Anxiety ruining my life

[Farthing]

Hi I have what seems like constant anxiety. I am extremely worried about my future. I took on a new job but quit due to anxiety and depression. I drink every day to try and ease the tension. I only have a few friends who I do not see very much. I pull out of activities because of anxiety. I always think the worst will happen. What should I do?

[smallwolf]

Farthing,

Hi and welcome to beyond blue.

There are a few options:

1. You can either try to get better yourself. You could look at threads on the forum relating to grounding and mindfulness as a starting point. There is also a thread on the forum about self-help books that people have read. There are also some good apps for your phone such as relax melodies, calm, and smiling mind.
2. You can seek professional help, and talk to who will help you through your issues. Best place to start here is with your GP (book a double session) to talk about what you have been going through. Before doing that, you might want to check the K10 test on the beyond blue web site and take that with you? Supposing that you get referred to a counselor or psychologist, you might want to look into a mental health plan as that reduces any costs for a number of sessions.

Now, my own tips and tricks are (and regardless of what options you look at) is to be able to recognise your triggers and then have the appropriate distraction and coping tools to bring you back to the present moment and not worrying about other things.

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone. Since I found out about my depression and anxiety, it allowed to be more open with people I know and would also find out some of them had been in similar situations. I would also encourage you to write here also, as a journal can also be therapeutic, as a means of getting those thoughts out of your head onto "paper". And here you have the advantage of getting some response. Most of the users here are not professionals, but will support you on this journey.

Tim

[IreneM]

Hi Farthing and Welcome to the Forum

I empathise with you as I have lost several jobs due to anxiety and later depression.

I've been off the forum because I, too, have just lost a job yesterday (not paid). But it was worth it as I have got many opportunites coming my way. One of which may have opened up to me this morning.

So just remember that you're not alone! We are all here for each other on this forum. It's difficult I know but as smallwolf said, there lots of remedies out there to keep you going. Even I found an app that helped me and I soon found a few others to complement what I was learning from it to keep myself happy, calm and collected. Try to initially enjoy your own company for a little while until your body physically recovers (this may be difficult for extroverts who get their vitality from people, but they can also put you down too).

So learn about yourself, and what you can cope with and try to live your life within those boundaries. With mental advice just keep persisting with your GP until you find a mental specialist who will look after you and refer you to a psychologist if required for counselling. Every time you have a bad experience ask yourself what is it that caused me to be this way? What could I do to instead to prevent this from happening again? Psychologist can help a lot here.

Another thing that helped is if you're surrounded by people who are putting you down when you do good things. Just move on and, if necessary, move somewhere else and make a fresh start. Find an interest group either in-person or online, but be careful with social media - it can put you down as well so be cautious. Unlike this forum which is so supportive!

[Farthing]

Feeling anxious again with the Christmas period coming up. My two oldest nephews are away overseas and I miss them very much and will do on Christmas day.