Hey everyone right now im so stressed, im a stay at home mom taken care of my six year old and 3 year old. I been dealing with my anxiety and depression for 2 years so far. I started takeing Prozac about a year ago already and feel a bit better but not sure if its good enough. Just about a month ago my doctor raised my dose from 10mg go 20mg. At home i feel great, no panic or anxiety attacks or anything. But lately i just been feeling so down. My cousins graduation is comeing up on June 13 which is 2 weeks from now and i really really want to go but since i started having my anxiety i have not traveled away from home. The farthest i can go away from my house is 30 minutes. And my cousin lives 3 hours away. I dont know what to do. I'm scared. What im scared about is there mostly likely gonna be alot of people and people i dont know so what if i have a episode, i dont want to get all the attention, or just what if i feel anxious on the car ride on the way there. I just dont know how i would feel cuz it has been 3 years since i traveled far. I really dont want to disapoint my cousin. Im already coming up with excuses and its just sad. Im as well trying to motivate myself and come up with good reasons to go but my negative thoughts just keep taken over...
Is anyone going thru something just like this and tell me how they are going to deal with it.
Depressed, Stressed, Frustrated, and tired
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Guest
Really, the only way to conquer anxiety is to do the opposite of what your instincts tell you to do: Avoid. The only way you can start rewiring your thinking is to get out there and take steps toward leaving your comfort zone. In truth, there is no real comfort zone: It's based on what you are telling yourself. It's just anxiety and it's based in anxiety-thinking. That's all it is- a way of thinking in the box. But if you think outside that box you see you have more options available to you.
Just last week, I had to go outside my comfort zone because my father was in the hospital. I had to go out of town and in a huge hospital to see him. Worse yet, I was taking him home from the hospital and he had a seizure! I had to call 911 and keep focused on him- it was not an easy week! But the fact is, I learned that when necessity arises I can do more than my anxiety-mind tells me I can. When I use my rational out-of-the-box mind I am able to see things as they are and my feelings and behaviors change. Anxiety is just a mindset.
I spent a year not traveling because I was so afraid of anxiety happening to me. It's the ultimate con job- it isn't anything really...real. It's just a mindset. And when you go outside of what you think you're limited to and apply your skills of breathing, thinking calm thoughts, etc. it all starts to change. But it takes practice and it takes time. It doesn't matter how long you've had this problem- what matters is taking the right approach and that is through action.
Maybe you could start taking a few extra steps like travel 35 minutes, then 40, and 45 then come back. What's the worst thing that can happen? Even if you made it all the way to your cousin's place and you felt some anxiety, would no one help you? And is it any big deal? It's just another place probably much like where you live now. I remember when I made my first steps to go out of town again- you'd thought I was heading to Mars or something! But once I got out there I saw that there was nothing to fear but fear itself. Where I went was really not much like being anywhere else. And realizing that I was just scaring myself with my anxious mindset I found ways to ease the tension that arose and found out I could really let go: I wasn't going to collapse and nothing bad ever happened. And when something bad did happen (like with my father) I handled it and learned a lot about myself.
The biggest lesson learned is that I am not my anxiety- it's just a set of thoughts. I decide what goes in my head and while this anxiety is a bad habit I can choose other options. That is called freedom and that's something you can learn to give to yourself.
So, try to approach this thing in a different way by starting to challenge some of your beliefs and try and expand your comfort zone. I wish you the best, take care!
Just last week, I had to go outside my comfort zone because my father was in the hospital. I had to go out of town and in a huge hospital to see him. Worse yet, I was taking him home from the hospital and he had a seizure! I had to call 911 and keep focused on him- it was not an easy week! But the fact is, I learned that when necessity arises I can do more than my anxiety-mind tells me I can. When I use my rational out-of-the-box mind I am able to see things as they are and my feelings and behaviors change. Anxiety is just a mindset.
I spent a year not traveling because I was so afraid of anxiety happening to me. It's the ultimate con job- it isn't anything really...real. It's just a mindset. And when you go outside of what you think you're limited to and apply your skills of breathing, thinking calm thoughts, etc. it all starts to change. But it takes practice and it takes time. It doesn't matter how long you've had this problem- what matters is taking the right approach and that is through action.
Maybe you could start taking a few extra steps like travel 35 minutes, then 40, and 45 then come back. What's the worst thing that can happen? Even if you made it all the way to your cousin's place and you felt some anxiety, would no one help you? And is it any big deal? It's just another place probably much like where you live now. I remember when I made my first steps to go out of town again- you'd thought I was heading to Mars or something! But once I got out there I saw that there was nothing to fear but fear itself. Where I went was really not much like being anywhere else. And realizing that I was just scaring myself with my anxious mindset I found ways to ease the tension that arose and found out I could really let go: I wasn't going to collapse and nothing bad ever happened. And when something bad did happen (like with my father) I handled it and learned a lot about myself.
The biggest lesson learned is that I am not my anxiety- it's just a set of thoughts. I decide what goes in my head and while this anxiety is a bad habit I can choose other options. That is called freedom and that's something you can learn to give to yourself.
So, try to approach this thing in a different way by starting to challenge some of your beliefs and try and expand your comfort zone. I wish you the best, take care!
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Guest
I think the post above has some great points in it.
The only way to get past fear is through it. I would suggest derving a plan leading into your cousin's graduation (the goal).
start travelling further away from home every day and start going into populated places. Start from shorter distances/less crowded areas to the larger ones.
If you manage to get this right you have beaten one of your demons after all eh?
The only way to get past fear is through it. I would suggest derving a plan leading into your cousin's graduation (the goal).
start travelling further away from home every day and start going into populated places. Start from shorter distances/less crowded areas to the larger ones.
If you manage to get this right you have beaten one of your demons after all eh?