Canadian Politics Today
Beyond Politics => General Discussion => Topic started by: Michael Hardner on August 21, 2017, 09:10:50 am
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Now that I am home with almost nothing on my plate, I am slowly filling up with anxiety... like a torpedoed submarine fills with water. Something here may be related to rejecting a 2nd interview with a company that I was 50-50 on, and fearing there will be nothing more coming for months.
Do you get anxious ? What do you do about it ?
I'm going to take the wife on a walk today to have lunch with a friend. Maybe the company and exercise will work.
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Also, housework may help. Wife is surfing her phone and we're co-dependently procrastinating the explosion of dirty clothes, dishes and camping equipment laying around.
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I have a granddaughter who has such severe anxiety that she cannot seem to function effectively in the world outside a very limited and safe space. She tries to work but has not been able to keep a job and is on welfare. She has been trying to get some kind of psychological or medical help for almost a year with no success. I worry about her a lot.
I also see a lot of anxiety in young people and I wonder how this world looks to them. Climate Change and leaders who cannot hold a civil conversation with each other, news that may or may not be true and lots of coverage of crazed killers who want to blow themselves and others up. There is already some resentment against baby boomers and I wonder how that will play out in future as climate change begins to dismantle the good life so many of us have enjoyed.
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MH, I suffer from anxiety so I feel your pain. I used to take clonazepam periodically if it became really bad but I can't given my pregnancy and it's very difficult.
My escape is Facebook, I could sit for hours on end and procrastinate and I feel awful after. Recently I left Facebook for a few months and life was more productive. It forced me to have to face the day head on.
I think making a cold break from your escape and doing your best to keep busy is the way to go.
All the best, I know how awful it is.
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Now that I am home with almost nothing on my plate, I am slowly filling up with anxiety... like a torpedoed submarine fills with water. Something here may be related to rejecting a 2nd interview with a company that I was 50-50 on, and fearing there will be nothing more coming for months.
Do you get anxious ? What do you do about it ?
I'm going to take the wife on a walk today to have lunch with a friend. Maybe the company and exercise will work.
I've had different people in my life with severe anxiety. I've read up on it too. I've also had periods of unemployment & being on the job search like most people & being anxious about it & hating being home doing nothing. Anxiety is often caused by fear and/or anger, among other things. It's a mood disorder, so something is affecting your mood to make you nervous very likely. Sounds like your joblessness. Anxiety can also be related to feelings of depression (another mood disorder).
Since you're unemployed, the best advice I can say is for you to give an honest effort everyday. Wake up every morning with a sense of purpose of what you're going to do & follow through on those plans, whether it be a goal of looking for jobs for a minimum of 2 hours and telling yourself you'll apply to at least 2-3 jobs that day. You need to have goals, you need a reason to get up in the morning. If at the end of every day you can say to yourself that you gave your best effort that daythan it's very likely you won't be anxious & depressed, or at least much less so.
Exercise is good, it releases more "happy" chemicals into your brain.
The worst thing for you to do is to sit around all day on the internet/PC/cellphone on these message boards. You'll feel like a lazy bum and feel guilty for not putting in an honest effort to find that new job. If there's no jobs to apply to, go online or to the library & find articles/books on how to make your resume better & to improve your interviewing skills. Make sure to also get out there and interact with people, because staying isolated when unemployed & couped up in the house feels terrible (as much fun sleeping in until 11am can be LOL). Get out & enjoy the sunshine. To get out of the house and feel like you're working, you could also bring your laptop/cellphone to the library (or use their PC's) and connect to their wifi for a certain # of hours each day while looking for jobs online, it will give you more structure & feel more like you're going to your office to work on a task instead of staying in PJ's all day.
Also, try not to reject an interview even if you don't like the job, just doing the interview will give you more practice & confidence for the interviews you really want in the future. You'll also be able to network a bit. Good luck!
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Thanks everyone.
Today was better. Some socializing, a walk, housework and a new job opportunity have all helped.
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Ok. So for today, wife has decided we're going to the CNE ! :D
distract... distract...
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I think Moonlight's message contains excellent advice.
Also, I think the "Inspiration" message Dia posted a few days ago is also excellent. The things the general says about starting the day by making your bed might sound silly at first, but they aren't. Maintaining a routine and a sense of discipline is important.
The advice from Moonlight, and from the general in Dia's video, might seem at first glance like they're more related to depression than to anxiety, but the two are actually closely related.
I used to have sudden and unexpected panic attacks, and episodes of depression, and brief episodes of barely controllable anger, and they are all actually closely related. I used to have sudden, intense moments of panic for random reasons-- like, the sense that I had lost my keys or my wallet or my cell phone, even though they were exactly where they were supposed to be. Every day I would have to stop and briefly frisk myself to make sure I still had all my possessions. Or being so overpowered by anger that I was momentarily ready to commit gross mayhem. Having to go back to my apartment to make sure the door was locked or the stove was off. A sense of panic in social situations, a sudden need to escape from a crowd. For me this stuff was all related, and I now have it all under control with the help of medicine.
-k
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Joan and I agree that we're using online surfing as a treatment for anxiety.
Again.
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I can relate. I've suffered from bipolar disorder & depression my whole life. There are better times, and not so better times. More than a year ago, I was prescribed a new(ish) treatment called Transcranial Magnetic sounding (TMS) which has been FDA approved in the US for some years now. I feel way better. My doc wants me to have another round of treatment soon. I might be one of those who has to have it every couple years. Some patients get full remission of symptoms. It's completely painless too. Way better than the older ECT treatment.
People don't realize how screwy it is to have some sort of invisible disability like anxiety/depression/bipolar/etc. and how miserable one's life can be with it.
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Wow - what was the effect ?
