Published on 12, July, 2020
Is there anyone here for whom anxiety literally never stops? During waking hours I mean. I’d say that beyond the lingering after effects of sleep - lasting for considerably less time than any lie in, perhaps a few minutes- I’m soon into a baseline of fairly steady anxiety, from which more intense spikes could and do at any moment erupt as small or large triggers or thoughts have their effect over the day. Is this unusual? For there to be practically zero absence of ‘the fear’ for any significant period of time except when unconscious or on the threshold of that state? I think it only ever gives me a proper reprieve when I get a really bad cold or flu or something. When the parasympathetic nervous system just goes into offline mode out of sheer necessity. Sometimes I’m glad to get ill as it’s a holiday from the terror. Which can sometimes be so intense (at least every few days) that it feels like barely an exaggeration to say that most ordinary people would only be in that internal state if their plane was attempting an emergency landing ir they were in an unfolding car crash. Except drawn out over hours until staying awake is no longer possible. Thank goodness for the temporary oblivion of losing consciousness. Without it my nerves would never be rested. Am I alone in this? I’m calmer when alone usually (at least initially), but ruminating starts up in those conditions too. And some of my most distressed states can be in either setting -invisibly overwhelming me on the inside (masked) while in company or public, or unseen (and less masked to myself) in private
I've recommended on other posts: Nootropics can help for long-term and a low dose of benzodiazepines for occasions where it's interrupting sleep or to help reason clearly for a difficult situation in order to leave it.
I take a mushroom compound with Lions Mane and Rieshi, which seem to help with the biological issues (there are now a few good studies which prove the autistic and ADHD brains produce this over-excitement which isn't being regulated properly. It's also related to gut health.)
Situational anxiety is also thing to sort & if we can, take control of environments and work toward resolve with relationships, which sometimes means making hard decisions like stepping away from people who are (knowing or unknowing) doing more harm than good - note, this will never be your child.
And then making sure to sort surroundings: LEDs can unknowingly give a low-grade anxiety, make sure to have a few halogen lamps in the house. Harmful scents and VOCs can cause a sub-conscious state of danger, electrical hums and buzzing, there are a great deal of unnatural sources of subtle sensory assault that can all add up.