Struggling with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

[dumsiege]

Hi,

I'm new here and hoping to get some guidance. 6 weeks ago my wife and I bought our first house. It is a great house and I feel bad for having anxiety about it, but we are next to a fairly busy street and I can't stop thinking about the street noise. I have always grown up in houses that were in the middle of a neighborhood where sound wasn't an issue. I feel like I should have known that the street noise would be an issue. I actually was dealing with it fine, but have since convinced myself that I made a terrible mistake and I will never get used to the noise. At night I'm fine, but when I wake up in the morning I think about the street noise immediately. I then carry that anxiety around in my chest all day. I can't focus and I can't eat. I know I can't sell the house because we just bought it, but I feel helpless. Am I crazy for feeling this way?

Thank you.

[eharvey8]

Congratulations on making a big move but so sorry it's causing stress! First of all, please do not feel bad or guilty for having anxiety– we should never feel bad for our feelings! With that said, I know it seems counterintuitive but we can get stress and anxiety from both negative and positive life changes, so you are not alone for having anxiety from a positive experience. Sometimes when we make a big life change we have trouble adjusting and our brains wreak havoc trying to latch onto anything that can be construed as negative– such as street noise. The good news for you is that there are so many things you can try to fix the noise. Have you tried a white noise machine (or even white noise on a phone)? They also make sleeping headphones that's like a headband that you wear at night that can play music or anything through it. Additionally, although you can't move to a new house to avoid the street noise, the anxiety about the noise can be improved (maybe with the help of a therapist or counselor?). So sorry you're experiencing anxiety, but I promise it'll get better. Hang in there and in the meantime, meditate on all the positive aspects of the new house and the move in general. Hang in there!

[dumsiege in reply to eharvey8]

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I will take it a day at a time and hopefully it will all work out.

[BonnieSue Dream Team]

Hi dumsiege,

I've noticed that as my own anxiety is higher, so is my irritation with noise of all kinds...and street noise certainly is irritating. I've seen this problem with anxiety and noise in others, too, so I think it's pretty typical and normal for an anxious person.

Do you know that anxiety has a strong tendency to try to focus on one thing, like health problems, social situations, heights, spiders, whatever phobia you've ever heard of? And along with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, it gets even stronger as it focuses on this 1 thing (phobia) and away from many everyday things to make them seem safer and help ease the fears and anxiety of everyday living. Interesting, yes? So if your anxiety is helped and greatly reduced, chances are the noise at your home won't stand out as exceptional or bother you much at all...it won't be like a phobia anymore.

So...how can you best get that anxiety under control? See your doctor? Get counseling? Read up on self-help ideas, practice slowing your breathing and getting more control over your anxiety that way. Attend RI-Recovery Incorporated meetings if possible. They're self-help without drugs, created before there were any drugs. A little harder to learn than some things, but oh-so-worth-it. YOU become empowered to help yourself. The strength lies within you! Knowledge is very important here, the HOW to do this method critical. If you can't do this, choose another way...there are many and I can't say much about them as I'm uninformed about so many.

Sorry this is so long, I just care about you and your suffering. I hope you see your doc soon and get on your way out of this. Hugs and Love, BonnieSue

[BonnieSue Dream Team in reply to BonnieSue]

PS: forgot to say I "have" GAD and, after about 28 years of daily benzodiazepines to keep it under control, I no longer need any drug nor have any but the tiniest bit of anxiety about 1 time a few years ago. There IS hope. The GAD was well under control for years and years.