Home→Forums→Tough Times→Need help general anxiety experience
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February 12, 2019 at 10:35 pm #279959
DanielParticipantHi guys, I’m new to this hello to everyone out here. I have been diagnosed and suffering from generalized anxiety disorder six months ago. I still tried to understand my anxiety symptoms and I want to avoid taking some sort of drugs. I’m just wondering if any of you out here to share your story and tips , which would really give people like me a morale boost and clarity about this . Thank you.
February 13, 2019 at 9:08 am #280019
AnonymousGuestDear Daniel:
Anxiety, ongoing fear without present and imminent danger, is the human condition. Anxiety shows itself in so many ways that there are I am guessing hundreds of diagnoses, hundreds of collections of symptoms so to organize types of anxieties in groups. The group without a particular focus of the fear (spiders, open spaces, closed spaces, etc.) is “generalized anxiety disorder”.
Fear is the most powerful emotion we have, the most distressing. It is so because when an animal is in a present and imminent danger, such as a predator fast approaching, it needs to run away or fight as soon as possible, immediately, with all its strength, all that it got. This is the function of the emotion of fear: to make the animal feel so bad, that it has to do something and fast.
This is why fear feels so distressing, why it is the most distressing of all emotions.
There are plenty of ways to reduce and regulate fear, from guided meditations, to a routine of aerobic exercise, from mindful yoga to the slow motion practice of tai chi, saunas and hot baths, or lying under the sun, the fear melting in the heat and so forth. Insight into a person’s childhood is very helpful, and quality psychotherapy is a good idea. Did you attend therapy?
anita
February 25, 2019 at 1:59 pm #281789
JamieParticipantHey Daniel,
I find that I personally have two different situations to deal with when it comes to my anxiety. The first is over thinking or catastrophizing, which happens when I am alone and lost in my thoughts. Now that I am able to recognise when I am doing this, I have been able to find a few methods that help to calm me down. Normal meditation doesnt work for me in this situation because I cant focus. However, yoga is amazing. Mixing body movements with controlled breathing really helps me calm down. Also doing something with my hands like drawing (just doodling, not thinking about what im drawing), colouring or journaling works well too. Using my brain for something purely logical such as crossword or number puzzles also helps to ground me.
The other situation is when I am in the midst of a social interaction and I lose my words. This one I am still working on. The only thing I have found so far that helps a bit is identifying an “escape plan” before attending a social event (Of course this doesnt apply if it is just a casual conversation where my anxiety kicks in). My escape plan usually involves getting to the event on my own, so not carpooling, and maybe even coming with a prepared excuse for me to leave early incase I need to use it.
It really depends on how you experience your anxiety, but learning to identify when you are in the middle of anxious thoughts as opposed to “normal” thoughts is a good first step.
Hope this helps,
Jamie
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