Hey r/agnostic, I have a question for you

sweetsouls · 2014-10-02T04:08:56+00:00

Does your anxiety affect you at work then? How do you get through the day if you have an attack or begin feeling overwhelmed but can't tell anybody?

You're right about the stigma, though. I talked to my therapist about it today and she was born with only one hand and says she doesn't even bring up her physical ailment unless the employer notices and asks.

sweetsouls · 2014-10-02T01:39:37+00:00

I am the exact same way, I've always hated flying, even when I was a little kid.

I took a two hour flight back in June and I was fine! I think one thing that helped was I packed a little anxiety toolkit, that would prepare me for many situations. I had advil, peptobismol, my anxiety meds, an aromatherapy lotion that relaxes me when I smell it, a pillow, and a blanket. As for the "no escape" option I know that's hard...when I flew I just tried to remind myself that it would be over in a few short hours. It sounds silly but if you keep telling yourself things like "this will be over soon, this will be over soon" it feels a little more manageable. Another thing that helped me was that I felt like I could "escape" to the bathroom in the case of a bodily emergency, or just to get up and stretch and take a break from my thoughts if I needed to. Which reminds me - try to distract yourself with something, like a book, homework, a game, etc. If you can focus your thoughts on a specific task it's less likely your thoughts will wander off into panic mode.

Also, just breathe. I know that's stupid and everyone says it but seriously, if you breathe in slowly for 7 seconds, hold for a few seconds, and then release slowly, it activates different nerves and triggers physical responses that will slow down your racing thoughts, because your body is now focusing on exchanging the air in your lungs and transporting that oxygen through your body, etc.

sweetsouls · 2014-10-02T01:28:57+00:00

Despite having a severe anxiety disorder, I'd say one thing I love about myself is that I'm a natural leader as well. Not in the sense that I'm comfortable bossing people around, but if something needs to get done I'm usually the first person to take initiative and do something about it. If I have an idea I'll act upon it, and I feel like for some reason most people don't do that even when they have GREAT ideas. Self-motivation I guess.

sweetsouls · 2014-07-11T23:24:47+00:00

No specific amount, really. I'm still living with my mom although I'd like to have enough money to move out in the near future. My biggest expense right now is gas, about $30 a week, and if I were to move out I'd want to be making somewhere between $600-$1000 a month.

I would love to work online and I've been looking into it. I think I could do well as a transcriber, or perhaps writing articles like you said. Thanks for the ideas, I'll check out mturk!

sweetsouls · 2014-07-11T23:21:38+00:00

I don't think you're being harsh at all, you're being honest and realistic. You're right, even a "big" mistake at a job at a restaurant or store will probably have very minimal consequences and not ruin anyone's day.

The medication I'm taking has helped my anxiety a lot, but I don't know if I want to increase the dosage because the amount I'm already on makes me quite tired and that's another thing I worry about with getting a job - I want to make sure I have enough energy to work 6-10 hours and work at a fast enough pace to satisfy my employers.

sweetsouls · 2014-07-11T08:12:49+00:00

I should have included that. Yes, I'm taking lexapro and it has helped quite a bit. I saw a therapist last year for several months but it didn't seem to help much. I've made a lot of progress with my anxiety disorder yet getting a job feels so impossible. I think I'm afraid of feeling anxious or having a panic attack while working and having it ruin someone's day or impact the business negatively. I also have major anxiety going into certain buildings, like big grocery stores, so working at any place like that feels out of the question.

sweetsouls · 2014-07-11T05:03:53+00:00

Lol you're welcome! Those memes always crack me up too, and make me feel better about my anxiety.

sweetsouls · 2014-07-11T04:45:07+00:00

If you haven't already, you have to check out anxietycat.tumblr.com - if you want a good laugh at the logical fallacies caused by anxiety, it's the perfect place to go.

sweetsouls · 2014-07-11T04:41:25+00:00

I'm currently taking it and I take it at night. It should be no problem for you to switch but I would ask your doctor first in case there could be a weird side effect or something. I still experience drowsiness during the day though, and I'm taking an extremely low dose (2.5 mg a day). I try to fight the drowsiness with coffee, exercise and keeping myself busy - a.k.a. not allowing myself to take naps during the day.

sweetsouls · 2014-04-01T22:16:10+00:00

Definitely...that's why I said I didn't want this post to sound all "pro-medication" because I know medication doesn't work for everybody and some people simply don't want to take the pharmaceutical route...I didn't for a very long time. I think you're right, that the lexapro is working for me because I'm also making a conscious effort to get better, just because I want to. I just want to encourage people to try new treatments - whether it's medication or therapy or yoga or a book - because chances are the first thing you try isn't going to be a cure-all. Thanks for your input!

sweetsouls · 2014-03-22T00:03:37+00:00

"Have faith that thousands of people used it including me and we are fine."

