Anxiety Question...

[kevthekid]

Dude this is so funny because I have the same EXACT problem. Try to get a vyvanse prescription from your doctor for some reason it puts me in a great mood all day and it makes me anxiety A LOT better and is much safer than Xanax or other anxiety meds. Another example for me is when I'm in class at university I sit in the middle and I feel like everyone is just staring at me and I get super bad anxiety so I always try to stay in the back of the class so I make sure I don't feel like that. I take vyvanse now to help with school and I must say it helps tremendously because now I sit dead in the middle of the class and don't even think about people looking at me anymore. I know exactly how you feel and I'm not saying you need to take the same thing I am to help cope with your anxiety it's just something that worked for me really well so I thought I would just let you know

[dyslexic]

How can it be explained, when a particular fear is so unrealistic?

You need to do some more research brother.


Check out the "Sympathetic" and the "Parasympathetic" nervous system. It will give you a much better understanding of what sets things off.

Most of what occurs begins in the frontal lobe, the eyes. It's how you react mentally to your visual cues and also how your Adrenaline flows... out of control. Your mind is a powerful tool. How many times have you heard this? Well, it's true. You can either learn to douse the fire or let it feed itself out of control until your blood pressure is up, a few fearful things are thought of and spoken out loud,and the next thing you know, you are in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.

At the same time, you can look at a cat... sleeping. How many milliseconds does it take that cat (if startled) to be up on it's feet and gone? Prepped for a fight?


And then, after the incident, how long does it take the cat to fall into a restful sleep as if nothing ever happened?

This is the Sympathetic/Parasympathetic nervous system at work to its fullest. Humans can learn to develop their skills also.

Excessive thinking and O.C.D. do not help the situation, but you can start by controlling your thoughts away from what is bothering you and learn to let things go a bit when it comes to the O.C.D. stuff. You don't have to be a pig, but you can let your socks sit on top of your shoes for a moment... or two.


You have only the moment. You have control of what you will think about. You have 24 hours in a day. 8 of those hours can be spent asleep. Deal with only what you have. Don't think about the next day until it's time to do so.


Planning ahead is great... until it consumes you, and then you find that your plans have taken on a drastic change that had absolutely nothing to do with any decisions you made.

All the worry in the world changes nothing... so don't.


The Beatles said it best: "Let it Be..."

[Knooger]

You need to do some more research brother.


Check out the "Sympathetic" and the "Parasympathetic" nervous system. It will give you a much better understanding of what sets things off.

Most of what occurs begins in the frontal lobe, the eyes. It's how you react mentally to your visual cues and also how your Adrenaline flows... out of control. Your mind is a powerful tool. How many times have you heard this? Well, it's true. You can either learn to douse the fire or let it feed itself out of control until your blood pressure is up, a few fearful things are thought of and spoken out loud,and the next thing you know, you are in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.

At the same time, you can look at a cat... sleeping. How many milliseconds does it take that cat (if startled) to be up on it's feet and gone? Prepped for a fight?


And then, after the incident, how long does it take the cat to fall into a restful sleep as if nothing ever happened?

This is the Sympathetic/Parasympathetic nervous system at work to its fullest. Humans can learn to develop their skills also.

Excessive thinking and O.C.D. do not help the situation, but you can start by controlling your thoughts away from what is bothering you and learn to let things go a bit when it comes to the O.C.D. stuff. You don't have to be a pig, but you can let your socks sit on top of your shoes for a moment... or two.


You have only the moment. You have control of what you will think about. You have 24 hours in a day. 8 of those hours can be spent asleep. Deal with only what you have. Don't think about the next day until it's time to do so.


Planning ahead is great... until it consumes you, and then you find that your plans have taken on a drastic change that had absolutely nothing to do with any decisions you made.

All the worry in the world changes nothing... so don't.


The Beatles said it best: "Let it Be..."

Sounds like some pretty solid advice. You choose what occupies your mind, make it something positive.

[Las Vegas]

You need to do some more research brother.


Check out the "Sympathetic" and the "Parasympathetic" nervous system. It will give you a much better understanding of what sets things off.

