6 ms·

Nothing of any importance. Managed to screw myself up to the point of having constant generalized anxiety, so yeah, things are really working out here.

by arpa 6y ago

buzzy_hacker 6y ago
Hang in there. These are strange times and the most we can ask of ourselves is to get through them.
- arpa 6y ago
  "Little things", like kind words, are not insignificant. Thanks, sincerely.
mkolodny 6y ago
I'm sad to hear that you feel so anxious :( Exercise helps a ton. So does therapy (cognitive behavior therapy especially). Mindfulness meditation can help a lot, too.
- arpa 6y ago
  It feels... guilty not to do something productive; like work. Or something showcase-worthy. I guess it also has something to do with "turning off" when working from home: it's like you have to give 120% every day until you can't and then the downward spiral starts. Home becomes office, and slowly, creepingly all becomes work and, well, I guess one just have to remind oneself that taking care of yourself and "turning off" is not only okay, but necessary. Just like food.
  - yoz-y 6y ago
    I feel you. Had come into lockdown with a laundry list of stuff I though I could finish because of gained time. Very little has materialized. A thing that helped was bringing in another person to check on each other.
    - wayne_skylar 6y ago
      It's not strange that you weren't productive during one of the most disruptive periods of instability most of us will likely experience during our entire lives. Some people have made a positive out of this experience but you shouldn't feel like a failure if you couldn't. You may badly want to be one of these people who emerges from lockdown in an amazing new body with all of these projects completed but you shouldn't feel like a failure if you couldn't. This was not a normal time and adding pressure to be productive is not the answer for everyone.
  - wayne_skylar 6y ago
    One thing that I feel has helped my anxiety a good deal is knowing that "It's OK to not feel OK." A large part of my anxiety is wondering about its source and if it's getting worse, etc. Secondly, I've worked from home for 6 years now and the "turning off" thing is very important. Not only is it unrealistic to have those expectations of yourself, it's irresponsible to do so. If you feel guilty about not working, just remember that often times the time you spend not working on a problem is just as important as the time you spend working on it. It's actually how you tend to come up with most creative solutions. Not only that but you deserve time off.
searchableguy 6y ago
Sorry to hear that. Same though. Things are spiralling in the wrong direction and I just want peace and some people to talk to here and there without politics hijacking the conversation. Email is in the profile if you wanna hit me up.
blhack 6y ago
If you're having a panic attack, run up a flight of stairs, or hop on a bike and do a sprint around the block. Get your heart pumping. It sounds really counter intuitive but it works.
- progre 6y ago
  I agree, kind of. I have also suffered from panic attacks and the problem with this is that I'm thinking that I'm about to have a heart attack. The mere thought of running makes it worse. Breathing exercises (this has to be practised in advance) helps for me.
  - arpa 6y ago
    Calling a friend or an acquaintance can help to alleviate the attack, too.
  - zamalek 6y ago
    > I'm about to have a heart attack. That's a real panic attack. Drinking cold water can help reset the loop causing it (worked for me maybe once). The only thing that really works for me is GABA (700mg daily for a year, then 250mg daily for life) - but it did come up short in my blood work.
    - arpa 6y ago
      Benzodiazepines are a real treat (as in "works a treat"). Highly addictive tho.
      - copperx 6y ago
        IMO, there's nothing better for a panic attack than benzos. It's nice to have them around for an emergency. However, they will be the death of your mind if you take them on a schedule.
      - heavyset_go 6y ago
        They're great for acute panic, but are not a solution to a chronic problem. Research shows that some antidepressants and 5-HT1A agonists work in the long term for anxiety, though.
doorbellguy 6y ago
I'm sorry you feel that way. There's tons of positive advice in reply to you, so I'll say follow them. I know I will, I'm in a tough spot myself having graduated and still searching for my first job. The anxiety and restlessness have started to take a deep toll on my feeble mind. Not having a large social media presence doesn't help since I can't share my thoughts with people either. We'll get through this together :)
Ixiaus 6y ago
That sucks. I highly recommend the book "Anxious" which is about the neurobiology of fear and anxiety. Reading it feels like reading the owner's manual to my brain.
RyJones 6y ago
I'm with you. I look at what I've done with all my "free time" and I can't help but think - maybe I can't cure cancer, but I could have helped the person that would?
exception_e 6y ago
(Note: if you feel that this is just "regular" anxiety and it can pass, my wall of text is something you can skip. Only thing that should be considered are developing coping skills! I'm just trying to be helpful.) I'm thinking you'll reach the end of this dark tunnel here soon - but with a bit of work! The posters here have been thoughtful and there's a lot of good stuff to consider - I may be able to touch on this from another angle. If you have the funds, I would strongly encourage you to see either a psychologist or psychiatrist. I have suffered with clinical anxiety and regular panic attacks for over a decade. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 and Psychosis about 2 years ago, which are very rough and sometimes "team up" to make my existing anxiety/attacks worse. Even though this "teaming up" effect has been given me more anxiety than I can handle... trying out a 1 or many medications, reading books on coping skills/etc, and putting in the effort to test out said coping skills are great for many people. If you don't want to go this route, I would at least spend some time looking into and testing out various coping skills. You can use them as soon as things are headed in the wrong direction. This approach will also help if you have non-clinical anxiety as well. note: not a doctor... just a "patient" and can relate :) - I think you got this!
- arpa 6y ago
  You make very good points and I concur that getting professional help helps a lot - from past experiences. It seems that most likely I exhausted my coping mechanism pool, and if the state continues to deteriorate, I will most definitely reach out to some professional. Thanks!
  - exception_e 6y ago
    "It seems that most likely I exhausted my coping mechanism pool". Been there, done that! I have about 10 "core" mechanism that have stuck, but some stop being effective because I needed to change them up to make it more suitable to address my suffering. The psychwards I went to before my Dx/meds taught (DBT) (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) it's more about coping and life skills to execute on. You can also find therapists that practice with this modality. In a nutshell, DBT is all about "mindfulness" and "skills" (basically more involved coping mechanisms). It's more "actionable" than regular CBT in my opinion - but I'm biased. You can skip the DBT therapy and look up all of the skills and practices on your own too. It's good to have a professional as a therapeutic guide and hold you accountable, however. I won't go too far into that, but you have to track "bad habits" (PG-13) and if you followed through with what you set out to accomplish for you illness. Also, if you're in the US, you can freely/anonymously join the local DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support) meeting. The name is misleading though - it's basically for any mental or "advanced" mental illness. My sample size is 1, but their were folks in the meetings that had debilitating anxiety / anxiety disorders soo..
jhfdbkofdcho 6y ago
Haha, same. I’m a mess.