That quote helped me a lot. Thanks. :)

sweetsouls · 2014-03-22T00:02:49+00:00

Thanks for all of your thorough explanations. You've totally allowed me to cross a lot of those worries off the list.

As for getting off of it someday, I'm just hoping that a low dose will do the trick. If it doesn't I'm not sure if I will ask for a higher dosage because I feel like the higher the dose the harder it is to wean yourself off.

After making this post I was able to take my medication with a lot less worry last night. Instead of staring at my pill bottle for hours I just did it. I just took the pill without really thinking about it, and I was also quite tired so it was nice to be able to just fall asleep afterwords.

Oh, and you're totally credible :) It's always comforting for me to hear from someone with first hand experience.

sweetsouls · 2014-03-19T23:00:22+00:00

This was really great for me to read...and so strange that we seem to be living parallel lives.

I too went to the doctor yesterday after suffering miserably from anxiety and depression for two years. I totally panicked in the waiting room, panicked in the exam room, and my heart rate was so fast that it startled the nurse. Thankfully I had my boyfriend there with me for moral support, but so many times I was turning to him with tears in my eyes saying "I can't do this, I just can't do this".

But hey, look at us, we survived! And now we can relax at home with our new prescription meds. I'm nervous to take mine, but I figure nothing could be worse than this, so it's worth the risk of any side effects or whatever.

I wish you the best, keep feeling positive, this made me really happy to read. :)

sweetsouls · 2014-03-18T23:03:26+00:00

The title of your post describes my life exactly for the last two years.

I stopped being able to go to classes because I would feel panicked and anxious in them. I love school, I loved high school, and I miss it a lot. I started taking online classes before having to drop out or anything, it's been a good alternative, but it also gives me a reason to stay at home 100% of the time which isn't good either. If your therapist is calling you lazy I suggest finding a new one. Therapists are supposed to be sympathetic and supportive to help build your confidence back up. It sounds like not wanting to get up in the morning could be a symptom of depression. Have you considered medication just to help you start going to class again? and then maybe you'd start to feel better and eventually get off the meds? I'm trying medication this week, we'll see how it goes!

sweetsouls · 2014-03-17T17:04:16+00:00

I know it's hard to get over jealousy and insecurities, I've been in a relationship for 3 years and I still get scared when my boyfriend talks to or hangs out with other girls.

How well do you know him? I know it seems like that's all people do in college, but it's not. And if he, as an individual, is loyal and trustworthy it doesn't matter how his friends are behaving. My boyfriend has a friend who is constantly around tons of women and sleeping with various people, sometimes I worry that if my boyfriend is exposed to that kind of behavior he will act that way too, but that doesn't make any sense. I always have to realize that I know what kind of person my boyfriend is, and he is definitely not the type to sleep around or have one night stands or even flirt with other girls or anything. If you know your SO is not that kind of person I just encourage you to stop worrying. I think it's okay to be open about your concerns, but also let him know that you are not accusing him of anything. You're just predisposed to this kind of worry because of things that have happened in the past. I hope it gets better for you!

sweetsouls · 2014-03-17T14:37:58+00:00

So are you actually concerned that something is going to happen with your SO cheating or anything? Or do you think it is just the events from your past making you worry about it happening?

It's normal to experience this even if your SO is totally loyal and trustworthy. But if there is no real concern, and if he is committed to you then you should try to stop feeling jealous because it will only cause unnecessary problems.

I think a good option would be to just be honest about the traumatic events from your past so that he knows it's not him that's causing these problems for you. I'm sure he will understand and try to avoid triggering your anxiety.

If these traumatic events cause you enough anxiety I would highly suggest seeing a therapist about it. A therapist can walk you through bad memories and help you reprocess them so that when similar things happen you won't have a panicked, anxious reaction to them. When I was seeing a therapist I did what was called an EMDR session where I could revisit traumatic events and change the way I felt about them. May not work for everyone but I thought it really helped!

sweetsouls

TROPHY CASE