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Mental health

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When you have so many things to worry about you can't worry about any of them properly

1 reply

foxtiger · 01/08/2018 15:39

I should be beside myself with worry right now. One of my parents has had a life-threatening diagnosis, one of my DC is probably about to fail a year of uni and won't do anything to save himself, I need to find a job, I have a big administrative task hanging over me that I can't seem to find a way into, I have a minor health issue of my own that isn't clearing up as fast as it should (please note this is genuinely not something potentially something serious that I'm in denial about - though it is annoying) and I'm also pretty sure leaving the EU will be a disaster.

Any one of those things, on its own, would prey on my mind quite a lot. But combine them all and I feel like I just don't have enough headspace to think clearly about any of them, so I just don't.

I'm not prone to anxiety, although I had a few weeks of it about 15 years ago (health related), which went away on its own as soon as a doctor told me she thought it was anxiety. Since then, I think I have a tendency to be able to reassure myself about anything with the reasoning that "it's only anxiety, it's nothing to worry about" and that has always worked. But I kind of feel I should be worrying about all of these current issues and I'm not, much. Maybe slightly more about my kid because he's actually here, under my nose, messing up and asking me what I think. But even then, I feel kind of resigned to it, not panicking.

Is there a name for what's going on here? Is there a way out of it, or is my mind protecting itself for a reason and I should just be grateful that I'm not falling apart?

OP posts:
ThinkingCat · 01/08/2018 18:39

The thing is, worrying doesn't really have any use.

You can't do anything about your parent's diagnosis (except to offer them support). You can't really do anything about your son (except suggest he researches Student Support type services his uni probably offers). You can't do anything about Brexit (I'm completely ignoring it myself).

You can take some action steps about looking for a job, your admin task, and making a GP appt for your health issue.

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