Loooking for some help with anxiety relapse

[tpman]

Hi,

I have pretty serious anxiety and depression (currently on a disability). I have been stable for the past year or so, still depressed, but anxiety and panic/agitation (the worse of the two evils) has resurfaced. There was a preety huge trigger a cpl nights ago which sent me into a high panic and agitation and I think i'm just experiencing the residule affects of that ?

I guess when your anxiety and panic is under control for so long you kinda of 'forget' what it feels like, so when it comes back and hits you its really scary. I am trying to see it for what it is, a relapse due to trigger, and im hoping it will pass soon.

I'm trying my best to take it really easy at the moment, which for me, is just staying in my room resting and zoning in out in an online game on my laptop. Not healthy I know, but right now its hard to do all the 'healthy things', I just feel I need some time to calm down so I'm going to be gentle with myself for a while. Feeling very fragile.

Thanks for reading, and any response is welcome, just feel I needed to vent :(. It helps alot getting my thoughts out of my head, even just typing them out.

[hanne6]

Hi tpman,

It can sure help to write out your thoughts to get them out of your head. I experience both anxiety and depression and do this myself a lot.

Definitely keep being gentle with yourself. It does not feel good being hit with anxiety unexpectedly and can it really throw you. Its totally understandable that you'd want to hide away in your room at this time.

When I have some kind of anxiety attack I feel panicky and agitated as well and find it does have a residual impact. It can take me a few days sometimes to get myself back to a place where I feel calm and stable. I'll often start by just lying in the dark in my room, resting, watching something on my laptop and - like you said - just being gentle with yourself. I worry too about whether this is healthy, but it can be difficult to do anything else and sometimes it's all you can manage and hope the anxiety passes.

Personally, when I'm feeling a little calmer I like to 'test the waters' and go for a short walk or something similar. Then I allow myself to retreat back to my room but have also gained a little bit of confidence and feel like I might be able to manage other things if I take it slowly.