When buttons get pushed

[Speak Your Truth]

Can anyone help ? My buttons have been pushed to the point of bringing on severe anxiety. Does anyone think this is curable ? I am desperate to feel relaxed and at peace again and to be able to enjoy my life. I don’t know how to cope

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Speak Your Truth,

Thanks for your post.

Person with severe anxiety here!

Just from my own experiences (and that's the beauty of these forums), I don't think that we can ever cure anxiety. I personally don't think that we can 'cure' most diseases. But I do think we can manage them. I know for me personally I feel like I will always have these illnesses/conditions, but that doesn't mean they have to rule my life all the time. Sometimes they run my day and impact everything, where as other times they lurk in the background.

How long have you had anxiety? What sort of tools and things have you used in the past?

[Speak Your Truth]

The 3 f’s - I wonder what they are 🤔

I’ve had anxiety on and off (looking back I think more off than on happily) but this time it’s a fairly short period. I do know the regular techniques to use but when I am in a bad way like now, feel overwhelmed, my mind seem to go blank and I find it so hard to focus. It will pass I know but I don’t have support that I need so it’s extra hard. Even one caring hug every day would help but I can’t get that

thanks for your reply Romantic.

[Sonno]

Meditation was the answer for me. That's not just sitting quietly in silence concentrating on your breathing. There are many forms of meditation. I find walking meditation really good. You can even do it in a crowd - everything around you becomes " background noise ". You are attuned to yourself yet fully alert. Takes practice but it's wonderful once you get it. Gives you peace, calm and confidence. Also I find exercise is vital. I run 4 days a week. Fitness makes you feel good and gives you confidence. It's hard to get started but once you get into a routine and build momentum you start looking forward to your next training session You are then on your way

[Speak Your Truth]

Walking would be good, thnx Sono, but for me it’s too hot to walk in the day, I’ll try going out early evening

[Speak Your Truth]

Can someone please help me. I’m SOOOO anxious and stressed out, and known my buttons have been pushed for a while now but somehow this morning I woke with absolely clarity of the situation and I feel like I will explode. I need to get it out and I don’t know what to do. It’s so early in the morning and nobody is here to talk to.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Speak Your Truth,

What are the 3 f's?

So it sounds like you have had some tools in the past but finding that they're so much harder to use right now - is that right? Sometimes working on anxiety is like building up muscle; it really is a matter of practice. Even with things like breathing and mindfulness; it's one thing to tell yourself to breathe but it's another to be able to calm yourself down in the midst of a panic attack (or anytime anxiety is really high).

You might also find this helpful - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/treatments-for-anxiety

You mentioned in your post that you don't have support; is this something you could consider getting? Perhaps seeing your GP/Psychologist or reaching out to other family/friends/colleagues? Being able to reach out to someone you trust is so important. You're always welcome to post here but we can't always guarantee a quick reply. If you want though - feel free to post and let us know what's going through your mind anyway. Sometimes just the process of typing and getting it out can be helpful.

[Speak Your Truth]

Thanks for your reply romantic. Yes, I know a lot of the tools to cope with anxiety but when the anxiety takes hold my memory seems to leave me and go both numb and panicky at the same time. It’s impossible for me to ring someone at 7 in the morning out of consideration for them, I just make myself tough it out. I have learnt to be independent when things go askew because so many people don’t know what to say, don’t want to know, are sceptical because they see me as an “attention seeker being overly dramatic” etc.

My support is limited because I do not have any family, some of my best friends are a long way off, one of them not so far but she has her own problems that I am loathe to add to too much. I do have a GP of course and had a session with him today, but an appointment is not possible at short notice. It would be rare to get one inside a week. Anyway today I have made progress, receiving understanding from my GP, accepting the doubling of my low dose medication, choosing not to do certain things that add to the stress and being grateful for a couple of totally unexpected people coming into my life - one last week, one today - and where that may lead remains to be seen

Of course I know I won’t get an unhappy reception here on this forum. Thank you for your support romantic. xo

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Speak Your Truth,

It's great that you're aware of some of the techniques that help people with anxiety. What have you used in the past? Is there anything that's worked well for you so far?

I'm sorry to hear that you don't have a lot of support in your life; I imagine that must be difficult. Has your GP ever considered seeing a psychologist? Or is this something that you've thought of? Yes - while it's true it's sometimes impossible to get one at short notice sometimes learning/practicing things in session can help you be able to manage the time apart.

Yes very true! What I meant though (sorry for miscommunication) was that when you said you needed to get it out and talked about how you were going to explode - you can do that here. Sometimes even when people don't reply straight away it can be helpful just to kind of explode on the forums. That way even at 7am in the morning there's still a release. As an example I'll often click on a thread and there's a really long message - sometimes even at 2am!

Hope this helps,

[Speak Your Truth]

Hello romantic and thank you for your reply. I’ve been very slow with mine, sorry.

I’ve been bouncing off the walls a bit but starting to settle now, I think, I hope. My GP has increased my meds and they are just starting the to kick in now I think, and I have been to a clinical psychologist twice who uses CBT but we haven’t got very far with that yet because my priority has been to talk about what’s weighing me down so much first.

I have sounded off a bit on other posts, but it hasn’t always had the hoped for effect. I still having problems eating, knowing I need the nutrition but still it’s difficult and feeling weak from that too. I’m sleeping a huge lot or just lying around, knowing I need at least some movement, some form of exercise and not getting much. The climate here is a problem now. As I said somewhere before I’m just going round in circles.

too tired for any more romantic, but thanks for your support, bye