Does your anxiety stop you doing things?

[Flowersandshowers]

I am name changed as family and friends know my username and they are not aware of this.

I just wondered if anyone else suffers from anxiety?

E.g. I want to get all the washing done today but my anxiety is telling me it's a bad idea as if all the washing is done then maybe something will happy to me as they won't need me to do the washing. Same with sorting the house. I want to do the drawers in the kitchen etc but again my anxiety is telling me then something bad could happen as my family might not need me of all the drawers are done.

I guess my mind is telling me it's tempting fate to get all the housework/sorting done etc.

I know it sounds crazy and I don't know how to snap out of it.

Anyone overcome similar?

My anxiety has stopped me doing a lot in life, but admittedly not things like that. It has really held me back in things like eg being afraid to take a chance on changing job, in case it doesn't work out and I'll regret it. Bigger things like that. Being afraid to travel much. Desperately wanting to relocate, as I live in an area with crap employment options, but being terrified that if I dragged my husband and kids far from home they'd hate it and I would be responsible.

I don't know the answer to it all, but you definitely have my sympathy.

But I do sort of understand the 'something bad might happen' feeling. At my worst, I remember being afraid to even just enjoy a moment's happiness - watching my kids play in the sunshine, having a coffee with my husband etc because I was afraid that if I felt five minutes of 'peace' it would inevitably lead to something horrific happening.

I totally sympathise
My anxiety it so irrational and it drives me bonkers

I am going to fail at the thing I need to do so I hide in bed or on the sofa however I do neeeeeed to do those things and the only thing that shifts it is it being replaced with the blind panic of letting people down by not doing what I need to do but now I have to rush it as there is very little time left. Making it feel like I haven't done a good job and reinforcing the initial fear of making a mess of things!!!! Argh!!!
This for me includes making dinner doing the washing as well as bigger things in my life bloody exhausting apart from everything else.

I used to get these feelings until I got my anxiety and depression under control (meds, counselling, relaxation etc). So I know exactly how you feel. This sounds awful but, for example, I would think ' I need to do DS's washing, but what if something happens to him? Then I won't have anything that smells of him'. Then of course, I did the washing, nothing would happen, so I would think 'Well, if it's not DS it must be me, something is going to happen to me'. I would check and re check myself in work, I was utterly convinced that one small mistake would immediately lead me to lose my job and we would become homeless.

I got over this (with help) by realising that the feeling of doom and dread that the anxiety gave me is that - the anxiety - I was trying to attribute it to something. Otherwise why else would I feel so wretched? There must be a reason. I realised there is not, it's just the 'anxiety talking'.

It's completely exhausting, which makes it even more difficult to think rationally. I can remember DP saying to me 'Think rationally!' over something very minor, and me wailing 'I can't!' I was too exhausted to think straight.

You can get better Flowers

Thank you!

Yes I am also constantly worried at work that I am not doing a good job and my boss will want to get rid of me! I never attributed that to the anxiety before but reading what you said makes sense.

I am determined to overcome it... I had similar about 10 years ago and managed to get rid of it. Then about 4 years ago something happened and it reared it's ugly head again. It's been up and down the last four years, sometimes with nothing other times with terrible HA, but st the moment seems worse.

I think because it's so exhausting I became very fragile with zero emotional resilience. I became completely unable to handle any confrontation (as I saw it, it's not really). The smallest things would leave me in flitters and that then reinforces the 'something bad is going to happen' sensation. It is paralysing and everything became about doing what I could just to avoid feeling like that and putting myself in that situation. Are you on meds Flowers? I take citolapram. I do still have to work at things sometimes. But if I catch myself, I can take that mental step back and look at things in a rational way. It's a thought and a feeling that can be changed.

No not on any meds as due to the very strict rules surrounding my line of work, I can't have anything like HA on my record.

Blimey Flowers that's really hard. Do you have relaxation exercises you can do? I always found it more beneficial to do them when I wasn't feeling particularly anxious. I could do them properly so when I was feeling anxious it was more automatic. It also meant I might actually know what it felt like to feel relaxed IYSWIM. And remembering to keep breathing, of course! Sound stupid but I would think 'Why am I anxious now?!' Then realise I was holding my breath and my shoulders were attached to my ears.

I feel the same as you as you flowers. In the end my boss did end my contract because I was so paralysed by my anxiety. I'm still working my notice period and its much much worse than it was before I was told I wasn't been kept on.

My anxiety stops me from doing lots of things and I completely get the whole 'this scares me, so I will hide then I feel awful about hiding so I rush to finish and its crap'. I do it often, all through school, uni, work etc.

I don't have any answers, I'm doing CBT and it helps but it's not a panacea for anxiety. Does medication really help?

Medication definitely helps. I think I will probably be on it for life, but I don't care because it at least allows me some degree of normality.

I've always avoided medication. I had depression throughout my late teens/early twenties. Now I know that the depression was a symptom of how anxious I was, rather than the other way around. I've always gone for talking therapies been doing it a long time with different techniques and types but I've always actively avoided going for medication. But it's getting worse and I think I may need to do something else on top of therapy.

It's really good to know that there are effective medication for anxiety out there. I think I always assumed medication was for 'serious' conditions and my anxiety wasn't serious enough

Can work access medical records then ? :-(
I have anxiety but it's more like I would dread going to a theme park for a day
I hate going away for weekends
I feel anxious on trains 'what if I miss it' etc
I get anxious at meetings at work
I have panic attacks where I go hot & feel I need the loo
I'm on ads but not sure they're helping

Before I "ran away", well the truth came out after I did this. That OH would feel like something horrible would happen, so if he didn't talk about it, it be fine. So if I asked for help from him, he'd not decide to do it, in case it disappointed me. For me him not trying did that. This happened several times a day over the years, when he finally got diagnosed, at least I had the reason for it. But I couldn't work out how to get out of the viscous circle. How should I approach it? If he hasn't done something like take washing upstairs, what should I do, cos nagging and then yelling really don't. And leaving it don't too. I want to learn.

Flowersandshowers, I've witnessed it from the other side. What would help you? Is there anything, like feeling less pressure, in needing to do it. I'm trying to understand for the sake of my OH and DS.

Anxiety stops me doing a few things, at the moment travelling anywhere is a problem. I don't like going on the motorway. Its to do with feeling 'trapped' anywhere.

At the moment I seem to have low level anxiety quite a lot and its quite hard to pin point it to anything specific.

I tried meds, only took 2 tablets and was violently sick for several weeks plus the intrusive thoughts got much much worse would never do that again.

Am finding counselling helpful, also doing mindfulness and trying to do some positive thinking. Have cut down on caffeine and sugar as well. Read a really good book called panicking about panic by josh fletcher which I found useful.