To Much Free Time Is The Cause Of My Anxiety!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:44 am

Yes, I too understand what you mean. I recently semi-retired and am working 10 hours a week at home. I can easily let work morph into my whole life and put in many more than 10 hours (don't get paid overtime). Lucinda's tapes have certainly helped and I also now schedule activities and/or get togethers with friends, or outings with my husband who is also retired.
If I have committment to do something with someone else this seems to help. I am also doing better at taking time each day for exercise, and daily meditation/ spiritual readings and prayer, and have to take one day at a time with this. I find reading novels and other interesting books to help also. Take care.

thethirdperson · Post by **thethirdperson** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:58 am

The more I read this board the more I realise that people with anxiety are all very much the same, we all seem to have the same traits, and that can be a comfort, knowing that there is more than me like this

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 9:43 am

Oh man celeron I feel you! That is exactly me! WHY can't I just relax, ya know? No thinking No problems just relax and enjoy my off time. . My therapist says Idle time is no good for me.I agree with him. I used to be able to relax and stay at home and feel content and love having free time just to relax. Now since I have high anxiety I cant even do that )-:

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:53 am

I'm the same way. Just coming off of a week off of work and it was such a depressing week. I had hopes of doing fun stuff and getting things done. Maybe going away for a day or two to someplace touristy. But I slept in every day and watched a ton of TV. Ugh! I did get out to my pool a few times, but felt down and lazy most of the week. I think I was down because I WISHED I had someplace neat to go to, with someone I cared about. But I just proscrasticated until it was too late to make plans. So I got down on myself.

epa · Post by **epa** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:07 am

Originally posted by Music Fan:
I'm the same way. Just coming off of a week off of work and it was such a depressing week. I had hopes of doing fun stuff and getting things done. Maybe going away for a day or two to someplace touristy. But I slept in every day and watched a ton of TV. Ugh! I did get out to my pool a few times, but felt down and lazy most of the week. I think I was down because I WISHED I had someplace neat to go to, with someone I cared about. But I just proscrasticated until it was too late to make plans. So I got down on myself.

Hye, This is exactly what I did, Coming up to my holidays I had big plans, I was going here,there and every where, In the end I did very little, went to the beach one day and that was the high light of it all, and before I knew it I was back at work

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:09 am

A recent theory now on depression suggests the reason depression rates have increased over the decades despite all the new medications may be that we have too much free time and things are too easy. Things are too convenient and quick and that we are denying our brains the reward that comes from anticipating and executing complex tasks with our hands and problem solving. We don't have to figure anything out anymore we can just look it up. We can sit and be entertained by tv, computers, our ipods, dvds, while our convection ovens cook food in minutes, our automatic sprinkler system waters the yard, and our automatic timers turn on our air conditioners. Yet depression and boredom are increasing. My grandparents didn't have any of the things we have now and a lot of their entertainment was from creating their own activities and visiting with people after their basic survival activities were done. They were content and happy and don't ever recall them being bored like people now are. I'm not suggesting we go back 75 years in time but you've got to wonder why people get so bored and restless and feel they are without direction now even though we have just about every convenience and ways to be entertained you can think of.-This just may be why...We now expect to be entertained from outside sources instead of creating our own stimulation and entertainment from ourselves. Just an interesting theory I've been reading by Kelly Lambert from her book Lifting Depression that I thought I would throw in here, as a lot of us have problems with free time and anxiety.