Nothing of any importance. Managed to screw myself up to the point of having constant generalized anxiety, so yeah, things are really working out here.

by arpa 6y ago

Nothing of any importance. Managed to screw myself up to the point of having constant generalized anxiety, so yeah, things are really working out here.

buzzy_hacker 6y ago

Hang in there. These are strange times and the most we can ask of ourselves is to get through them.

arpa 6y ago
"Little things", like kind words, are not insignificant. Thanks, sincerely.

mkolodny 6y ago

I'm sad to hear that you feel so anxious :( Exercise helps a ton. So does therapy (cognitive behavior therapy especially). Mindfulness meditation can help a lot, too.

arpa 6y ago
It feels... guilty not to do something productive; like work. Or something showcase-worthy. I guess it also has something to do with "turning off" when working from home: it's like you have to give 120% every day until you can't and then the downward spiral starts. Home becomes office, and slowly, creepingly all becomes work and, well, I guess one just have to remind oneself that taking care of yourself and "turning off" is not only okay, but necessary. Just like food.
- yoz-y 6y ago
  I feel you. Had come into lockdown with a laundry list of stuff I though I could finish because of gained time. Very little has materialized. A thing that helped was bringing in another person to check on each other.
  - wayne_skylar 6y ago
    It's not strange that you weren't productive during one of the most disruptive periods of instability most of us will likely experience during our entire lives. Some people have made a positive out of this experience but you shouldn't feel like a failure if you couldn't. You may badly want to be one of these people who emerges from lockdown in an amazing new body with all of these projects completed but you shouldn't feel like a failure if you couldn't. This was not a normal time and adding pressure to be productive is not the answer for everyone.
- wayne_skylar 6y ago
  One thing that I feel has helped my anxiety a good deal is knowing that "It's OK to not feel OK." A large part of my anxiety is wondering about its source and if it's getting worse, etc. Secondly, I've worked from home for 6 years now and the "turning off" thing is very important. Not only is it unrealistic to have those expectations of yourself, it's irresponsible to do so. If you feel guilty about not working, just remember that often times the time you spend not working on a problem is just as important as the time you spend working on it. It's actually how you tend to come up with most creative solutions. Not only that but you deserve time off.

