What does it feel like to not have anxiety? and how did you get there?

ZiggOh · ‎15-09-2018

Hi everyone,

I have had anxiety pretty much my whole life and I am wondering what it feels like to recover from an anxiety disorder?

Also for those of you who have gotten help and are living a less anxious life, what was the best thing you did to get there?

Thanks!

Zig

Croix · ‎16-09-2018

Dear Zig~

I've had an anxiety condition (together with PTSD and bouts of depression) for a very long time and I'm glad to say that I now live a life that is enjoyable, with accomplishment, interest and love. This does not mean I'm anxiety free, however I'm in a much better position to deal with it, both by living a lifestyle that reduces stress -and thus anxiety - and by responding quickly to each time my mind goes into an anxious spiral.

I got here due to medication and treatment from psychiatrists, the removal of the main cause - my occupation - and the support of my partner and family. I was a complete mess and if I can improve to the extent I have I'd imagine many others can too.

My lifestyle avoids things I know I will react to (even the news) and I try for nutrition, exercise and good sleep (well, try for). I also try to regularly do something I enjoy and takes my mind out of everyday life - I read, watch moves, talk with my partner and so on. Something to look forward to each day.

When my mind starts to go in a spiral I try moment and exercise. I also use the free smartphone app Smiling Mind. I rely upon my partner to provide perspective at such times when my thinking is distorted (chiefly looking at the worst of possibilities)

I'd suggest having a look at the following:

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/treatments-for-anxiety
Forums / Anxiety / SELF HELP TIPS FOR MANAGING ANXIETY

The second one is full of ideas and I've found it extremely helpful.

Croix

smallwolf · ‎16-09-2018

ZiggOh,

Not sure why I am writing this post to you because I cannot really answer your questions, but I can sympathize with you. I have anxiety and depression related issues, take ADs, see a psychiatrist and psychologist among other things. The one thing that I can say is that I have at least been following the "advice" from those helping me. This includes making sure you are getting good sleep (sleep hygiene), exercise (walking for 1/2 hour each day... well I do about 50min), use my distraction and coping techniques.

Maybe the one thing you might get out of my post is that you are not alone. And I hope that if your experience is anything like mine, that the more you talk about, either here, or with someone else, or with profession help, your life will become easier as Croix hinted/hints at. I hope so for myself at least.

And sometimes extreme (?) measure are needed such as the removal of the main cause.

I hope that you might come back and share some more of your story with us here. The people here are very helpful and you will supported by all those here.

Tim

romantic_thi3f · ‎18-09-2018

Hey Zig,

Ohh what a great thread.

...what it feels like to recover from an anxiety disorder?

I don't know that I'll ever say that I've "recovered" from my anxiety disorder but I think I battle it and somedays the battle is easier than others.

For me personally, recovery (or better days) look like being able to say yes to things knowing that they're scary and knowing that you'll do them anyway, being able to be in public places or places that might set of anxiety attacks, having a good nights sleep, being able to do things that I enjoy, keeping busy and going out and doing things. The biggest thing for me is feeling scared and doing it anyway. When I'm having really bad days and the anxiety is flaring up, it holds me back and feels like it consumes me.

Also for those of you who have gotten help and are living a less anxious life, what was the best thing you did to get there?

Therapy. Particularly CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) which explores the relationships between our thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The key for me is knowing that so many of our thoughts are automatic but yet they aren't necessarily real or based in any truth. Yet we hook onto them anyway.

I think the second thing would be reading because I'm such a book lover. Things like learning about being kind to ourselves, that our anxiety serves a purpose and that our brain is plastic has really helped me better understand what's going on and why I think and behave this way (and most importantly, how I can change it).

ZiggOh · ‎18-09-2018

Hi all,

Thanks for much for replying, I will do my best at replying to each of you.

Croix- It is absolutely amazing that you are living a life you find enjoyable, interesting and have love from being a place that would have been difficult. I do understand in a way, how your work/occupation could have contributed to your anxiety as I find working very difficult myself and for many reasons though just last week, I asked to work a day less, which I think will at least help as I have often ignored my mental health issues by keeping busy, being stressed and making excuses. My anxiety of course got so severe, I had a massive break down. But I am deciding to not ignore my illness anymore! So I thank you for sharing and with such specificity.

Tim- What exactly are you distraction and coping techniques? I think the main cause of my anxiety is latching on to a distressing thought (however it be intrusive or stemmed from something) and then obsessing over it, which causes more and more worry and more and more anxiety and can often lead to panic at times. It is also awesome to know that I am not alone, I don't know about you but I often feel very alone and misunderstood with my illness as I feel I have never felt included and heard in a supportive environment like this one. I am enjoying myself in this forum and even when I went to a yoga class today, I had the thought that I would not be the only one their with anxiety, and I truly believed it, which was a first.

Romantic Thi3f- Firstly, great name! By feeling scared, do you also get scared by the simplest of things? Sometimes I find going for a walk with a friend scary or to anything social really. Sometimes, even going to an exercise class is scary. But I do know once I do these things, its okay. I always just have a real build up of anxiety before things happen. Its great to know that CBT helped you, how many sessions of this did you have? I have a lot of trouble wit commiting to therapy as avoidance if something I have done my whole life! and definitely is not an effective coping mechanism.

Thanks all for replying. Would love to hear more from you!

Zigggg

smallwolf · ‎18-09-2018

ZiggOh,

Hi. Good for you and the yoga class. Did you enjoy it?

This is where I say do I as I say and not as I do.

I have one app on my phone called virtual hope box that has section for distractions and guided meditations. Deep breathing also works for me. However sometimes I need something physical so I have prayer/rosary/worry beads (whatever you want to call them). There is a whole thread (not sure how many pages) on grounding and mindfulness on the forums.

The last thing is a good book (recommended by my psych) called "the happiness trap", which is really where I got the deep breathing exercise from.

Tim

romantic_thi3f · ‎19-09-2018

Hey Zig,

Great to hear back from you!

Hm.. yeah sometimes! But I think I can find patterns in the things that I'm scared of - like maybe if going for a walk with a friend is scary and a party is scary then you can find the pattern of being social and interacting with people? Once you can learn about why those things scare you it makes it a lot easier to figure out why they all seem so simple.

One of the things I did in therapy is called 'exposure therapy' and the idea is that you go out of your comfort zone but only a little bit at a time until you do the hard things. So for me that actually looked like walking to the grocery store (I had a bad fall there and was scared it was going to happen again). So having all these baby steps was really good so I could celebrate my little wins. But of course to most people it's like 'whatever'!

For me I was in therapy for a long long time haha but I think the research shows good CBT can be around 10-12 sessions which is not too long. If you're not quite ready for therapy, would you be open to other resources like books or online sites?