What haven't I Done in the Name of Anxiety?!

blue_eyes · Post by **blue_eyes** » Mon Sep 01, 2003 8:06 am

Hi everyone!

I enjoyed reading Psalm 91's post about the Anthrax mail thing that she did. Thank you for sharing, Psalm 91!

I have an idea based on that. I was wondering if everyone could post some things that they have once done in the name of anxiety. Things that now seem really funny or unbelievable, but at the time we thought was perfectly rational.

Also, what are some of the goofiest/most ridiculous things that you have worried about that now you can't believe that you had wasted precious time worrying about in the first place.

I'll start. I have worried about as a child, what would happen when the sun stopped shining in 5 billion years! Ha.

Another thing I've worried about is what to tell someone if they asked me certain questions about my presonal life. I wanted to have the perfect answers and look great in their eyes.

I've worried about spiders biting me in my bed while I was asleep. Sometimes, I'll wake up with a mosquito bite or a little bug bite and think, "What if a brown recluse or something bit me and I didn't even know it."

I was once worried when I ate something past the expiration date and was worried I'd get food poisoning.

I once worried my webcam was causing me to get like a brain tumor or something. I would get these unexplained headaches after using it even for a brief while.

I remember this one time, I almost had a panic attack because my computer went down for days, and I was worried my friends would think I was ignoring them because I had written to them quite frequently before the computer crashed.

I worried about what to take in to my job when we had a type of luncheon. I wanted the perfect item.

I used to drive myself crazy trying to find the perfect outfit when I would go out on dates. I'd have clothes sprawled all over the bed and floor--trying to find the perfect combo of shirt, pants or skirt, etc. I would worry about it the night before and finally pick something out. The next day right before the date, I'd change my mind and go crazy trying to find something else. I'd make myself nuts over this.

I worried I had carbon monoxide poisoning last winter. I opened my bedroom windows when it was like 15 degrees outside to cool off, stick my head out of the window, and try to breathe in the fresh air. If anyone saw me, they probably thought I was nuts or something. What it really turned out to be was I was coming down with a virus that made me feel really faint/nauseous/dizzy.

Man, I could go on and on, forever, it seems!! Maybe I'll post some more in the near future. Can anyone relate to these experiences or share some of their own?

Of course, of these ridiculous worries, none of them became a reality! It goes to show just how much anxiety can distort one's thinking process. It is cool that now I can see the humor in my cognitive distortions

Good Luck to everyone on their journey to recovery and thanks for posting your own experiences!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:07 am

Blue Eyes,
Great idea! Psalm 91 is a personal friend of mine and I know she's getting past this anxiety thing BIG TIME by rubbing that mail all over herself! Such freedom!

Oh I have had my share of the ridiculous!

Let's see...well I went for exorcism's. That was fun! As I was leaving the house to go to my first one,(yes, once was not enough...hehehe) my husband shouted "If they start chopping the heads off chickens...RUN!" Not sure why he ever said that....witches???...but it sure got me laughing on my way there. And sitting with a 20 gallon trash can between my knees and trying to throw-up any demons that were inhabiting me...now that was really fun!

Then there was the nutritionist I visited that told me to have breast implants and eat cheesecake every day. That would fix that old anxiety problem!

I had about 15 people pile on top of me at a group therapy session once with my therapist down on her hands and knees and nose to nose with me saying..."See this is what you do to yourself. You pile all this stuff on top of yourself and then wonder why you have such anxiety and can't breath." Coming out of there looking like a pancake did nothing for my anxiety, but it saved me alot of money on further therapy sessions!

Once I was so frustrated and my faith was so low that I walked down to the bay one night and demanded that Jesus appear immediately and walk across the water to me or I was done with the whole Christian thing! Some ducks paddled by and quacked at me...that was cool!

Another low faith time I went way out on the end of a jetty (rock pile that goes out into the ocean from the beach...its a dumb New Jersey beach erosion thing that doesn't work)....and screamed "I QUIT!" as loud as I could to God (like He might not have been able to hear me...hahaha).

