Overwhelming and exhausting anxiety!

[Igotjelly]

Not sure quite what I want to achieve from this thread other than to vent. Simply put why is anxiety so fucking overwhelming and utterly exhausting?

I’ve always been a worrier. Predominantly triggered by bad news (Covid, wars etc.) but it recently just feels like it’s consuming me and completely ruining life. I can’t function without worrying that something terrible is going to happen (think cataclysmic global event that I have absolutely no control over). Already on medication for long term depression and anxiety and absolutely no idea where to go from here.

I feel so sorry for my poor husband and children

I’m sorry you’re feeling so anxious. It is absolutely so exhausting and knackering isn’t it. Can you seek advice from your GP?

The NHS Inform site (it’s Scottish) has some good links to some very good resources too. www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/mental-health/anxiety

I found Anna Mathur’s anxiety course very good too- she’s a v experienced psychotherapist who herself has experienced intrusive thoughts and other things that she is very open about on her instagram.

Oh you poor love

Do you know why humans are the only animals that suffer from anxiety*? It's because we have imagination. We imagine things are going to happen, we picture the outcome in vivid colour and we make up conversations, situations and outcomes that are completely made up in our heads. They are not real.

think cataclysmic global event that I have absolutely no control over

How many of those have you imagined? How many have actually come to pass?

You can change the script but the first step is realising that your imagination is just that, it's pretend. The next time you create a horrific situation, bring yourself back to the present. Look at the chair you're sitting in - the view out of the window and realise that what went through your head was as much a fiction as Star Wars or the Wizard of Oz. Now do it again but in the style of the Sound of Music or Four Weddings.

*Animals can't imagine but they can remember.

Sorry to hear this OP, couldn’t read and run as I suffer terribly from it.

There’s been some fab advice from the other posters but you’re right, it’s bloody exhausting. My brain never ceases to amaze me the out-there things it worries about. It’s really quite something!

Do some googling on intrusive thoughts and you’ll see these thoughts, while terrible and debilitating, are far more common than people would think and you’re not alone. For me, CBT was really helpful. It’s very outcome focused and quite short term so even a few sessions may help, or even just watching some videos on YouTube on it/ some approaches. It’s so hard when your mind is racing though, I suffer from it so much so you have my best wishes and solidarity x

Following as have the same issue.

@Igotjelly I just wanted to let you know that I COMPLETELY GET YOU. It's tiring, mentally and physically and some people don't get it and don't care to understand.

I have OCD and wonder if you too have it? It's a horrible disorder where you're constantly in survival mode and sounds like you could be suffering.

Don't put yourself down, I try to think of it as I care so much for the world around me and my loved ones in it that they are lucky to have me.. though it's hard to think like that sometimes xxx

I suffer from anxiety things that have helped me include-
CBT
Mindfulness course
Meditation
Hypnotherapy
Yoga
Emotional freedom technique
Walking
Exercise

I was at one point very low and struggling to see the point. I am now fairly happy although I accept the anxiety will always be there it's much more manageable and I'm not afraid of it anymore