So anxious I can't function

[Justwanttobenormal]

I am really struggling today. We've just come back from holiday, an attempt at getting myself out there.

I was stressed the whole time, but did enjoy parts of it.

However one of my anxieties is around bed bugs which makes staying away difficult. I thought I was better with it but I'm really struggling today. I've convinced myself we brought some in our luggage and they're going to take over the house.

Life is so hard, my chest feels so tight and remembering to breathe is an effort. My brain exhausts me so much I just don't have any capacity left for much else and my work is now really suffering. So I'm also getting very anxious about loosing my job now.

I just want to be able to enjoy my life, its really getting me down, I keep crying.

We are not anxious about ‘the thing’, we’re anxious about our ability to cope with ‘the thing’. How we judge our ability to cope will depend at least partially on how big we perceive the current challenge to be.

In the same way a speck of dust can start to look like a monster through the lens of a microscope if we magnify it to a large enough degree, so our worries, concerns or anxieties can start to look life threatening if we spend too much time focussing on them.

However, if we back away from a problem, and allow ourselves to stop thinking about it for a while it’s surprising how quickly we can realise what we thought was a monster was just a speck of dust.

If you find you can't get your fear in proportion then therapy or counselling might be appropriate.