Most of what occurs begins in the frontal lobe, the eyes. It's how you react mentally to your visual cues and also how your Adrenaline flows... out of control. Your mind is a powerful tool. How many times have you heard this? Well, it's true. You can either learn to douse the fire or let it feed itself out of control until your blood pressure is up, a few fearful things are thought of and spoken out loud,and the next thing you know, you are in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.

At the same time, you can look at a cat... sleeping. How many milliseconds does it take that cat (if startled) to be up on it's feet and gone? Prepped for a fight?


And then, after the incident, how long does it take the cat to fall into a restful sleep as if nothing ever happened?

This is the Sympathetic/Parasympathetic nervous system at work to its fullest. Humans can learn to develop their skills also.

Excessive thinking and O.C.D. do not help the situation, but you can start by controlling your thoughts away from what is bothering you and learn to let things go a bit when it comes to the O.C.D. stuff. You don't have to be a pig, but you can let your socks sit on top of your shoes for a moment... or two.


You have only the moment. You have control of what you will think about. You have 24 hours in a day. 8 of those hours can be spent asleep. Deal with only what you have. Don't think about the next day until it's time to do so.


Planning ahead is great... until it consumes you, and then you find that your plans have taken on a drastic change that had absolutely nothing to do with any decisions you made.

All the worry in the world changes nothing... so don't.


The Beatles said it best: "Let it Be..."

Thank you brother.  I've been thinking a lot about what SF1900 said here:

Sometimes you can't logically reason your way out of an emotional reaction. Many people often know that their thoughts are illogical or irrational and leading to negative emotions. However, it doesn't mean that a change from illogical to logical will always lead to a change in emotional content.

It's almost looking like a war between an emotional state and a logical state, with the emotional state clubbing to death the logical state. 

I will look at sympathetic vs. parasympathetic.  Thank you, dyslexic.

[Las Vegas]

And Ritch, I meant a referral to a someone that knows sleep disorders.  But I'm not exactly sure how that process would work.

[Las Vegas]

You don't need to read any of it, Tapeworm.

[Tapeworm]

You don't need to read any of it, Tapeworm.

I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it.  Dry your eyes, mate.

[Necrosis]

If it is ADHD, OCD etc then no thinking or acting in anyway will not remove the symptoms.These are neurodevelopmental disorders, present from birth and has all kinds of genetic and structural differences in the brain compared to those without.

The brain is an organ, well comprised of many organs ostensibly, it can get sick.

I have OCD and it's nothing I can stop , think out of etc. When it is bad i can't think my own thoughts, just constant intrusive thoughts that interrupt my normal thinking. I could be reading a book and if it's bad I will think about a pain in my back maybe 100 times, I am not concerned about my back logical, it's illogical, the key part of OCD. It has waxed and waned but will never go away, it's a disease, it runs in my family. As a child I would be in existential crisis after crisis, the thoughts are absurd also in there severity. I "know" they are not my thoughts, yet when they hit it feels like everyone I know has died, there is a physical reaction, I can ignore it, move to something else but there is an uneasy dread as if nothing is right.

As a kid I would do an hourly routine at night to ensure everyone is safe. Check the taps, the cats, the fridge, the stove etc. Sometimes when it was really bad (like 12-15) I would stand over the stove with tears running down my face trying to stop touching the stove but I was stuck, checking it, looking away, feeling for heat, twisting the gauges, for over an hour. The other cruel thing about OCD is it correlates with a very high declarative memory and IQ, which only worsens things, scenarios that are so divergent they are ludicrous and completely foreign to me.

Other issues are the intrusive thoughts, for example if I was about to cross the street, my brain would give me the image of a bus hitting and killing me, it just pops in your head and it's vivid and real, as real as your own thoughts. Or knife on the counter would give me the image of stabbing my mother to death, the thoughts are always distressing and conflict with my core values.

[LittleJ]

I took Valium for 2-3 months to minimize side effects from taking my meds for chronic liver disease. That stuff was great but made me very sleepy. Too bad the doctor wouldn't allow me to stay on it.

[Las Vegas]

I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it.  Dry your eyes, mate.

