Anxiety coping strategies until I can see a Doctor

[shakalakadoodah]

After a really tough year with my whole world basically falling apart, which I think was mostly caused by me not addressing my mental health when I first started to have feelings of depression and anxiety. I now feel that I can't keep hiding my feelings and hoping that I can make myself feel better so I know and have made the decision that I finally need to speak to a Doctor.

But I am going to visit family next week,setting off Monday morning and culminating with a big family occasion next Friday, I really can't get out of it so I just need to find a way to cope.

I'll try to put a few of my problems here to help explain my feelings. I have extremely low self esteem, if someone is being nice or complimenting me I don't believe them and think they are just being nice because they feel sorry for me, I am also very sensitive and over think things so I often think people are being critical of me when they probably aren't. I can't make decisions, even the most simple of things becomes a big issue for me, just going through the motions of life feels difficult for me. I get this feeling of dread as if something awful is about to happen which I can't shake. I feel like such a failure for everything going so wrong in my life and don't feel that I deserve to be happy, which makes chatting with people challenging as I know I'm so negative.

Thank you for reading if you've got this far, I'm hoping someone can offer me some coping strategies just to get me through next week.

Sorry I've no real help to offer but could you try talking to your family, or just one of them? tell them what you've just told us? Sounds like you need some RL support while you are waiting for an appointment. Sorry you are feeling this way.

I also suffer from depression and anxiety and hope that your GP will be able to help when you get to see them.

In the meantime, I find that distraction in something really absorbing helps. This can be physical like tai chi or yoga, or crafting (counted cross stitch helps me). You could take the craft project with you when you go to stay with family.

If you find that you are internally criticising yourself really badly, try to imagine how you would talk to a friend in the same situation. It helps you realise that you are always much harder on yourself than you would be on other people.

Also, try to hang on to the idea that the bad times, no matter how bad, are always temporary. This too shall pass...

Wishing you all the best

Well done for getting a Dr's appointment, asking for help can be the hardest thing.

I find meditation, mindfulness and exercise help me with anxiety. Also mindless games on my phone and knitting.

I use mindfulness apps to get me through the darkest days. Square breathing helps me calm everything down and get through that initial rising feeling of panic.

When I had counselling I found self worth where I wasn't looking for it. When I said 'I deserve better than this' it was a glimmer of realising that I had worth. It's there inside you too, but the anxiety fog is just making it hard to find right now.

Thank you all, anxiety fog is exactly how it feels!

I play mindless games on my phone way too much then feel guilty for wasting time instead of doing something useful.

I haven't made a doctor's appointment yet, will have to wait until I get back a week on Monday and hope I don't chicken out and make stupid excuses as usual.

Listen to Weightless by Marconi Union.

It's been proven to lower blood pressure and relax you.