Anxious

[G-Man]

Everybody gets anxious from time to time, sometimes even for no good reason. But too much of that stuff is debilitating.

I suspect I'm somewhere on the borderline of anxiety being a problem. As a perfectionist who bears some weighty responsibilities, anxiety comes with the territory -- the fear of having forgotten or fucked up something, or of financial matters coming to a head.

But sometimes the anxiety hits for no reason. I think it might be triggered by a thought or a memory or a word, but I cannot pinpoint it. I suppose that it is an effect of my innate control-freakery, combined with some brain chemical that gets triggered.

The effect is stultifying. Mentally I'm drained of energy, physically I feel weakened. And that feeling in the stomach makes it difficult to concentrate on fighting this near-paralysis. I can function normally during these anxiety attacks, or at least give the appearance of doing so. But it's hard work, no matter how much I tell myself that it's all in my head, that worrying doesn't solve anything, that I must leave be what isn't in my control. I'd rather be in a cocoon.

And then it all disappears, sometimes (rarely) after a few hours, sometimes after a few days. It depends on circumstances. I'm glad that these episodes are transient, and that I don't suffer more serious symptoms, such as panic attacks. My anxiety seems to be a mild manifestation rather than a disorder, so I don't think it requires treatment (at least not yet).

I'm quite certain I'm not the only one here with anxiety problems. What do others experience? What do they do to address the problem?

[hobbes]

Anxious

Mine manifest as a nervous tic. This can be my eyes darting around, or head movements, or facial movements.
Apparently I have them for life as when I first got them as a kid, my family handled them really badly. (My Dad thought the way to get them to stop was to dock pocket money every time I did it and encourage my sister to call me names. it was odd behaviour from him, he was such a good father in almost every other way.)
Anyway, occasionally it'll go after a few hours, otherwise I can be in for a couple of months of looking like an idiot. And in some cases a fair bit of pain and expensive physio/osteo to loosen me up a bit around the neck and shoulders.
Only twice have I had treatment for it - a week long course of diazapam in one instance and valium another.
It is absolutely exhausting and the only bit of the day that's any good is the few minutes after waking up when you don't think about it so don't do it.

I find that breathing exercises and self hypnosis tapes can take the edge off and make an attack go more quickly, if that's any help?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Anxious

I suffer from anxiety, that I can't explain other than a fear of 'things going wrong' that triggers a fight or flight reflex. At work, for example, when a deadline or problem is stressing me out, this will manifest itself in (fight) my manically working to produce a solution - any solution, often not the best one - or (flight) me just needing to get away from the office altogether, and go away, and think.

At home, I can get worked up about any manner of things. I travel a great deal, and enjoy it, but going out I stress about travel delays, or hotel misbookings, and coming back I always spend the return journey mentally preparing myself to fnid the house has been burgled (we've lived here 10 years and there's never even been a burglary in the village, to my knowledge, never mind our house).

[Sits]

Anxious

I think it's known as GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) in other words you just get anxious and don't know why. It just comes along, and as G-man says, something almost subliminal can set it off and something similar can stop it.

I can occasionally go the extra mile and struggle to suppress the panics. And like Rogin it's that conflict between a desperate battle to fix things, and the desire to run away.

I've been meditating daily for over a year (sometimes well, sometimes badly, but try to stick at it) and I think on the whole it's helped.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Anxious

I set my out of office assistant at 4 o'clock, as I was logging out, for a holiday that will take me up to the 27th. I have a deputy who who will clear everything up in my absence, and I trust implicitly.

I've just logged back on to my work e-mail account to see if anything's gone on.

LOG OFF AND TAKE SOME LEAVE

[caja-dglh]

Anxious

As a senior-ish civil servant don't you have more leave than work?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Anxious

1. "ish"?

2. No, unfortunately.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Anxious

I take two tablets for mine- Venlaflaxine and Quetiapine.

Seem to do the job.

[caja-dglh]

Anxious

Rogin - I fully expected if I said Senior I would be told exactly how the lines are drawn in the civil service. It was a hedge.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Anxious

I'd like a hedge. A neatly trimmed one, leading down to a pond surrounded by a shrubbery.

[Bored Of Education]

Anxious

I am not doing a "We've done this before" but it just makes it easier to link to this long description of my own GAD which I think my be pertinent to this thread. I am also not saying that anyone's stress/anxiety described here will lead onto the same symptoms as I had.

Just to add to this though, I think that a trip to the doctor's would certainly be a good idea, G-man. Also, since being open about my own use of Citalopram, I have been amazed at the amount of people who are/have been using it, on occasion in much larger doses than I am on.

[WOM]

Anxious

Yeah, mine's on the first page of that as well. I'm still squirrelly in a lot of situations, and it's 99% anticipatory anxiety.

[linus]

Anxious

Are there any environmental factors to this? Diet, stress, allergies, hypersensitivity etc? You wonder because if the symptoms can be addressed through medication, maybe they could also be triggered by certain agents?

[Toby Gymshorts]

Anxious

I feel like I should write a post about my experiences with depression and anxiety, but the thought of writing it down actually makes me anxious.

(Genuinely. I'm not being flip, for once.)

[Giggler]

Anxious

Suffer from panic attacks when 'enclosed' but I wouldn't narrow this down to 'enclosed spaces'.

I'm fine in cars on country roads, A-roads etc but put me in a car on a motorway in crawling traffic and I become a gibbering wreck. No pavement to escape to, y'see.

I also have to be on the end of a row of seats and can't be in the middle. I went to the Lancashire T20 game last night and made absolutely sure I was on the end of a row near an exit as I am in my seat at Gigg Lane.

I await the inevitable quip about the lack of crowds at Gigg.

[WOM]

Anxious

Yes, that's agoraphobia, Giggler. See my post on the link, above.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Anxious

I tend to get a fear of 'being found out', but about what I'm not sure. It undermines my happiness to the extent that I become unhappy. It's not rational but it's real.

[WOM]

Anxious

Imposter Syndrome. Very real and very common. We've talked about that somewhere on here before, but can't recall where at the mo'.

[WOM]

Anxious

Oh...on a thread of mine, apparently.

http://www.wsc.co.uk/forum-index/28-world/1043061-they-re-going-to-find-me-out

[WOM]

Anxious

Is it too late to do the old "I thought this was going to be about..." joke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCPWcR5L3mc

[Vulgarian Visigoth]

Anxious

I don't have anxiety attacks as such, but sometimes my perfectionism gets so paralysing I can't work at all, especially when it's a task I hate to do but have to or in situations when I'm not in control; when it's something I love passion overrides everything else.

The fact that phenomenon goes against my public image as go-to guy, leader, whatever, only makes it worse, since it makes me feel I'm letting people down (see impostor syndrom above).

[hobbes]

Anxious

also have to be on the end of a row of seats and can't be in the middle.

Yeah, me too.
Although that's because I have a bladder the size of a pea. And also because I don't like people.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Anxious

Toby Gymshorts wrote: I feel like I should write a post about my experiences with depression and anxiety, but the thought of writing it down actually makes me anxious.

(Genuinely. I'm not being flip, for once.)

I'm the same. I put down the name of medication I take, that's about all I'm good for on this thread.

[Bored Of Education]

Anxious

hobbes wrote:

also have to be on the end of a row of seats and can't be in the middle.

Yeah, me too.
Although that's because I have a bladder the size of a pea. And also because I don't like people.

Yeah, had to do this a lot. Worst occasions were watching Liverpool/Villa at Anfield in the most rear seats that Liverpool have squashed into the stands that are in the space that count as just legroom elsewhere. Cinemas were a nightmare for me regularly as well.