It doesn't bother me at all, Tapeworm.  You can fire away if that's what you want to do.  That's life.

[Las Vegas]

...it's illogical, the key part of OCD.... I "know" they are not my thoughts, yet when they hit it feels like everyone I know has died....

Necrosis, is this a case of an emotional state totally overwhelming a logical state, due to the disorder?  (I'm not trying to say someone can "out-think" it...just asking)

[Method101]

I actually went through a phase (1 year) of suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, the first one came on me when I was at the end of a day at work and in the middle of a diet. I had not eaten for hours, drank loads of caffeine and stupidly at the time used a pre-workout that contained yohimbine(a substance actually used to induce anxiety attacks in lab rats), I felt like I was dying of a heart attack and went to hospital, after 5 minutes in the hospital I felt normal again, my life also contained a lot of stress at that time.

After that incident I suffered continual anxiety and even took an anti-depressant citalopram for 6 months, which did nothing but perhaps a placebo effect. It felt like I would never overcome it at the time but fortunately I have stronger than average willpower and through positive thinking and avoiding any feelings of despair I learned to supress it to the point of insignificance.

Coming off the citalopram gave me harsh withdrawals for 2 weeks. Felt so dizzy whenever I was not sitting down that I was convinced I was going to pass out but again through will power I overcame it and defeated my anxiety without them, never stopped working throughout this whole process.

[Thong Maniac]

Dude this is so funny because I have the same EXACT problem. Try to get a vyvanse prescription from your doctor for some reason it puts me in a great mood all day and it makes me anxiety A LOT better and is much safer than Xanax or other anxiety meds. Another example for me is when I'm in class at university I sit in the middle and I feel like everyone is just staring at me and I get super bad anxiety so I always try to stay in the back of the class so I make sure I don't feel like that. I take vyvanse now to help with school and I must say it helps tremendously because now I sit dead in the middle of the class and don't even think about people looking at me anymore. I know exactly how you feel and I'm not saying you need to take the same thing I am to help cope with your anxiety it's just something that worked for me really well so I thought I would just let you know

Thanks man im glad im not alone.

[blinky]

If it is ADHD, OCD etc then no thinking or acting in anyway will not remove the symptoms.These are neurodevelopmental disorders, present from birth and has all kinds of genetic and structural differences in the brain compared to those without.

The brain is an organ, well comprised of many organs ostensibly, it can get sick.

I have OCD and it's nothing I can stop , think out of etc. When it is bad i can't think my own thoughts, just constant intrusive thoughts that interrupt my normal thinking. I could be reading a book and if it's bad I will think about a pain in my back maybe 100 times, I am not concerned about my back logical, it's illogical, the key part of OCD. It has waxed and waned but will never go away, it's a disease, it runs in my family. As a child I would be in existential crisis after crisis, the thoughts are absurd also in there severity. I "know" they are not my thoughts, yet when they hit it feels like everyone I know has died, there is a physical reaction, I can ignore it, move to something else but there is an uneasy dread as if nothing is right.

As a kid I would do an hourly routine at night to ensure everyone is safe. Check the taps, the cats, the fridge, the stove etc. Sometimes when it was really bad (like 12-15) I would stand over the stove with tears running down my face trying to stop touching the stove but I was stuck, checking it, looking away, feeling for heat, twisting the gauges, for over an hour. The other cruel thing about OCD is it correlates with a very high declarative memory and IQ, which only worsens things, scenarios that are so divergent they are ludicrous and completely foreign to me.

Other issues are the intrusive thoughts, for example if I was about to cross the street, my brain would give me the image of a bus hitting and killing me, it just pops in your head and it's vivid and real, as real as your own thoughts. Or knife on the counter would give me the image of stabbing my mother to death, the thoughts are always distressing and conflict with my core values.

i have OCD, ADHD (and mild Tourettes)...and yes your right these go hand-in-hand with anxiety. I can remember as far back as grade 5 and having anxiety issues

[viking1]

For many, it starts with breathing. Are you breathing correctly? Many of us tend to shallow breathe or continuously inhale without exhaling enough. Eventually, the nervous system releases the autonomic arousal and the chemical reaction begins of panic anxiety. I use a breathe right strip every night, bought a proper pillow and adjusted my sleep height just right. I've noticed that I'm getting quality sleep and I don't fall apart during the day with the "fatigue" which leads to anxiety. Whenever I remember, I practice proper breathing exercises with very long exhales. It seems to reset my nervous system.

