Anxiety

[brightenup]

I tend to overthink anything that comes my way.......I usually try and ignore them forgetting that the day ends...they come back and lash me down...I can't think straight nowadays,I don't sleep that much....it's literally 3:42am in the morning and still no sleep☠️I'm scared for myself,I don't eat that much,I'm never happy these days,and if I am just for a couple of minutes then it's all over......

[Southpaw1970]

Hi there, can relate to your issues reach out anytime.

[Dogmom8]

Hi brightenup! I’m sure you already know this but sleep is so important to help the mind and body relax and not doing it can actually make anxiety and depression 1000x worse I’d try taking a nice hot bath before bed and watch tv in a cold dark room while reading a book! There’s also this tip that helps an overthinking mind at night just to ease you into sleep. Think of a word with no emotion like “walk” then take the first letter of the word “w” and think of five no emotion words that start with a “w” example: walk W: whale, wish, world, watch, water. Then you move onto the next letter and eventually you should fall asleep! I have sleeping issues and I’ve never gotten passed 7 words!

[YouSayIAmLoved]

Ruminate. I do it, too. My psychologist told me to do the opposite of what my mind is telling me. For example, when I don’t want to see anyone, that’s the time to run an errand. When I want to take a nap, do something productive and attainable first like empty the dishwasher or take out the trash. Doing one thing is still better than doing nothing. My old therapist suggested journaling sometimes getting it out somewhere helps. He also suggested listing at least one thing you were thankful for that day.

My sleep doctor told me about an app called Insomnia Coach (free, originally made for military with PTSD). It takes dedication, but small changes got my circadian rhythm back on track. No caffeine past noon. Don’t hang out in the bedroom, study, watch tv, etc. just sleep and sex. No screens. No lights. You can read a book, but it has to be a boring one! (I was reading one about perimenopause “You are Not Broken” and one about ADHD 2.0 and she said those were fine. ;)). My Kindle was fine because its lighting is different than other screens. Only go to bed when you are tired. (The Insomnia Coach app helped me figure out my bed time and wake time). If you wake for more than 15 minutes, get up and go do something else. Again, can read boring book. But not in bedroom. You have to reset your brain that your bedroom is for sleep only. I have headphones built into my sleep mask, so I found listening to Podcasts drown out my thoughts. Paul Conti has been on many talking about Trauma. Huberman Lab is educational. Jamie Kern Lima, Ed Mylett, and Mel Robbins are uplifting. I also like Jordan B Peterson, Diary of a CEO, and Jay Shetty. Dr Matt Walker is a sleep doctor. I notice as time goes on, the nightmares and night terrors have subsided for the most part. Things got a little better after I started getting sleep.

As for eating. I wasn’t eating either. I looked into meal delivery. I settled with Daily Harvest. Grab and go. Healthy. Easy. I have them for lunch. I usually make a quick smoothie for breakfast. Dinner is still usually PB toast, some nuts, maybe string cheese. Not the healthiest, but it keeps me going.

It doesn’t seem like it now, but this will be a memory someday.