4 ms·
Does your friend spend a lot of time alone? As someone who struggles with the same thing, I find that being alone a lot of the time makes me reflect on the past
by alashley 11y ago
Does your friend spend a lot of time alone? As someone who struggles with the same thing, I find that being alone a lot of the time makes me reflect on the past a lot and old wounds tend to fester.
Some people are thinkers in that way, and while it can have its upsides, it certainly has downsides. I think spending more time laughing with others, relating to them and having fun is better than thinking all the time. But personally I'm in the process of finding people I can relate to better.
- stuxnet79 11y agoI have anxiety disorder and you have highlighted an insight of mine after examining my condition for a while. The moments that my condition flares up uncontrollably are the moments when I've spent a significant amount of time "thinking". When I spend time with friends I genuinely care about and can relate to, I get so distracted, I almost feel like a normal person.
- Joof 11y agoI've been there. Now that I'm back to normal, I love my thinking time, but during the anxiety times I never wanted to be alone.
- stuxnet79 11y agoGreat to hear that you were able to come out on top. I'm taking medication right now, exercising and taking it one step at a time at the moment. I would love to get rid of it entirely but I'm starting to acknowledge that unless there's a revolutionary break through in medical science then I'm stuck with this condition for the rest of my life. Just have to figure out ways to cope.
- Joof 11y agoMaybe, maybe not. Here's the obligatory 'what worked for me'. I looked at a bundle of research and treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy appeared to have better long-term outcomes and after 10 years or so of depression and several years of anxiety I had never tried it. So I gave up the 'I'm stuck with this forever' mentality and started retraining my brain to not have the anxiety response. After roughly 6 months of work I was able to shake it and I'm not on SSRI, Benzos or whatever. IMO anxiety is recursive, having anxiety gives people anxiety and trains you to have an anxiety response (see hebbian learning). Getting out of that loop is a huge deal.
- stuxnet79 11y agoThanks! Always love hearing stories like these. I definitely do not want to get stuck on medication for the rest of my life and of course having a 'stuck with this forever' mentality is hardly useful.