. My best to you WBoweter. Stay Positive, Stay Strong, Stay Safe.

[49568]

I would highly suggest it to you if you could get your hands on the book by Norman Vincent peel the power of positive thinking or the tapes would do wonders. It was required reading my first year of college it literally changed my life. Now I'm working with that all over again with this quitting cigarettes. On May 19 day today and still smoke-free. No you're not crazy I truly understand. Good luck and have a nice evening

[Jmerrick22]

Hey man hope your doing better . anxiety sucks I've been dealing with it for about a year . One day at a time man one at a time . If you ever wanna talk ornneed someone to listen message me