Its good to post and get another perspective and support. Continue by keeping occupied and challenging those negative thoughts. Lots of great advice here, post and let us help.
its hard to feel lonely. Over the last month of working through the program I've felt lonely without letting it turn to panic like it used to. the first time i sat and felt lonely, i even said to myself "I'm lonely' out loud and that was wierd too. It felt like the first time i was in touch with a discomfort that i wasn't actively trying to dig my way out of furiously. feeling lonely was uncomfrotable for me.
It passed after 2 days. I look back now andconsider it success and a good thing that i had a moment where i simply said "i'm lonely" and didn't need to rationalize or deny it to myself anymore. i am not saying this is what you should do but i am saying that as davit has said, perspective helps a lot. feeling lonely is natural sometimes. espeically when people leave to go have fun without you. that is probably the most natural reaction in the world to that scenario if i may offer that suggestion. i'm not saying "hooray - you felt lonely - thats a good thing" but i guess in a way i'm saying that i experienced the ability to say i felt lonely as progress given where i started in the program (panic when feeling emotions) . and you have shared info that you and i have been through similar scenarios with our anxiety. so i thought i'd offer that.
what did i do after a while of sitting outside alone feeling lonely? i found a project to engage myself and focus on. i find that anything to do with my hands requires enough focus that i can help myself ride out the loneliness when it comes. or i watch my favorite comedy shows on dvd. but if you are at work maybe yo ucan find something funny to read or watch online to help shift your focus. just friendly suggestions.
I am so sorry you are feeling down and lonely tonight. I know that feeling well. This I think sometimes happens after all the excitement wears off, after being so busy with all the social activities and exposure work. I am thinking maybe I need a new challenge? How about you? Do you feel this way? I have been thinking about adding another class to my schedule or something. I am not sure yet. Maybe you and your boyfriend could have a nice dinner out this week or a little outing on the weekend. Just some ideas I am throwing out at you and myself for that matter. Maybe a trip to the book store. I always like that one. I know! a day out walking in nature taking pictures, maybe the park, the lake or somewhere not to far away. I love that one. I am here listening and I do care.
Just part of the process, the 'funk" will pass on its own. You are still trying to force it and you are still in a hurry. Patience please, you are so much better, just let it happen. It will you know. It took me a long time but I'm here now and not going back. And believe me I know all about those negative thoughts that keep you from believing. I fought them for what seems like forever, but I did eventually win. Keep posting see you at least know it is you that is keeping you from believing, not some thing. It's you, you have to work on.
The first part of this month was going pretty well for me - I faced and overcame some big challenges like traveling by myself, having a lot of social activities while my boyfriend's family was visiting, and continuing to do exposure. Now as of this week things have calmed down a lot. There's nothing major going on for a little while, the weather has turned to be gray, wet, and dreary, and my boyfriend is at work a lot while I am no longer working. For a bit I was doing well with keeping a positive attitude, but now the combination of these things has left me feeling pretty down this week.
I've still been keeping active by working on my photography projects and playing with my new hobby of making candles, as well as getting outside when there's a break in the weather. But I've felt pretty lonely, and today that feeling kind of got worse. Right now I'm covering in the office for work - just my third shift in the last six weeks. It's very slow here now that the season is winding down so there's not really anything for me to do. The reason they called me in was because the boss took all the other employees out on the boat for fun to go look for whales and just have a fun excursion. I know I could have gone had I wanted, but I'm frustrated that my anxiety kept me from being able to enjoy this just now. I was also sad when they left because they were all talking to each other and excited and didn't even say goodbye as they walked out! I know they were just caught up in going and didn't mean it personally, but it still hurt.
I've been trying to challenge these negative thoughts this week, but haven't really been believing the positive alternatives. Any advice about how to snap out of this "funk" would be much appreciated.
It’s been a while since you were active on this site. Please extend your session below
You have been logged out due to inactivity.
Please sign back in.
We use cookies to help us learn about how our platform is used and how we can improve your experience. To
learn more please see our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
