Has Anyone Found A Way To Not Feel Anxiety, Rather Than Just Manage Anxiety?

[Meadowsweet]

This coming week there are several changes happening, all minor, but they are causing significant anxiety.

I'm not thinking about what could go wrong, because my mind would catastrophise it. And despite the anxiety I feel, I'm letting these changes happen, so I'm not avoiding things because of the anxiety. So in that way I think I'm managing the anxiety by not letting it get the better of me. But I want to be able to handle these normal things without such an in- proportionate amount of anxiety.

So I'm asking if anyone has found a way to not feel so anxious, rather than just trying to manage with the anxiety?

 

[Suzetig]

I'm definitely less anxious than I was 6 months ago - for example, I'm facing a situation which would previously have led to a complete meltdown and I'm managing to put strategies in place to cope and while I still have some level of anxiety it's not stopping me in my tracks the way it would have done.

Would you previously have been able to manage your anxiety the way you are? That may indicate a strengthening of coping strategies, or a lessening of anxiety to more manageable levels. It's sounds like you're aware of your reactions and are working to manage these, which is great work. I don't know that we ever stop feeling anxious but for me it's all about degrees. I can cope at the moment despite feeling anxious which is definite progress.

 

[intothelight]

I always seem to have a low current of anxiety running through me and although there are times when I am doing yoga or exercising that it seems to not be present. I'll be interested in seeing what other have to say about what they find makes them anxiety free.

 

[KwanYingirl]

If I take time to be mindfull and do a relaxation exercise where I consciously relax every part of my body from my toes to my eyelids and pay attention to slow, abdominal breathing, it lasts longer than taking a Xanax for my anxiety.

I was told by one psychiatrist I went to that PTSD is essentially an anxiety disorder. It's our prominent symptom. I notice that I have fewer intrusive memories if I seriously practice relaxation.

Whenever you find your mind wandering just concentrate on your breathing til that acid subsides. The exception to this for me is night time intrusions. I wake up in high distress mode. This morning I just put my dog under the covers with me and felt her sighs and steady breathing calm me.

Good luck with the activities you have to do.

 

[Meadowsweet]

Would you previously have been able to manage your anxiety the way you are?

No. My anxiety levels has gone down, and I also understand it and can work at coping with it. But my reactions are still out of proportion to what is happening - the changes this week is that my son is getting a different bus than he has got before, my daughter is having to get the bus to and from school without him, and I have a new role to play in my job, that I feel unqualified for.

they are all such minor events, but there's that moment when you realise something terrible is happening and your stomach drops, and I feel like any moment something could go terribly wrong. So although in general my anxiety has gone down, but I can see how I'm feeling as an unnecessary reactionSo I'm aware that this is the wrong strength of feeling in these mild circumstances.

 

[Friday]

Always? Nope!

That said... Sometimes? Yes.

The unilateral way in which I've done that? I make it fun.

For example... When I'm moving, with small children?
- I empty out one room completely & it becomes the roller derby / gymnastics room.
- We make a maze out of boxes.
- We "camp" in forts made out of those boxes
- etc.

So... Instead of OMG I have to pack this whole house, and the kids are <crossed eyes>, and I'm about gonna lose my ever lovin mind!!! (Which is what happened the first time I started to move with little ones)... I took stock figured out how to make it an adventure, called everyone and pushed my dates back by a week, "packed" everything we needed (in suitcases to live out of, so I wasn't stressed about still 'needing' things Imwas packing and in what order to do them in, and turned the whole thing into playtime.

_______

If I can't make it fun? I'm up a creek.

 

[Julesnaz]

Remembering to breathe and taking deep breaths and trying to relax my shoulders, I carry stress in my shoulders. It helps a bit and can be done anywhere. Try and clear your head while you breathe.

 

[Meadowsweet]

@FridayJones , been there lol. Well done for finding a healthy way to get through it. I can't see a way of making this fun, but I put on a brave face.

@Julesnaz, I was really looking for whether we can get rid of the anxiety, rather than just cope with it.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I sure hope I can get rid of my anxiety. It is not as bad as it was, but I am really tired of it.

 

[Julesnaz]

Oh sorry. Hmm. Good question haha. Just over time some things that used to make me super anxious aren't as bad anymore, but it's taken a few years. So I do think over time anxiety might get better with repeated exposure.

 

[anthony]

If you find the secret to that... you could just have the cure to PTSD.

 

[Meadowsweet]

I think what I find difficult to comprehend is that, at the height of PTSD symptoms, I would really believe that something bad was going to happen or that something terrible had happened - that would be the feelings as well as what I thought.

Now, I still get those feelings, I feel like the sinking moment when a 'normal' turns bad. But my thoughts are no longer believing it. I KNOW that my kids are only catching different buses and that I'm only doing something I haven't done before. I know that the feeling relates to the past and doesn't indicate that something bad is going to happen now. But despite al that, the feeling is still there. I just get so annoyed with myself for it. It's so stupid, and I feel like the logic I have should clear away the anxiety.