Yeah....ridiculous........sure NOW it seems that way....then, well "desperate times call for desperate measures!"

I never threw up any demons nor did I get breast implants.....I did eat alot of cheesecake and got really fat for awhile....and Jesus never appeared to me walking on the water......and after 30 years of walking with Him, I still am.

Hey this was a great idea and got me giggling thinking back at some of the things I've done to beat anxiety. And a good laugh is one of the best remedies ever!

Blessings..... and lots of laughs,
Peaches
(When I first started dating my husband, my mother-in-law said "only poodles and whores are named 'Peaches' and I'm not calling you that!" With a nickname like this...life is bound to be funny!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 01, 2003 3:31 pm

Blue eyes;
I'm glad you enjoyed my anthrax story! I could fill a book and they all make me laugh so hard now. Here's a few....
Back on the anthrax time when I was sneaking to my mailbox under cover of darkness and opening my mail with a painters mask on and rubber gloves in a paper bag!!! (lol)
One day I got a rash on my chin and I actually had a panic attack because I was convinced it WAS anthrax even though the scare had been over for months!
Hmmmm....there's the time I was constipated and was convinced my bowel had ruptured and I would die without any warning....I called my mom and she told me to take an enema, it worked.
hmmmm...I wouldn't let my husband bring home a coworker because he was Chinese when SARS was going around! And I couldn't understand why my husband looked at me like I was cracked! (lol)
hmmmm...I too did the spider thing with bug bites, etc, thinking maybe I had been bitten by a rare insect, etc.
hhmmm...the funniest day I remember was when my spastic colon was really acting up and I had this pain in my side. I insisted that my husband take me to the ER. While waiting there the pain subsided and I became frightened of the ER so I bolted. Well, I came home and swam 20 laps in my pool and said to my husband, "Isn't this a lovely day!" and he just looked at me like, WHAT!!! You were in the hospital this morning crying that you were dying and now it's a nice day??!!! Thank God he loves me so much! We both just laughed and laughed! Just another day in the life of an anxiety disordered person!
hugs to all;
Psalm91
maybe I'll post more later....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 11:42 am

Peaches and Psalm 91--

Thank you guys for posting the funny things you've done in the name of anxiety. It gave me a nice chuckle, as I can definitely relate to your stories!

Humor is the best medicine, and it helps us to see how ridiculous we really were!!

How are you guys doing in the program? Recovered? I still have a way to go. This is my 2nd round. I keep slacking, or going up and down like a roller coaster. I can't seem to stay focused, although I need to! Any advice?? Help!

Thanks again for sharing your experiences. Good Luck with everything! I will probably post some more of my experiences later. There's tons more!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 06, 2003 1:41 pm

BLUE EYES,
ONCE WHEN I WAS 16 YEARS OLD RICHARD NIXION CAME TO ATLANTA. IT WAS 1972. I LAID OUT OF SCHOOL AND WAS ON PEACHTREE ST. IN THE FRONT LINE TO SHAKE HIS HAND. HOURS WENT BY AND A LADY ASKED ME TO HOLD HER LITTLE GIRL ON MY SHOLDERS. (BAD MOVE) I DID AND THERE WERE S.S. AGENTS AND POLICE EVERY TWO FEET!

WE WAITED AND WAITED, TICKER TAPE FLEW AND THE LITTLE GIRL PEE'ED DOWND THE BACK OF MY NECK JUST AS MR. NIXON CAME BY, I WAS ONLY ABLE TO GRAB HIS INDEX FINGER. I THOUGHT I HAD COMMITTED A CRIME AND THE COPS WOULD TAKE ME IN FOR INTERAGATION! WHY? I DON'T KNOW... (PEACHES TELL YOUR MOTHER IN LAW, IN GEORGIA WE LOVE OUR PEACHES! WE HAVE NO POODALS CAUSE OUR BULLDOGS ATE THEM ALL... OUR WHORES ARE FROM N.J. AND ARE CALLED DORIS OR SHIRLEY!!) DIG IT!

