Anxiety Guide Lesson 2: Anxious Thinking

I think this thread was made for me:p

1. Do you ever have trouble coping with anxious thoughts?

-Yes, 24/7, all the time! It really gets annoying and its hard to deal with

2. How can we identify rational anxiety versus irrational anxiety?

- When I was little and I was swimming in a pool that was deep I always go super anxious and scared that there was a shark in the pool, this would be irrational anxiety because there is no way a shark could be in a pool or even survive in a pool!

Rational anxiety can differ from person to person as so much stuff can effect it like our past. If it is something that scares us, can put us in danger, or hurt us that is rational anxiety, like I said it mainly depends on the person. For me rational anxiety is if I am scared or in danger/about to be hurt then it is perfectly normal to get anxious but when I am in an uncomfortable situation and I get nervous ( even though its not rational anxiety) I get anxious and for me that is rational anxiety because I don't know what is going to happen next.

3. How can we avoid catastrophizing (believing the worst outcome possible will happen)?

I have tried every trick in the book for this! again, it depends on the person. If you are in the moment of thinking the worst is going to happen I normally try one of the following

- deep breathing

- holding ice or sucking on it

- talking myself through the situation

- removing myself from the situation if I need to

- telling myself everything will be okay, nothing ad will happen, reassuring myself

- Distract yourself, doodle, watch tv, come on 7 cups!

If you know you going to go into a situation where you will be anxious like a test then I normally do the following

- have a talk to myself ( Kristey, everything will be okay, its not the end of the world, just remember to breathe. Nothing bad will happen you will be okay.)

-Meditate, or listen to calming music

- sleep! It really helps I promise!

- chew gum

- excercise

- breathe deeply

4. How do anxious thoughts impact your day-to-day life personally?

They impact me to the point where I have to take prescribed medication on a daily basis, and I keep prescribed medication with me where ever I go that I can take when I am having an anxiety attack or feeling it coming and it will calm me down within 5 mins. With that being said I have chronic anxiety that stops me from doing so much in my life, it has been getting better and keeps on improving, it just takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get you anxiety lowered, but it is possible. It can impact my life to the point of me not being able to leave the house, or go out or do certain things because I get thoughts before I even leave the house, so it is hard, but its getting easier each day:)

I hope this can behelpful even though my dealing with anxious thoughts has been issue-specific!

1. Do you ever have trouble coping with anxious thoughts?

I?ve experienced symptoms of PTSD after my home was broken into last year while I was inside (thankfully no one was hurt!). For awhile after, I had trouble sleeping and concentrating, and I avoided being alone at home at all costs. I even slept with a frying pan by my side for months after! Even though I?m out of that living situation now, I still get nervous when I hear strange noises coming from inside the apartment.

2. How can we identify rational anxiety versus irrational anxiety?

It helps to verbalize our fears to others ? they can really offer comfort by testing the logic behind our thoughts and guiding us past our feelings about certain situations! It can be difficult to let go of revisiting memories and going through every negative outcome possible to "protect" ourselves in case it were to happen again, but it's helped me to alter my way ofthinking and to imagine all the reasonswhy the event is NOTlikely to occur again.

3. How can we avoid catastrophizing (believing the worst outcome possible will happen)?

I think it?s important to recognize the moment at which my imagination starts running loose, and stopping my train of thought before that! Again, talking to someone to gainan outside perspective helps. When I had trouble sleeping because of anxious thoughts, I tried breathing techniques (4 seconds inhale, hold for 4, exhale for 4) and deep muscle relaxation to focus my mind ? sometimes it helped, but not always. Distracting myself and going for long walks to really be able to think things out helped too.

4. How do anxious thoughts impact your day-to-day life personally?

Thankfully I don?t deal with this kind of anxiety on a daily basis anymore!Last year though, even though I spent most of my day not at home, it was really difficult to not to bring these anxious thoughts with me, which resulted in a lot of stress, loss of sleep, difficulty concentrating, and eventually burn out. It?s a lot better now that I?m in a new place, and I try to catch myself before letting my mind wander into catastrophic predictions of what could go wrong.

1. Do you ever have trouble coping with anxious thoughts?

Before I started taking medicine for anxiety, I felt as if I was completely overwhelmed with anxious thoughts. It stressed me out to the point where I was in tears most days. It was hard to shake the thoughts away, I couldn't stop thinking about things. Little things would worry the heck out of me for no reason at all.

2. How can we identify rational anxiety versus irrational anxiety?

I've found that talking to someone and saying what my worries are (or what makes me anxious) really helps. It helps to sort of process what is making us anxious and help us get to a point that "Oh! Maybe I don't need to worry so much about that after all!"

3. How can we avoid catastrophizing (believing the worst outcome possible will happen)?

Personally, I usually just find something to distract myself from those thoughts of terrible outcomes. I often listen to music and sing it out loud, sometimes I'll dance too. :) Some stuff works better than others, I think it's just about what works best for you, then sticking with it.

4. How do anxious thoughts impact your day-to-day life personally?

At the time when I was feeling really anxious, I felt overwhelmed and stressed out daily. Being overwhelmed with anxiousness really burnt me out. I managed to get through the summer but by the time school came around and I was back at that, I became even more anxious, to the point where I was crying every day. I finally went to the doctor and was put on anti-anxiety medicine. It helped me alot. :) I've heaard that generally medicine for anxiety (or depression) is hit and miss, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You just gotta find something that works for you. I have recently stopped taking medicine for anxiety (and depression). It does get better, you won't be on medicine forever. :)