Anxiety and 'impending doom'

[WinterBones]

Just to preface, i've had anxiety for years, diagnosed disorder, loads of cbt (both the 12 week and 26 week course of) and i know how to deal with it, i know when i'm struggling and when i need help. I know the difference between the short term struggle of situational anxiety, and the more long term slides i experience.

I'm in the former atm.. there's a LOT going on, most of it i just have to wait for things to happen (gcses, college applications) some i can't do fuck all about (disability benefit and UC changes as my disabled son ages up) and some will hopefully pass quickly (parent being unwell this last week) and while none is especially huge, it all adds up, and as much as i know what i'm feeling, and why i'm feeling it, and how to get myself out of the feelings when they start.. the one thing i have ALWAYS struggled to handle is the 'impending doom' aspect.

Its like it just sits there in the background behind all the rest of it.. i think someone once described it as that feeling when you miss a stair and your stomach lurches.. its always been the most frustrating symptom to shake/ignore.

If you know what i'm talking about, what do you do to deal with 'the sky is falling' aspect of it? how do you make that stop? i guess i'm after ieads/suggestions in case there is something i haven't tried of thought of to mitigate it.

I think it's the low level fight or flight all the time that kind of trip-wires the brain into a primitive survival mode to be on guard for doom. Not exactly something that people seem to talk about and, perhaps you've tried, but could try listening to ASMR just to try and create that quiet stillness even for a short time might help...or any opportunities to make the body relax e.g. writing stuff down or drawing can help.

i have loads of little cbt-esque self-help pads designed for anxiety, mostly from sugar and sloth, but i tend to end up doom scrolling a lot, or finding something to watch on tv.

asmr doesn't work for me, but i do have some gentler kinds of music that can help. 8D type stuff does a good job if i can find my headphones!

My teen has severe impending doom which has caused crippling migraines that last for a day or two. It has ruined everything for years.

Watching with interest x

Following. I’ve been awake since 2am with this feeling. Mine is health anxiety and fear for the future. I don’t know how to stop it. It makes me exhausted.

I would get bloods done to check ferritin levels, thyroid etc.

i have a panic disorder so im too familiar with these feelings, however last year I was in a constant state of flight or fight for no reason and it was terrifying. We worked out it was because my ferritin (iron storage) was on the floor but it still took months of self help and supplementation to rid of the feeling.

i found (once I found the strength too) you just have to let it ‘sit’ along side you. It cannot hurt you, and just remind yourself of that and gradually it should start to lift. Not easy especially when you wake up with it, but for me it became a mind over matter scenario. The more you try to fight it the worse it is

OP I get it and I’m not sure the answer, but you aren’t alone in this. Probably the most effective thing I have found is talking to a friend about their problems/life/news instead of my own but that doesn’t help if it’s 6am…

Hi Op, I think this is all part of GAD generalised anxiety disorder.
I have the same, especially first thing in the morning when cortisol is highest. Awake from 4am, and if not actively anxious, have the doomy feeling that something just isn't right or something bad is going to happen (or worrying about something I think is happening).
I think CBT can still help with this, it's likely a body feeling we don't notice that then sets the tone for that feeling. Things that are meant to help are gratitude journaling etc to try and have your mind pick positive pathways rather than auto-dooming. But I say this as someone who isn't currently doing any of these things to help myself 🫣

Reading out loud to my kids for an hour each night helps me completely switch off from that impending doom feeling.

I concentrate on what I’m reading, try to make the story entertaining for the kids with different voices for each character. I become so immersed in the story, that I slip into that imaginary world and block out everything else.

Its the best hour of my day. I always finished relaxed. Blood pressure lower. Mind clearer. Kids delighted.

I don't take meds for it, i used to take Propranolol to cope with the physical symptoms, and i was very briefly on a low dose of sertraline but came off it to TTC with my now 16yo, and i don't miss it as while it helped, i HATED the side effects.
I then tried the propranolol again when i was REALLY bad with PND (which i didn't disclose to anyone at the time.. god i wish i had..)

