Stress Center Peer Support

Hi guys!

I am 20, almost 21, and lately I feel like I could be 60 years old. I have HUGE amounts of stress and depression. I am chronically tense, worried, irritable and depressed. This causes me to wake up with headaches every morning. I get pain in my stomache and in my chest too and feel dizzy at times.

I eat healthy, but I don't exercise as much as I should, because I've been so depressed.

I thought some physical activity might help to alleviate some of these symptoms and make me feel better. So, I signed up for an Ultimate Frisbee class (It's like soccer, but with a frisbee). All this runnig around hasn't helped and just makes me more worried. I get so sore after a game and my heart is pounding (I guess this is normal?). I just feel so out-of-shape and like I don't belong in this class.

The teacher is having us sign a waiver because last night, they had a 21 year-old die in the school gym. I am so scared that that's going to be me soon if I keep taking this class. I feel the way I'm so stressed right now, that maybe this intense of a class is not a good idea? Should I "man" up and take it, or should I bail and do something like yoga next semester?

I guess what I'm really scared of is keeling over at 21. Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks,
Sarah

hello-
The idea of physical exercise is an awesome one!! It sounds like maybe you need to start out with something milder tho' and work up to the Frisbee class. I started out going to a workout place for women called Curves. That got me going regularly, etc. I graduated from there to a real gym and I distinctly remember a trainer telling me that I needed to get my heart rate over 120 beats per minute and freaking out. I would watch the monitor and be so tense, afraid that I would fall over dead from my heart stopping. Somewhere along the way, the good feelings took over and I honestly !! do not think of that anymore. In fact, I have done a few metabolic tests where I have found out my heart rate zones for maximum fat burn, etc. ( sorry if it's too complicated) Anyway- I now routinely exercise at 155-170 beats per minute for 30-45 minutes at a time. And the greatest thing is that during this test they measure my intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide. By using my heart I have improved it's health. My heart is MUCH more efficient 5 years later than when I started. And- my anxiety is diminished. It's not the only thing, but it's an important one to me. It's like a calm pill. I miss it when I have to skip. It's so important that I schedule the rest of my life around it.

Good luck to you. Keep trying stuff-- it's wonderful for you.

Hi Sarah,
If it were me I would go to the Dr. & have a physical. This is something everyone should do once a year & especially if you’re going to be doing physical activity. It will put your mind at ease when you find out there isn’t anything wrong with you. When in doubt check it out.
Take Care,
Larry

sarah baby,

based on your age and condition with chronic worry, I would NOT worry about exercise killing you.

it is quite the opposite actually. LACK of exercise may be the #1 factor in a lot of disease (including depression and anxiety).

your heart rate will increase. consider it the motor of your body; if you will. just like in your car, when you step on the gas pedal the engine responds by increasing piston speed, the demand for gasoline increases; etc... and the engine works harder the faster you want to go.

your heart, like the engine of your car, will increase its production to meet the demand placed on it.

now, there are vast amounts of information talking about different percentages of your "maximum heartrate", Max VO2, etc. for you, at this point, you don't need to be concerned with any of this. what is most important for you is just to simply get your heartrate elevated from you normal, more rested state.

the more often you can do this, over time, you will feel better.

yoga offers a different take on exercise, but it is not to be dismissed. it is billed as being particularly effective with stress, anxiety, and depression. it is also good to increase flexibility, strength, etc...so you can't go wrong.

as far as the 21 year old dying,...those stories always are terrible...but were there any underlying medical conditions? there are 20+ year old professional and collegiate basketball and football players who died on the practice field and arena. What about drug use?

you just don't know what factors contributed.

ultimate frisbee can be alot of fun (i love it!), and as long as the teacher/coach is properly warming everyone up, allowing rest/water breaks, and allowing for a cool down, you should be fine.

no worries.