OTIS NOSEBENDER/// THE KID

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 7:03 am

Nosebender, I think your posts are very clever and very funny ! I really get a kick out of them.Keep on keepin on ! *Big Smile* Also, the above posts are very funny as well ! Dig it ? LOL!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 8:29 pm

Well this is so dumb the other day i was doing great, we were outside playing football with the kids and i had no anxiety i was feeling great. Then my dog came up to me and kept nuzzling me and wouldnt leave my side acting real needy to me. After about tem minutes of this i let my mond wonder and i kept thinking omg dogs have a sixth sense, you know you read stories about dogs that wont leave thier owners side because they know something is going to happen to them. Sop of course i figured he was doing that because something is going to happen to me. So i let that ruin my whole day and i had a panic attack of course. How dumb huh. I cant believe i let that ruin my day.
Jenn

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 12:43 am

THESE WERE ALL GREAT! I'm still waiting on my tapes..just getting started. But even though a lot of these anxieties and worries and phobias are still very real to me..it helped to hear jokes about them.
I laugh at myself all the time..after the fact.
a lot of these hit home for me though..especially spiders and bugs
Last week i had a terminix guy hear doing an evaluation for my REAL SPIDERS AND CRITTERS .
I was making coffee and telling him about all these critters biting and trying to get me, and for some reason when the coffee starting sizzling I thougth it was a bee or fly in my hair and starting jumping around screaming and shaking my hair....and then suddenly stopped and SAID OH, I THOUGHT THERE WAS A FLY OR SOMETHING , IT WAS JUST THE COFFEE POT. HE HAD TO HAVE THOUGHT I WAS INSANE. He just looked at me and I said it's been a rough week..I am laughing now...this was crazy..you should have seen me..it was hilarious.
I live in a basement level house with 15 acres of woods and weeds and corn fields and the spiders and mosquitos are terrible in my house..along with crickets, centipiedes, beetles, silverfish,..everything but cockroaches(thank God)I have vaccumed every corner, crevice, furniture, obssessively and I guess all the rain we had this year in July(northern IN, close to chicago)has made these so abundant along with the fear of the west nile virus...some things aren't funny yet..can someone help..I still won't sleep in my bed(afraid a brown recluse will bite me..thanks to internet research)..I shake my clothes vigorously clean off the hanger or drawer and turn everthing wrong side out a few times and still think things are crawling on me all the time.Last night, I got in bed for the first time and put my arm around my husband and something was tickling my elbow....and I jumped up, turned the light on and low and behold, there was a black beetle crawling on our comforter..I immediately said see...I'm not crazy...My husband said I know your not...I'm spreading my anxiety to everyone in the house over it. But at least they are on my side....we will kill the bugs together! And with the help of Terminix!
thanks..i know this was long..any Help or suggestions would be appreciated. Maxine

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 1:09 pm

In The Name Of Anxiety !"Cheap Sunglasses"

I have just remembered something from many years ago that I did, and looking back, I think it was funny.
At one point of my 30 agoraphobic years, I 'found' what was a solution for me, to at least get into some stores.I wore the darkest, black sunglasses I could find. Day or night. Boy, did I ever get some odd looks, at night that is! Imagine it. I made a pair of sunglasses a 'safe' thing for me. LOL @ myself !

LOL!

As they say,"Any Port In A Storm"!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 3:34 pm

These are great!

Just when I needed a good laugh too! I live down South were there are tons of mosquitoes. One evening I was out for about 10 minutes. I came back inside to talke a bath and notice I was bitten all over, I counted nearly 20 bites! I started freaking out asking my husband "Why are they only biting me?" "Nobody else has this many bites." (meaning my kids and him) I spent the next day or two analyzing why I had all the bites and what it means? Looking at them, recounting etc.. Then one of my kids came in one evening with a ton of bites and my mind was relieved! Whew...!