New here and looking to share experiences

[_Peta]

Hi All,

I am nearly 30 and am looking forward getting out of my 20s, too much social pressure and expectations for young people.

Have struggled most of my life with depression, panic and anxiety.
I have always dealt with my emotions and have wanted to succeed at looking after myself by speaking to a therapist.
Everything still gets on top of me sometimes and it is SO EXHAUSTING!

Now I am in a fantastic job where mental health is a top priority and I feel guilty about expresssing myself even though they encourage it..

Does anyone else get tired of thinking? When will I be able to switch off? Holidays can't come soon enough for Melbourne this year.

[smallwolf]

hi and welcome to beyond blue.

For a change of tack I thought I might answer your questions 🙂

Does anyone else get tired of thinking?

I do not necessarily get tired of thinking or over-thinking. Perhaps frustrated could be better answer for me with what appears to be constantly fighting the negative thoughts in my head. It is also something that i have been working on for some time with the help of my psychologist. There are only 2 things I know... (1) as long as I put one foot in front of the other I am moving forward, and (2) healing takes time.

When will I be able to switch off?

For myself the answer lies in this story I was told...

A windy track is what the sheep uses to get to the other side of the paddock and out the gate. One day the sheep tried a faster route -more direct. Problem was the sheep had to create this route which was overgrown, long grass, rocky, fallen branches. It didn't work. Feeling beaten, the sheep went back to the old path. The next day tried the new route again.The same problem occurred. Again went back to the old path.This pattern repeated but over time the new path became more defined and the old path was getting overgrown and started using newer path more often. Until one day... the new path became the normal was of getting to the gate and not the old path.

A more straight forward answer is that I don't know how long it takes. You are see a therapist, me a psychologist - we are doing the best that we can and perhaps one day, our brains will take the newly created path, rather than using the old path we were used to.

Tim

[james1]

Hello _Peta,

Welcome! I'm 29 tomorrow (48 mins!) so definitely in the same camp of looking forward to getting out of my 20's, though probably a wee bit anxious about that three-zero milestone. It sounds like you are also a little prone to 'overthinking', or at least getting worried about overthinking.

I think the best answer I can give right now is that, yes, I do get tired of thinking. At times, especially when it seems to have hurt me in some way, I really wish I was not the way I am. I am very neurotic and it manifests in constantly worrying, considering, thinking, re-thinking. It certainly affects my relationships with people, and when it does, I do wish things were different.

But at the same time, I think a lot of that is part of who I am. I can over-think, yes, but I'm also considered. So in some way, I also don't want to switch off because I'd lose a lot.

Instead, I think of it as a matter of learning the skill to switch off at will, rather than just switching off because 'I've changed'. I'm not sure if that's what you meant, and I certainly don't mean to put words in your mouth, but I think that's how I think about those questions.

James