I have to take gabapentin now so they won't let me take propranolol.. which is why i've had all the CBT. Unfortunately the way my anxiety works is i'm very weird about taking new meds, i have ADHD meds i'm meant to take 'as and when' and still haven't talked myself into taking any...

To answer others.. i had low Vit D and Folic Acid last time my mood bombed, so i already take supplements for those.

A couple of the issues have resolved today, the others i can't do anything about (money/pip/uc.. thanks labour, not.) so just have to try and shove them somewhere mentally to deal with another time when i can do something about it.

the fear for the future is the worst.

It was health anxiety that sent me spiralling last time and put me into the intense CBT course.. covid and trying to protect my disabled kids/elderly mum and myself (also disabled/asthmatic) set that off BIG time.. had a couple of very nasty full blown panic attacks over it, my big red flag that i am NOT ok.. the cbt did help me quite a bit to learn to pick those feelings apart and settle them.

the doom stays though :/

I hope you find some peace in all the chaos of your mind <3

Do you mind me asking how old you are OP and if this feeling is recent? I had awful feelings of impending doom followed by episodes of being really cold to the point where my teeth were chattering and I had goosebumps, together with my body just feeling strange. Went to my GP fully expecting to be laughed at and she suggested it may be a perimenopause symptom. A few weeks after starting HRT the feelings had gone. Not a symptom I’ve ever heard of to be honest.

I struggle to sit with things I can’t control. I have found Acceptance and Commitment Therapy a great help with this, alongside meditation and going outside more. I would highly recommend a book called The Happiness Trap. It’s very good at explaining ACT and has lots of practical exercises to help with sitting with discomfort, accepting uncertainty, separating thoughts and feelings from reality etc.

Getting into nature also helps me to see the bigger picture when I’m stuck in the weeds. Even better if you can factor in some awe into your day. Sometimes I need to feel small and like my worries are insignificant in the grand scheme of the world. But not in a belittling way, more of a humbling one.

43, and likely in peri, my mom was done and dusted by 46. i am still on the minipill and i also potentially have fibro (under investigation atm) so that isn't helping!

I know how you feel and think you are very very emotionally aware. That's a good start. I struggled with the same anxiety of an impending doom and it became worst when my intrusive thoughts became "uncontrollable". It was exhausting.
A couple things have helped me: I question my anxieties/concerns - can I control the outcome? If I can't, is worrying about it going to benefit? If not, what is it doing to me? If I can control the outcome, what am I doing about it? But you may already know that.
And the fact that a thought is just merely a thought. It is not reality, and if you let it pass, it will just float away.
If that doesn't work, I do try and distract myself by going for a walk, put on a podcast. They say you can never trust a single bad thought when you're alone sat in your room.
Lots of distraction involved, including talking to a friend about it if all else fails. Talking to someone always helps to release the pressure.
But if I'm being really honest, medication helped. I got on Citalopram recently and it's made a huge and significant shift in my thoughts, so I really recommend contacting your GP if it gets worst and you feel like it's getting in the way of your daily life.
Sending you lots of love, I hope you know you're doing so well despite your anxieties.

I had migraines @wellyoudthinkand always had that sense of impending doom beforehand. I think the migraines caused that rather than the other way round.

It is a horrible feeling. I also get a feeling I can only liken to de ja vu where I suddenly have a feeling that I was thinking about something terrible but specific but then I can't remember what it actually was. For this and the impending doom I mentally (luckily have needed to write them down for a while) list all the possibly problems that could be worrying me. For instance: have wraparound care payments coming up. No problem, I will go on the gov website and pay them. I've got to stay in the office later and mum will need to collect dc. She says she can and will give them dinner.

Its not something a list of worries but trying to make myself realise that everything is fine. Its not a miracle cure but does help me.