Am I blowing this out of proportion?

[Againanothername]

I’m not sure if I should go and see the GP about this or if I am blowing it out of proportion?

Basically, I am getting really anxious about work (working from home at the moment). I procrastinate terribly, which is a vicious cycle. When I force myself to think about or do any work, I feel an ache in my chest, a sort of fearful flow of adrenaline throughout my body and my hands and fingers start tingling and feel trembly (though they don’t actually shake).
This kind of comes in waves. It’s not constant. But it does hit me most days at the moment. Is it just normal sort of anxiety that everybody gets from time to time and I should just power through, eat healthy, exercise, meditate etc (like all the advice says online) or is it worth a GP visit? I don’t think I want medication? But what else could they offer me?
Any advice welcome and thanks in advance x

If you don't want to try medication, CBT is usually the alternative to treat anxiety but it's likely you'll be on a waiting list for months or more before getting access to any, especially during the pandemic.

If it's solely work that's making you anxious, it might be worth your while to try and isolate the issue (the job itself? the workplace? the workload?) and either eliminate it (by finding another job - easier said than done at the moment, I know) or find a way to reduce your stress to a more manageable level (again, easier said than done).

I experience similar symptoms, and it's no fun. Hope you manage to find a solution soon, OP!

Oh, and it doesn't sound like you're blowing anything out of proportion!

Thanks @SwampyArmpits The strange thing it I actually love my job. But I think I am getting panicky about it because its normally a very interpersonal face-to-face job and I find doing it remotely really hard, It’s difficult to get a sense if I am helping the service users or not. And I am new at it and feel cut off from my team. Thay are supportive and I can ask questions at any time but it’s like no amount of reassurance is enough, I still just feel really anxious about it all. And it’s worse now than it was at the start of the pandemic, which is weird. I think it’s been building for months and I’ve only just realised how much it is impacting me.

I would get myself signed up at once to the Talking Therapy service here:

www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/

Maybe I got lucky with the person assigned to me but it was really good - so nice to talk with an understanding person and they're being paid to listen to you so you don't have those worries about what your friends and family are thinking of you. You might also look into whether your workplace offers any services you can use - mine does.

For me while all the meditation, healthy diet etc is useful, exercise is the key and really vigorous exercise too. I absolutely dread that there might ever be a time when I have to stop - it just seems to "wash out" so many of the strange feelings I used to get!

Best wishes.

Thank you @HPFA I’m not in England (scotland) unfortunately but I will see if there is something similar here. Will also try the exercise, I will admit I haven’t done as much since the weather’s turned. Thanks for your help x

If you can't get our for exercise I recommend Adriene yoga which is free on YouTube. It's mind medicine!
I'm in a rut at the moment and can't find the motivation to do it but it really helps when I can.

The Headspace app helped me. You can do 10 minutes exercises before work to calm you down. I didn't have a great experience with TT, but the service is overwhelmed in my area. It might be different in your area. You don't have to ask your GP for a referral. Also, yes, exercise helps release calming endorphins etc. Find something creative to do too. I write a diary of my feelings and I look at old allegorical paintings, and I found colouring-in helps too. Some people play an instrument, or create art, or listen to music. Try not to think in the past or future but live in the moment. It's hard, but you'll get there, and will feel better.

I have recently acquired a different perspective on this. I have a progressive lung condition and during lock down my anxiety has risen a lot. I recently went for a checkup and found my lungs have got worse.

Bear with me for the logic, there is a point..my lungs would have got worse anyway this is true, but what is happening is that I am losing lung function (at a faster rate than most), this then causes physiological anxiety from the sensation of not breathing so well, which then causes more 'I can't do that' fears.

So what I thought was a cognitive problem is also a physical one. When I do exercise which I have now started I feel amazing later (tired at first) and great the next day.

The thing is, every human is losing lung capacity every year (approx 20ml), and I believe part (not all but one part) of the anxiety is connected to what is going on physiologically, of which we have no control (ageing) but what we can control is using what we have more effectively. Hence why a bit of exercise is good.