Published on 12, July, 2020
A couple of years ago I had put on weight to over 20 stone and was too reliant on food and drink to escape from life and the feelings of panic and hopelessness. I've managed over the past two years (because of a wake up call from someone close to me) to lose 5 1/2 stone and finally got assessed for Autism (not to keep you in suspense - I have Autism *gasp*!)
I'm a stranger to you so my life story isn't that enthralling I know but a bit of background is important as I want to ask for some help / opinions / stories from the community here.
My main mental health issue is quite extreme anxiety. If things change (anything from new furniture, minor faults in the house up to moving house) I have 6/7 hour long stretches of stomach pain, panic attacks, catastrophising - the usual stuff. It makes me want to retreat back to where I was before, as that was safe at least - if miserable for me and others.
I've tried a lot of stuff to help and it all does a bit (exercise seems to work the best), but I suppose I want to know if anyone had managed to reduce this kind of mindset to a much smaller part of their lives so they could do the things they want to. I feel like the alarm and panic, it's always there in my mind waiting to hurt me, for me to have any doubt - so it can get in there and wrench my insides. It stops me doing stuff, and I'm so tired of it's weight in my life.
Reading this back I think it's more of a post putting a hard few days into words so feel free to ignore or just read if your interested. I hope you are all doing well today and have some happy moments.
Eyes said:I want to know if anyone had managed to reduce this kind of mindset to a much smaller part of their lives so they could do the things they want to.
Mindfulness was the game changer for me.
It allowed me to slip into a bit of a Mr Spock mindframe for a while to hold up whatever issue was causing me grief and examine it in a logical, dispassionate way and reach a conclusion about it quickly - then I switch back to plain old me and trust my conclusions and act on them., whether by stopping thinking about all the "what if's" or by accepting the change as "it just is" and moving on with what I do have control over.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/mindfulness
It takes practice but it allowed me to live a pretty normal working life and was a benefit in a lot of other situations as well.
If you consider this approach then spending an hour or two with a therapist is helpful to let you set your mindset to be able to tap into the analysis state of mind.
My issue with analysis to reduce anxiety is that I am very good at identifying risk and so this approach, alongside most systems, doesn't work. I see problems I analyse a situation and I can see how events and human nature can lead to pain.
I'm sorry to be a downer on your suggestion Iain, I do appreciate it. I wish I was different but my talent seems to be to see the worst in any situation.