topic Anxiety in Anxiety

Anxiety

Brightwater — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 08:38:18 GMT

HI Everyone I'm a newbie here looking to chat with others who also suffer with anxiety

I suffer from anxiety regularly but heightened at the moment after another fall , losing balance , I did regain my confidence but then developed a chest infection and any confidence I had was lost.

I can get in car and drive but getting out of the car especially when on own is terrifying , I am so frightened of falling .in my own environment I am confident but outside of this is frightening , I am attending physio to regain balance and I carry on like a baby and my self talk is so negative eg sorry for being a baby , I'm a basket case , I am told not to beat myself up like this. I want to be better yesterday , I have seen a Councillor , who as she said all is up to me , but it is not easy to suddenly turn my mind around . Can anyone else relate to the above , I just would like to chat to others in similar situation , get the the negative thoughts out , instead of bottling all up

Anxiety

Marie_W — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 06:10:11 GMT

Hi Brightwater,

Welcome to the Beyond Blue forums and thank you for sharing a little bit of your story. It’s great that you’ve reached out about your anxiety. I hope you will be able to get some support from other people here and see that you are not alone in your struggles with anxiety.

I'm very sorry to hear about the difficult time you are having at the moment. It sounds like the fall combined with your chest infection has really heightened your anxiety and impacted your confidence to do everyday things, such as driving.

I just wanted to say that it seems like you have taken some really proactive steps to manage your anxiety and regain confidence (going to visit a physiotherapist and a counsellor, as well as reaching out here!). Have you found any of this helpful at all?

As you mentioned in your post, it's hard to just "turn your mind around" when you are feeling so overwhelmed. However, I think that even small changes we make within ourselves can have a big impact. I found this webpage that gives a few ideas about how to practice self compassion in a difficult situation, if you would like to have a quick read. I hope it could be useful in perhaps starting to shift some of the negative self-talk you mentioned in your post - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/personal-best/pillar/supporting-yourself/when-your-inner-critic-is-giving-you-a-tough-time

Is it okay to ask how you have been feeling since making your post?

Looking forward to hearing from you if you would like to reply.

- Marie (:

Anxiety

Brightwater — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 02:45:33 GMT

Good Morning thx for a reply I was getting despondent thinking it was a waste of time sharing my experience with anxiety as I didn't know what to say and thought no one would reply.

I am surprised to learn after reading mentioned post that not only me has an inner critic.

Ever since physio mentioned my appt last week for this evening it has been on my mind. only when appt is over can I relax I get anxious about where to park, will I be confident enough to walk the distance using my walking stick if I can't park close by as usual. I am stubborn I realise this and when help is offered I hate to accept as everyone has a life and they can't spend time supervising me with exercises . I can be confident and feel positive after practising walking up & down my driveway as soon as I leave my environment then I lose it all .

I can say inner critic is quiet at the moment until i get to physio this pm

Thx everyone for listening & sharing

Marie_W said:

Hi Brightwater,

Welcome to the Beyond Blue forums and thank you for sharing a little bit of your story. It’s great that you’ve reached out about your anxiety. I hope you will be able to get some support from other people here and see that you are not alone in your struggles with anxiety.

I'm very sorry to hear about the difficult time you are having at the moment. It sounds like the fall combined with your chest infection has really heightened your anxiety and impacted your confidence to do everyday things, such as driving.

I just wanted to say that it seems like you have taken some really proactive steps to manage your anxiety and regain confidence (going to visit a physiotherapist and a counsellor, as well as reaching out here!). Have you found any of this helpful at all?

As you mentioned in your post, it's hard to just "turn your mind around" when you are feeling so overwhelmed. However, I think that even small changes we make within ourselves can have a big impact. I found this webpage that gives a few ideas about how to practice self compassion in a difficult situation, if you would like to have a quick read. I hope it could be useful in perhaps starting to shift some of the negative self-talk you mentioned in your post - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/personal-best/pillar/supporting-yourself/when-your-inner-critic-is-giving-you-a-tough-time

Is it okay to ask how you have been feeling since making your post?

Looking forward to hearing from you if you would like to reply.

- Marie (:

Anxiety

Brightwater — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 08:55:41 GMT

I wanted to step over the drive way before i went to physio but my anxiety made me say No I'll wait till someone is around to support me if I fall

Yesterday after physio I felt so confident plus the weather was good nice hot and sunny so I stepped over the driveway , yes I was nervous had my walking stick with me did a short walk around the corner practised walking down & up Kerbs as anxiety also causes me problems with this.

I felt really confident yesterday, today weather extremely windy , I did a very short walk around corner after getting over anxiety of stepping over driveway felt i was going to get blown over in wind so came home. In my own surrounding neighbourhood I was confident , anxiety kicked in all day due to weather and impending visit to a friend, I stressed over getting out of car to her unit would it involve kerbs or steep incline . I managed ok , only stayed 1.5 hrs as anxiety about getting to my car , I Managed all. Physio in am I hope weather not as windy as today , not raining & will find somewhere close by to park as not confident in walking distance to from car , I know this will be on my mind all night

Anxiety

Marie_W — Thu, 29 Aug 2019 10:14:02 GMT

Hi Brightwater,

Great to hear from you! Apologies for my delayed response.

It's very uplifting to read that prior to today your anxiety had eased somewhat and that your inner critic had quietened. You also mentioned that you were feeling more confident yesterday - it sounds like the physio appointments could be contributing to this increase in your confidence?

I also just wanted to say congratulations on stepping over the driveway after your visit to the physio yesterday! This sounds like a huge achievement for you as I understand you were feeling nervous and that your anxiety has been heightened since your last fall.

It sounds like you were pushing yourself a little bit today to get out of the house due to the nasty weather, but it's great to hear that you challenged yourself despite this. Would it be okay to ask how you felt after going out to see your friend and managing to navigate the steps/incline to get back to the car?

I imagine it could have been a little disheartening today to feel anxious after such a great day yesterday, so I think it's important to mention that recovery isn't always linear - there will be good days and bad days, and hopefully the bad days will become few and far between, while the good days take the lead.

Looking forward to hearing from you if you would like to share more about your day-to-day progress and/or how the physio appointment goes tomorrow.

- Marie (:

Anxiety

Brightwater — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 05:59:45 GMT

Hi Marie

I enjoyed my visit to a friend, a step up on to verandah but I navigated by holding on to post ,i feel my visit was overshadowed by my anxiety as I was thinking of how I was going to get down verandah to car, I asked friend to come outside with me and I navigated all ok , then I say all that anxiety , I can mange stick in 1 hand , my bag is looped across my middle , friend gave me some food to take home but I had to ask her to carry for me .

I attended physio on Fri & again I felt confident when finished I drove to shops , at first nowhere close by to park & I did feel confident to walk a short distance , but parking space became available close by so I chickened out, I always use a shopping trolley as unable to mange the kerb I place shopping in boot of car then usually park trolley in space in front of car , again I was felling confident and placed trolley where it was supposed to go , I only went a very short distance but felt an achievement

I have been anxious all weekend as I wanted to attempt another walk over my driveway but the weather has been wet & very windy, today sun was shining & anxiety was kicking in about having courage to walk over my drive way but again wind very windy so I chickened out as frightened of being blown over .

I am going out with a friend tomorrow , and it is going to be windy again , lets see how I go having someone with me