I am new to this site and I am happy that I found it. I have had an anxiety disorder for the past 3 years and what I am anxious about has changed a few times over the past few years. I am hoping there is someone else who experiences the same thoughts or worries that I currently do on a constant basis. Last year there were a couple brutal murders that took place in Canada that I'm sure some of you have heard of and every since then I find myself always worrying about and asking myself what makes people do those types of things and am I at risk or is someone I am close to at risk of turning into one of these people? I find myself constantly asking myself if my anxiety disorder is going to turn me into a psychopath who would do something like that. It overwhelms me to the point that I am constantly anxious about it and it seems like I think about it a ton!! I'm scared that I am going to end up in a mental institution one day. It sounds so far out right now but when my mind starts going I get really really really scared about the above and I end up having panic and/or anxiety attacks. Does anyone else experience anything like this? I hope so cause I could really use some help. I also get really anxious about my health and I constantly think something is wrong with me. Some days I feel lightheaded all day long and then I start worrying that I am going to pass out or that I have a tumor or something. I worry about my mental health more though!!! If anyone can give me some feedback I would appreciate it. Thanks!!
Thank you all for your comments! I am happy to hear that I am not the only one and that I am not alone. I find that it really helps when I get reassurance from people, which I've been told is very common with those of us with GAD. However, I do know that I am going to have to work on reassuring myself and not to become dependent on others to do it for me and I'm working on that. I started working on the 12 step program a couple weeks ago and am going to continue to work through it. I saw a psychologist last year when I first started freaking out about my mental health and she helped me out with coping techniques when I start to feel an anxiety attack coming on which was great. She also told me that most people who think they are going crazy aren't and never will be. I just really struggle with convincing myself that I'm not crazy and I'm not going to turn into the kind of person that would kill or hurt someone one day. I know deep down that I won't but it's very hard to tell my mind that when I start to get anxious about those kinds of things. I just can't help but think that the people that do these things were once normal everyday people so what turned them into murderers? And is there a chance that I will turn into something like that? Or what kinds of people end up in institutions and were they not perfectly normal at some point? Those are the kinds of things that I constantly find myself thinking and worrying about. I know that no one can predict the future but I am so scared of what MIGHT happen. I like to call myself a "what if" person because I am always worrying about the "what if's" in life and its hard not to. I really want to beat this without taking any medication and there are days/weeks/months even when I don't experience much anxiety at all. I just don't want it to be the opposite like I was 3 years ago when I was constantly worrying about my physical health and having panic/anxiety attacks sometimes 5 or 6 times a day.
Anyway any other feedback would be great and thanks again to everyone who responded it sure helps to know that I am not alone!!
As you may have read in my "introduce yourself "write up I am a very negative thinker also and I am almost always thinking about the worst that could happen in different aspects of my life. As I mentioned I like to call myself a "what if" person because I am always thinking about the worst what ifs so I know how you feel!! Its really hard to not think that way when you get really scared/anxious about something...I find it really difficult to not think the worst. I find that is hard to focus on the positive things in life when you are always worried about the bad stuff that could happen. I would really like to try and find a group program as well that has people who are dealing with the same type of anxiety issues as I am because I find that talking about it really helps me! Anyway welcome to the forum!
I am wondering if anxiety can have anything to do with a women's cycle. I find that I am most anxious for two weeks in a month and they are usually the week before my period and the week of. I don't know if this is coincidence or if anxiety can be linked to it. Some months I am anxious all the time but most months I seem to only be anxious for 10 to 12 days straight a month and then it goes away for a couple weeks. I have just started noticing this for the past 6 months or so and I am not sure if there is a common link between a women's cycle and anxiety. Any input would be very much appreciated!!
Are you experiencing the same sort of thing that I have described or is it something a little bit different? I would be more than willing to talk to you about my experiences and issues that I have. Just want to find out a little bit more about what you are experiencing. Let me know!!
A technique that I was taught by my psychologist that I find works fairly well (better with minor attacks or the early onset of an attack) is called the grounding technique. Because I am a person who seems to always be anxious about what is going to happen in the future she recommended this technique. What you do is as soon as you feel an anxiety attack coming on or if you start worrying about something that might happen in the future sit down in a chair, or whatever you can sit on, and make sure your hands can touch whatever you are sitting on. Start looking around and out loud, if you are in a place you feel comfortable saying things out loud, start listing the colors of things around you. i.e. if you are sitting in a blue chair say "blue chair" out loud, if there is a green blanket say "green blanket" out loud. List everything out loud as fast as you can and as many times as you want until you don't feel the anxiety coming on anymore. What she said that this exercise does is bring's you back into the now and the moment rather than freaking out about something that could happen to you or someone else in the future. Whether you are anxious about something happening in 30 seconds or 30 years it helps to focus on what is the present. If you are in a public place or a place you don't feel comfortable saying things out loud then just list the things in your head but make sure you stay focused on listing things and try not to get distracted. Anyway just thought I would make this suggestion because I find it does work a lot!!
I have been working through the program and I am now at the exposure work section. I am a person who is very anxious about my mental i.e. I am scared I am going to turn into a mass murderer or that I am going to one day want to hurt myself or others. I am also anxious about my physical health sometimes i.e. passing out or dying. My quesiton is how does the exposure work portion of the program apply to people like myself because we obviously can't expose ourselves to the above mentioned situations? Do we just skip over that section or is there another form of exposure work for people like me with fears like I have mentioned. If someone could let me know that would be great! I really hope to get these thoughts out of my mind because they really do make me anxious and throw me into panic attacks. Thanks in advance!
I am hoping one of the Health Educators or someone else can help me out with one of the things that I constantly worry and in turn get very anxious about. Do anxiety or panic disorders cause other forms of mental illness? I constantly worry that I am going to develop things like psychosis or postpartum depression (when I decide to have children) I worry that my anxiety disorder is going to cause other things to go wrong with me mentally and it really scares me. I am wondering if anyone has done any research or knows anything about this. I am just really scared that my anxiety disorder is going to ruin my life. I always ask myself if my anxiety is going to get worse and is it going to ruin my marriage with my soon to be husband? and when we decide to have children am I going to be a psychopath if I get pregnant? or am I going to develop postpartum depression because I already have an anxiety disorder? Am I going to be able to raise children and be a good mother? or am I going to develop some other mental illnesses and end up in a mental institution one day? Thinking about these things makes me really anxious and I am hoping someone can either relate to this or provide me with information they have found with regards to the above. Thank you!
I definintely know how you feel. I constantly fear and worry about both my physical and my mental health and some days I get really really scared about my health and in turn i experience anxiety or panic attacks. I found both the forums and the toolbox very handy. It was great to hear that I was not alone and I have received great support from other members about my condition. I like to come on here when I start to get really worried or scared and it seems to calm me down a bit just having the reassurance. The toolbox has some great tools that have helped me quite a bit!!
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