Feeling down and anxious before a holiday :(

[Maui757]

Hi guys,

Im due to fly out on Monday afternoon for a two week holiday in Iceland and Europe (very awesome and usually very exciting). But the last day or two I’ve started feeling really anxious which is understandable I guess, given my long term anxiety and depression. But today I’ve started feeling really depressed too, and while it’s not terrible to deal with, it does put a bit of a dampener on what is meant to be an amazing time for me, and also for my boyfriend.

Has anyone on here had similar feelings before a holiday? Any tips or advice on dealing with it??

I have seen my doc and everything is all set for this holiday, and I’m actually booked in to see my psych tomorrow, but I plan to spend that appointment working on anxiety coping techniques (I freak out in certain situations that I am likely to come across on this holiday), so I don’t know it will be much help for this random bout of depression.

Maui 😞

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Maui757,

Thanks for your post.

Oh; this is tough; I'm sorry that you're struggling right before your holiday.

I was just having a read of your post, and I'm just wondering if the cause of all this is because you're not excited? Like 'this trip should be amazing. I should be really excited right now, but I'm not', and that's actually what's contributing to your mood?

I think we can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to enjoy things; hoping that we'll feel or act a certain way. I went away just last weekend and I was so upset because I wasn't getting excited about it and then I was more upset because I was upset - does this click with you? It can kind of be a catch 22 situation.

Advice though? Acceptance. It's okay to feel this way. Remember that feelings are temporary; so even if this feels like it will last longer, try to remind yourself that it is temporary. Compassion is a big key in this. Being able to accept 'ah, I feel down right now, but that's okay'. If you can do this (and I know it's painful and hard) you may find that it starts to get a little easier. You may even find that by the time Monday rolls around you're feeling different; or even Tuesday, or Wednesday. We don't really know how we'll be feeling so if you can; tryyy not to think too far ahead.

Hope this helps,

[Maui757]

Thank you for your reply.

I keep goin from excited to nervous and back again, but have generally been pretty hyped for it for the past week. It’s only since yesterday and especially today that those feelings have completely disappeared and been replaced with that familiar nothing.

Thank you for the reminder to take a step back though. I always get caught up in my emotions, so I’ll have to focus on staying neutral and accepting that I feel what I feel, and that’s ok.

[GADAdam]

I'm in your shoes right now also. One day down the next up. Excited then fearful and anxious. I wish I knew the answers to it all but in this case i think that you need to listen to your gut and not yoir mind. You can't plant in your head that its going to be too tough before you leave because you're setting yourself up for it happening.

And Romantic is right.

Acceptance is key. We are who we are.

Lets hope I can drill this in myself before my holiday.