Hi everyone, I’m a regular user but have name changed for this.
I’ve been feeling increasingly anxious over the last 18 months ish. I’ve been anxious before and had CBT for it a few years ago
The last year definitely hasn’t helped. I’ve been shielding so I’ve not been out much at all.Like all of us life hasn’t felt normal for ages I worry quite a lot and feel the physical symptoms of anxiety often.
My worries can be lots of different things and I feel anxious about feeling anxious!
The main symptoms I have are fast heart rate, churning stomach and feeling like my breathing is a bit off. When I was anxious before it didn’t affect my breathing so it’s a new sensation.
A lot of my anxiety is around social things and work. I wasn’t socially anxious before this last year but I’m more of an introvert. I feel all my confidence has completely gone over the last couple of years. This is my first job so I’m not sure what is normal work stress versus anxiety.
I had shingles a couple of weeks from getting run down and stressed.
I have some annual leave soon so I want to use it to get myself feeling better and hopefully reduce the anxiety a bit.
How do you manage your anxiety? What do you do? Are there coping strategies or things that help you?
The only thing that is out of the question is intense exercise as I’m a wheelchair user.
Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!