Lonely form of Anxiety

[teenytiny]

Hey, 

i am a newbie, i guess you’d say. haha not used to this forum stuff. 

i have only recently been struggling substantially with anxiety after a suicide attempt. i am super anxious to go home to live by myself and i really struggle without someone being there constantly. it’s the fear of being alone with my thoughts. it’s not the fear that i will do anything again because everything got removed that i could harm myself with. any ideas on what is helpful with the anxiety or intrusive thoughts? 

[Petal22]

Hi teenytiny,

Wellcome to our forums.

I'm sorry you are feeling this way I understand it's hard.

I can relate to what you have said in regard to intrusive thoughts and being home alone due to the intrusive thoughts.

I have a lived experience of severe anxiety OCD my intrusive thoughts really scared me and I was terrified of what my brain would bring up next.

I also didn't like being at home alone with my thoughts because they scared me so much and my severe anxiety always made me feel like I was on edge.

I've recovered from this condition but while I was in the grips of it, it was very unrelenting and debilitating.

Have you seeked professional help for what you are experiencing?

I did a therapy for the condition I had and some of the strategies where:

Challenging my thoughts and beliefs

Mindfulness

Attention training 

Breathing exercises

With my intrusive thoughts I learned that the more attention I gave them the stronger they became so I really had to work on taking away their only power " my attention".

I learned not to question my intrusive thoughts and not to Annalyse them.

I learned to change my reactions to my intrusive thoughts.

This all takes perseverance and practice.

We are all a very caring and supportive community please reach out to us any time and please ask us any questions.

[Sophie_M]

Dear teenytiny
 
Welcome to the Beyond Blue forums we are so glad that you have made you way here and had the bravery to post and thank you to Petal22 for the kinds words and shared experience which we will hopefully leave you feeling less alone in your journey to better mental health.

It can become very overwhelming when you are alone with those thoughts, particularly given your past attempt to end your life.  As Petal22 shared, there are several helpful strategies and we hope that you find some of these helpful. 
 
The forums are a great space to share your experience however if you ever need to talk or chat, please know also that you can call our trained counsellors on 1300 22 4636 or via WebChat.  In saying this, if those thoughts ever leave you feeling like it’s too much to cope with, please know you can also call our lovely friends at Lifeline (13 11 14) and the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467) are always there for you too.
 
Thanks again for sharing. It’s a powerful and brave first step towards feeling better.
 
Regards 
 
Sophie M
 

[On The Road]

hi teenytiny, welcome to the forum.
I'm sorry that you went through all these obstacles, and I think I can resonate with the fear of being alone after these, it must be very hard. You survive and go on as a fighter but a fighter wants some companies as well. I agree with Petal22's strategies which may be quite helpful. As for me, there were several times that those intrusive thoughts hit me and I was feeling so lonely that I only wanted to stay in my room with blankets wrapped. I accepted the status of being lonely but tried not to drown myself in the lonely feeling, I told myself that there are still lots of things to do being alone, therefore I sort of successfully distracted myself and felt much better later. Are there times that you were happy/comfortable being alone and enjoying doing your own things? maybe there's some stuff that you can enjoy doing while alleviating your anxiety.
Meanwhile please feel free to share more or may just stay here and join our conversations, we are here to listen and chat.🙂

[ecomama]

Hey teenytiny, welcome to the forums! You are so welcome here. 

There are so many Threads to read up on here. 
I suggest reading in the Getting Well section. 

You can grow your Wellbeing. 
As Petal has explained, it takes persistence and perseverance but changing your life is worth it! 

Choosing certain things to watch eg silly comedies, helpful things to lighten your mood. 

Self care is shown by research to be the one thing attributed to recovering from Mental Health issues. 
Sure getting connected, receiving support, being physically active and other actions you take will help alot too. 

Making mental wellness your AIM and congratulating yourself with any and every step towards this helps too. 

Please have a look around. The BB Cafe is a fun place to interact with other BB members you may not bump into on other threads. It's usually light too. Join in on threads, it's fun!

Love EM