General anxiety disorders

[Insaneinthamembrane]

Just wanted to know if anyone is going through the same thing, I'm struggling so much I'm anxious all the time panicking and now I'm struggling to get out of the house I'm in so much pain due to muscle tension I'm starting to feel reali depressed.

Generalised anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental health disorders around the world. You may need to look at seeing someone to get a firm diagnosis and treatment plan. You can also take some steps to try and help yourself.
First I think you should try looking at who you are as a person, in relation to those around you. If you have children, a partner, friends, family, write yourself in the context in which they see you. Remember that this is a positive experience and look for the highlights of your life and how the people around you treated you. Eg: At christmas time, all laughing and telling stories, my friends and family listened to me and enjoyed my company. I have a good sense of humour.
For the pain, try simple tai chi, you can find instructional videos on youtube. Tai chi is brilliant because it uses fluid motion that minimises pain and strengthens your muscles. It is also done to 60bpm music that mimics the resting heart rate.
Try using a thought journal to recognise when your thoughts aren't helpful and to help change them.
Situation: You need to describe the situation, it may be helpful to include who you were with as well as what you were doing. For instance "I am home alone but I need to go and get some groceries.".
Feeling: Here you identify all of your feelings. You should aim to give them a percentage rating as well. For instance: sad 20%, scared 60% Hopeless 20%
Automatic Negative Thought: Here you identify your automatic negative thought: "Outside the house is scary. My house is the only safe place."
Evidence to support this thought: eg: "The news shows me that there are a lot of times when outside the house is dangerous".
Evidence that doesn't support this thought: "People go out every day and are fine. Humans are social creatures and need other humans to feel good about themselves"
Alternative thought (more realistic thought): "I am safe, I need food and the people that frequent the shopping centre are there to shop not do me harm"
New feeling: "Relieved 50%, anxious 40%, sad 10%

The thought journal doesn't necessarily "fix" the feelings, as you are probably still going to experience feelings of sadness etc about the thing that has happened. It is designed to promote more realistic or helpful thought processes as opposed to purely pessimistic processes. At the moment, it is likely that you aren't able to see a way out of everything, as you can't think of an alternative. By breaking everything down in this way, you are taking some emotion out of the situation and thinking critically about what actually happened.

Um.

OP. I have GAD. It is a huge pain in the arse and difficult to manage. I’m not sure if I personally got anything helpful from the previous post which seemed complicated and all over the place.

First thing. Have you seen anyone about this? If not, first stop is your GP to try to get yourself referred for an assessment

I have GAD too and found Chatterboxnz's post to be excellent. I do agree that your GP should be your first stop though. You will need professional help and potentially medication in addition to doing the self help exercises those these are also important.

The information provided above is related to cognitive behavioural therapy and it is sound information.
Usually you would take it slowly, focusing first on the relationships and how you see yourself and how others see you.
Then you look at relaxation techniques, such as tai chi or meditation.
Then you look at thought journals.

Usually the therapist would work with you and assist you through each step, but that isn't easy to do online.

Thank you for that Chatterboxnz. I'm going to print your post for a family member who's suffering.

I was a bit harsh (I’m so hot and irritable right now) and it just seemed a lot of information to throw at the OP all at once. Yes, CBT can help enormously with anxiety, but the OP’s first port of call needs to be to see her GP and try to get an assessment.

No not harsh at all. Was just clearing up where the information comes from and yes diagnosis and support from a gp is the first step.

I wish I found CBT useful as so many people do. I've tried it a couple of times and it's been about as useful as tits on a bull for me.

Some people don't benefit from therapy at all. Others benefit from different types of therapy.
There are approaches that focus on cognition (thought processes), behaviour, person centred, family, holistic, psychoanalytic (developed by Sigmund Freud and adapted over the years), counselling (talk based therapy), group therapy and many, many others.
It may simply be a process of finding the right approach for you. Pm me if you want to share more about what is bothering you and I may be able to help if you would like

Hi sorry I didn't respond straightaway im on a waiting list for cbt and I'm in regular contact with the mental health team I just feel so depressed by it all everyday is like a continuous battle