Also, when you feel it, do anything to distract yourself. Panic is like flooring your car with the brake on. You need to spin out that energy surge.. even if it's just organizing paperwork or cleaning a closet. Just continue to shut it down and distract yourself by doing things that won't get you even more amped up.

Of course, there are so many possibilities and triggers for anxiety, but oxygen is the most important thing we require to stay alive. Start with breathing/positive distractions and see what happens.

[Las Vegas]

From above:

Eventually, the nervous system releases the autonomic arousal and the chemical reaction begins of panic anxiety

Yes.  Dyslexic's advice is gold, about studying the sympathetic and parasympathetic system if you want to understand why it's difficult to control.

[Las Vegas]

Good post, viking1.

[calfzilla]

Speaking of mental health issues, does anyone else feel numb?  Like completely emotionally numb like you could get terrible news and not even cry or show emotion?

[ritch]

Speaking of mental health issues, does anyone else feel numb?  Like completely emotionally numb like you could get terrible news and not even cry or show emotion?

no, not for me.

[Primemuscle]

Speaking of mental health issues, does anyone else feel numb?  Like completely emotionally numb like you could get terrible news and not even cry or show emotion?

I've worried about this issue. I am so logical that I tend to leave emotions out of the picture. It infuriates my family. I didn't get emotional when my mom died, yet she was like a best friend and a sometimes mom. My stepfather was my mentor, I didn't feel any sorrow when he died. My sister died young. Her death was unfortunate and happened with in weeks of the discovery of lung cancer. I am not sure how I will react if my wife, who is very ill, dies.

My mom made many attempts to commit suicide. I'd geared myself up for her eventual death although she didn't end her own life. My stepfather's death followed a short illness and was unexpected. My sister was like my mom, always doing things that kills people....she was a drug attic and an alcoholic. My wife has been seriously ill for years and it is amazing she's survived as long as she has. See how the logic works?

[calfzilla]

I've worried about this issue. I am so logical that I tend to leave emotions out of the picture. It infuriates my family. I didn't get emotional when my mom died, yet she was like a best friend and a sometimes mom. My stepfather was my mentor, I didn't feel any sorrow when he died. My sister died young. Her death was unfortunate and happened with in weeks of the discovery of lung cancer. I am not sure how I will react if my wife, who is very ill, dies.

My mom made many attempts to commit suicide. I'd geared myself up for her eventual death although she didn't end her own life. My stepfather's death followed a short illness and was unexpected. My sister was like my mom, always doing things that kills people....she was a drug attic and an alcoholic. My wife has been seriously ill for years and it is amazing she's survived as long as she has. See how the logic works?

Yes I'm very similar to this. Also I think about death a lot so I think it "prepares" me more than others, so when tragedy happens I don't seem as emotional as others.

[Necrosis]

Necrosis, is this a case of an emotional state totally overwhelming a logical state, due to the disorder?  (I'm not trying to say someone can "out-think" it...just asking)

I would argue it is, I know that the stove is off, I know that the house is fine (in fact I would berate myself). There appears to be something wrong in the limbic system, fearful thoughts normally saved for survival etc lack inhibition and just flood through.

[Necrosis]

Speaking of mental health issues, does anyone else feel numb?  Like completely emotionally numb like you could get terrible news and not even cry or show emotion?

A flat affect is a sign of depression.

[Primemuscle]

I would argue it is, I know that the stove is off, I know that the house is fine (in fact I would berate myself). There appears to be something wrong in the limbic system, fearful thoughts normally saved for survival etc lack inhibition and just flood through.

Sometimes when one excessively worries about these things, it OCDC creeping in. I've drive back home a number of times because I imagine I left the garage door open....never once was that the case.

[Primemuscle]

A flat affect is a sign of depression.

Not always. Sometimes people just aren't emotional.