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Last year I felt something was off about me. I was obsessively thinking about a minor situation in life that really wasn't a big deal but for some reason every few months the obsession hits me and I can't shake it off for days. It started to impact my daily life so I decided to look into some help. By the time I actually saw a therapist, I was over the obsession phase still I spoke to her & she put a name to my feeling/situation "Anxiety". I never thought that was the issue but it made sense.
She gave me homework (it was CBT type therapy) to identify my trigger point and what thoughts lead to this type of obsession. I looked back at my journal and recent events in life & realize most of my anxiety is some way associated with finance. If I have to make big purchase, I obsessively think about it. If I am looking at changing my lifestyle somehow the thought process source is linked to money. So I did lot of self talking and hopefully made myself realize, its just money & I can always make more. I think I am much better, I have not had that in while.
But recently, last 2 weeks, I feel deep anxiety over social events and over committing to things. I never had this issue. I am an introvert but I also value family/friends time. I push myself to attend these events & it was never an issue. But last 2 weekends, I had 3 events per weekend. For introverted person like me, that is way too much.
First weekend, I stressed a little bit but it was easier for me to decide to drop one event and kept two. The 2nd weekend (last weekend), I stressed for entire week deciding if I should attend all or say No to someone. I ended up attending all 3 events & to be honest I did have fun but the stress during the week was too much. Its only Tuesday and I am already stressed about how I will manage the coming weekend. I can say NO to any of these, these are not major events or I must attend. For some reason all of sudden I feel very stressed over simple thing, almost like how I felt over financial decision last year.
Can Anxiety shift as you cure one source of anxiety, does it move to another source?
I have anxiety too. I think you can develop a pool of anxiety sufficient to feed all causes, so in a sense, yes I think anxiety can shift. It can also feed on itself and create more.
CBT is a good approach to anxiety; appropriate. Keep working with your counseling.
I can't imagine being stuck attending social events Obvious your life is far different than mine. You should look into why you are being forced to attend. That is obviously the cause of your anxiety. Anxiety = loss of control or fear of loss of control. It's easy to understand your anxiety.
You should find ways out of the obligations. They are the cause and I can't think of any way you can turn down the volume on your anxiety. Your only mechanism to control the situation is to turn down some of the events.
Hell, get sick if you need to. Tell "social lies." You shouldn't be forced to attend events you don't want to. If the truth doesn't work ("I don't want to go"), tell lies.
Of course. You just shift your focus, instead of addressing how to cope with the anxiety itself.
I read this response and thought "omg that is so true, why did I think I can cure it myself". I didn't go for my 2nd visit because I thought "ok I know the problem and I am going to try to solve it myself". I am new to anxiety but I have been dieting, trying to weight lose most of my life. I understand shifting problems from that angle. Fix bad lunch habit but end up developing bad dinner habit.
guess I have to go to the professional & see what can be done
I have anxiety too. I think you can develop a pool of anxiety sufficient to feed all causes, so in a sense, yes I think anxiety can shift. It can also feed on itself and create more.
CBT is a good approach to anxiety; appropriate. Keep working with your counseling.
I can't imagine being stuck attending social events Obvious your life is far different than mine. You should look into why you are being forced to attend. That is obviously the cause of your anxiety. Anxiety = loss of control or fear of loss of control. It's easy to understand your anxiety.
You should find ways out of the obligations. They are the cause and I can't think of any way you can turn down the volume on your anxiety. Your only mechanism to control the situation is to turn down some of the events.
Hell, get sick if you need to. Tell "social lies." You shouldn't be forced to attend events you don't want to. If the truth doesn't work ("I don't want to go"), tell lies.
The social event issue really is self inflected. No one will be offended if I don't go or say no. The stress is all in my mind. Part of me wants to attend everything & be this social butterfly. The other part of me wants to hide in a cave somewhere away from everyone. It is all me, its all in my head, its all useless but I can't help it
The social event issue really is self inflected. No one will be offended if I don't go or say no. The stress is all in my mind. Part of me wants to attend everything & be this social butterfly. The other part of me wants to hide in a cave somewhere away from everyone. It is all me, its all in my head, its all useless but I can't help it
You have to learn to control your inner social butterfly and restrict yourself to a level of socializing that you are comfortable with.
At least you are accepting the blame, which is the first step in finding the cure.
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