Having enough of life.

[Cam0121]

Anxiety is such a bitch. thats all I got to say really. Just an absolute bitch. It doesn't get better. I've taken propanolols etc and I still feel terrible. I can't work because I keep thinking people are talking bad about me & I start snapping at them. Can concentrate because I keep thinking there's a brain tumour growing bigger and bigger in my head. Every little pain I get over my body I think it's something bad. I've even started to have images in my head about my own funeral.... I'm 18. I have tried and tried to fight this & it is IMPOSSIBLE.

[Hidden]

Hi Cam0121. I know how you feel. I too think that every ache and pain or heart flutter means a life threatening condition and as much as I try I can't shake those thoughts out of my head. Even going out to do a simple errand is a struggle for me because that is a trigger for my anxiety. It interferes with my job and my sleep. But the only thing we can do is learn to live with it and not let it take over us.

[Jeff1943]

Cam, and that's exactly where you're going wrong: you've tried to fight it. You must never fight anxiety, fighting creates more tension and stress and your tired nervous system needs less not more of that.

Instead, do the exact opposite of fighting your anxiety. Accept it for the time being. Surrender completely to it. Agree to co-exist with it for the moment.

If you stop fighting your anxiety and utterly accept it then you stop flooding your nervous system with fear hormones. And it's fear that keeps your nervous system in a state of over sensitisation that is causing your anxiety. Keep accepting the bad feeling calmly for long enough and the anxiety will pass. Promise.

Regarding your brain tumour, well I've had lung cancer, kidney disease, heart failure and Parkinsons. And that's just this week and I'm fit as a fiddle. As you say, anxiety exaggerates every minor ache and worry into some killer disease.

Have you talked to your doctor about your anxiety? If the anxiety becomes overwhelming then a course of medications is justified, you should also consider therapy (talking cure) or a good self help book like Claire Weekes' "Self help for your nerves" available from Amazon.

[Jwilcock in reply to Jeff1943]

I really wish I was strong like you. My health anxiety is out of control & I become obsessed with trying to find the answer to why I feel poorly. I’ve had a full MRI of my head, neck & spine. Neurologist says it was clean as a whistle yet I’m still fighting in my head & looking for answers to my symptoms. I can only hope 1 day to be like you & then maybe I’ll get my life back & my family will get the real me back.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Jwilcock]

It's easy for me to give advice, much more difficult to take it. I draw your attention to the book I mentioned 'Self help for your nerves' by Claire Weekes also known as 'Hope and help for your nerves' in the U.S. both available from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com between them those two Amazon sites list 600 reader reviews for that book and 90% rate it either Very Good or Excellent. 600 reader reviews for a book is almost unprecedented. Among those reviews the phrase "saved my life" crops up frequently. Over to you...

[Jeff1943 in reply to Jwilcock]

Jwilcock, you are strong, people with anxiety disorder are among the strongest and bravest people in the world. That's what Doctor Claire Weekes writes in that book and I agree with her.

In life we are all given trials to overcome, everyone has their cross to bear, who is without one? But none of us are given trials to test us without being given the sometimes hidden reserves of strength to overcome and prevail.