searchableguy 6y ago

Sorry to hear that. Same though. Things are spiralling in the wrong direction and I just want peace and some people to talk to here and there without politics hijacking the conversation. Email is in the profile if you wanna hit me up.

blhack 6y ago

If you're having a panic attack, run up a flight of stairs, or hop on a bike and do a sprint around the block. Get your heart pumping. It sounds really counter intuitive but it works.

progre 6y ago
I agree, kind of. I have also suffered from panic attacks and the problem with this is that I'm thinking that I'm about to have a heart attack. The mere thought of running makes it worse. Breathing exercises (this has to be practised in advance) helps for me.
- arpa 6y ago
  Calling a friend or an acquaintance can help to alleviate the attack, too.
- zamalek 6y ago
  > I'm about to have a heart attack. That's a real panic attack. Drinking cold water can help reset the loop causing it (worked for me maybe once). The only thing that really works for me is GABA (700mg daily for a year, then 250mg daily for life) - but it did come up short in my blood work.
  - arpa 6y ago
    Benzodiazepines are a real treat (as in "works a treat"). Highly addictive tho.
    - copperx 6y ago
      IMO, there's nothing better for a panic attack than benzos. It's nice to have them around for an emergency. However, they will be the death of your mind if you take them on a schedule.
    - heavyset_go 6y ago
      They're great for acute panic, but are not a solution to a chronic problem. Research shows that some antidepressants and 5-HT1A agonists work in the long term for anxiety, though.

doorbellguy 6y ago

I'm sorry you feel that way. There's tons of positive advice in reply to you, so I'll say follow them. I know I will, I'm in a tough spot myself having graduated and still searching for my first job. The anxiety and restlessness have started to take a deep toll on my feeble mind. Not having a large social media presence doesn't help since I can't share my thoughts with people either. We'll get through this together :)

Ixiaus 6y ago

That sucks. I highly recommend the book "Anxious" which is about the neurobiology of fear and anxiety. Reading it feels like reading the owner's manual to my brain.

RyJones 6y ago

I'm with you. I look at what I've done with all my "free time" and I can't help but think - maybe I can't cure cancer, but I could have helped the person that would?

exception_e 6y ago

(Note: if you feel that this is just "regular" anxiety and it can pass, my wall of text is something you can skip. Only thing that should be considered are developing coping skills! I'm just trying to be helpful.) I'm thinking you'll reach the end of this dark tunnel here soon - but with a bit of work! The posters here have been thoughtful and there's a lot of good stuff to consider - I may be able to touch on this from another angle. If you have the funds, I would strongly encourage you to see either a psychologist or psychiatrist. I have suffered with clinical anxiety and regular panic attacks for over a decade. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with Bipolar 1 and Psychosis about 2 years ago, which are very rough and sometimes "team up" to make my existing anxiety/attacks worse. Even though this "teaming up" effect has been given me more anxiety than I can handle... trying out a 1 or many medications, reading books on coping skills/etc, and putting in the effort to test out said coping skills are great for many people. If you don't want to go this route, I would at least spend some time looking into and testing out various coping skills. You can use them as soon as things are headed in the wrong direction. This approach will also help if you have non-clinical anxiety as well. note: not a doctor... just a "patient" and can relate :) - I think you got this!

arpa 6y ago
You make very good points and I concur that getting professional help helps a lot - from past experiences. It seems that most likely I exhausted my coping mechanism pool, and if the state continues to deteriorate, I will most definitely reach out to some professional. Thanks!
- exception_e 6y ago
  "It seems that most likely I exhausted my coping mechanism pool". Been there, done that! I have about 10 "core" mechanism that have stuck, but some stop being effective because I needed to change them up to make it more suitable to address my suffering. The psychwards I went to before my Dx/meds taught (DBT) (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) it's more about coping and life skills to execute on. You can also find therapists that practice with this modality. In a nutshell, DBT is all about "mindfulness" and "skills" (basically more involved coping mechanisms). It's more "actionable" than regular CBT in my opinion - but I'm biased. You can skip the DBT therapy and look up all of the skills and practices on your own too. It's good to have a professional as a therapeutic guide and hold you accountable, however. I won't go too far into that, but you have to track "bad habits" (PG-13) and if you followed through with what you set out to accomplish for you illness. Also, if you're in the US, you can freely/anonymously join the local DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support) meeting. The name is misleading though - it's basically for any mental or "advanced" mental illness. My sample size is 1, but their were folks in the meetings that had debilitating anxiety / anxiety disorders soo..

jhfdbkofdcho 6y ago

Haha, same. I’m a mess.