Stress Center Peer Support

Hi there,

I have a question. WHen you first began to counter your thoughts or knew that was the step you needed to do but hadn't done it before, did you panic about even countering them? I have been living with anxiety disorder for about 5 years and had no idea what it was so i got quite used to it. Now I realize after speaking with a counselor and others who suffered with anxiety that I needed to start changing my thoughts in order to get full recovery. Everytime I try to, or even try to think of doing it, I panic and feel crazy and almost impulsive that I want to avoid it, like the fear in general returns. Is this normal? Also I feel so powerless when I do try and feel its not making a difference because I 'feel' the fear so strongly still and I just end up panicking more. Is this normal at first? Does it get better? How can I begin to overcome the huge fear and trouble with these first steps?

This is very normal! You can do it! Just take Baby Steps...itsy bitsy Baby Steps. I'm on antibiotics for a sinus infection and they give me anxiety feelings or symptoms. I do not like it one bit, but I still have 5 more days to go. Ugh. Just when I was doing without any medication for anxiety or depression, the antibiotics is reving up my body and giving me jittery feelings.

I so far have dealt with them and haven't needed to take a Xanax or even a little nibble. I'm also not very productive, but I should rest. I'm not totally unproductive, I just have more things I want to accomplish and this illness is slowing me down.