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Well, for one thing, I feel way better. I can focus (the depression/bipolar affected my ability to concentrate among other things). I'm more optimistic and less Debbie Downer about everything. I can do things without getting frustrated.
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I've dealt with anxiety my whole life. When I was a little kid summer's off of school were fun. When I hit puberty things got weird, when I was about 13 during the summer months off school I became a hypochondriac that summer, although I didn't know what that was at the time. Went to the doctor, and I actually did feel sick, they didn't know what was wrong, they put me on meds that did nothing, but now I look back and can see that a couple of months off spent hanging around the house means your mind needs something to do anyways, and when it's not busy it will find something to think about, hence things like hypochondria and OCD. When I went back to school in Sept i was fine. As they say, a rolling stone gathers no moss.
I have a very active brain, always thinking or dreaming about something, i'm very analytical and creative, which is both good and bad, because if I don't manage my thoughts they can easily ruminate on negative things, or my mind will simply be too active.
My dad is the total opposite. He uses his brain as minimum as possible LOL. His mind is almost always in the present focused on the task at hand, he's extremely practical, he's not daydreaming in the clouds or worrying about this or that. He's extremely mentally healthy, and very laid back. I can be neurotic about things, him not at all.
A lot of anxiety is a fight or flight response (anger and/or fear), but some of it is your mind simply not being in the present. That's why meditation is so helpful in my experience, it's more effective than any drug IMO, but more annoying because it takes a bit of time and work.
Been lucky to not have much depression. Some of it like probably our friend ColinBlow is a genetic imbalance. The times I've been depressed is when the reality of my life doesn't match my expectations for being happy. ie: If you're a 45 year old woman and never had kids, but always wanted them, that's when you can sink into a depression. So you either have to change your reality or change your expectations or you'll never be happy.
A therapist also once told that if you try your hardest, you won't be depressed. That's probably an exaggeration, but it's great advice. If you sit around all day doing nothing, knowing you probably should have done something productive, that can make you depressed. Generally living life with no regrets.
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I have an overactive brain.
I think some of the things that have made me feel better have been: exercise, sleep and reduced use of stimulants like caffeine and nicotine.
You have to take care of your brain that's for sure.
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It is genetic in my case. And since it comes from both sides of the family (though both my parents were lucky to escape it, and I'm assuming it is a recessive gene) my brother and sister have it too. Fun times.
I'll likely be on medication my whole life, as I think I went into "partial remission" after getting the new TMS treatment rather than total remission. (Some tms patients do.) I'm having it done again in a couple months. But suffice to say that after having the TMS treatment, the medicine actually works. It was doing a half-assed job before, and in my case--not saying you're wrong to try to treat your anxiety in other ways--other, non-medicinal treatments are ineffective, since we're talking about full-blown bipolar disorder here.
I do hope you get better. People don't realize how crippling mental problems like anxiety, depression, bipolar, etc are.
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It is genetic in my case. And since it comes from both sides of the family (though both my parents were lucky to escape it, and I'm assuming it is a recessive gene) my brother and sister have it too. Fun times.
I'll likely be on medication my whole life, as I think I went into "partial remission" after getting the new TMS treatment rather than total remission. (Some tms patients do.) I'm having it done again in a couple months. But suffice to say that after having the TMS treatment, the medicine actually works. It was doing a half-assed job before, and in my case--not saying you're wrong to try to treat your anxiety in other ways--other, non-medicinal treatments are ineffective, since we're talking about full-blown bipolar disorder here.
I do hope you get better. People don't realize how crippling mental problems like anxiety, depression, bipolar, etc are.
I agree bipolar disorder, schizophrenia etc are almost always genetic disorders. Probably in my case as well, but who knows.
Thank you I hope you keep getting better as well.
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Never really had a problem until this year. A medical condition led to constant pain, and with it stress. I didn't realize my morning queasiness was due to the previous night's stress for weeks. I thought it was due to overuse of pain pills. Nope it was anxiety causing it. Once I confronted it I was able to make it go away. The queasiness, that is, not the stress and anxiety.
Stress is dangerous. It causes poisons to be released into your body. It increases pain and increases your perception of pain, as well as screwing up your digestion, heart and general thinking. I've started in on pure CBD oil, but found it unhelpful. Now trying full spectrum CBD oil, though that will take weeks to take effect, if it does.
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Exercise - even a daily walk, less caffeine, good natural sleep and even naps
All of this helps
Stress relief from natural sources.
Less screen time too but ... well yeah ....
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I can relate. I've suffered from bipolar disorder & depression my whole life. There are better times, and not so better times. More than a year ago, I was prescribed a new(ish) treatment called Transcranial Magnetic sounding (TMS) which has been FDA approved in the US for some years now. I feel way better. My doc wants me to have another round of treatment soon. I might be one of those who has to have it every couple years. Some patients get full remission of symptoms. It's completely painless too. Way better than the older ECT treatment.
People don't realize how screwy it is to have some sort of invisible disability like anxiety/depression/bipolar/etc. and how miserable one's life can be with it.
I was recently diagnosed with bipolar 2. It's manifested as long periods of depression with shorter periods of hypomania. I believed the hypomanic periods were how people felt normally, but apparently not.
I've usually been treated for depression, since I'd go to the doc when I got seriously depressed. Anti-depressants worked, sort of, but never lasted long.
Now I'm on a mood stabilizer called lamotragine and Abilify, and my mood has definitely stabilized. It's only been 3 months, so will see how it goes. I'm going to ask my doc about TMS, although I suspect it won't be covered by my medical plan. It'd be ideal if I could stay in a hypomanic state, imo, but I suppose there might be downsides.
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People don't realize how crippling mental problems like anxiety, depression, bipolar, etc are.
My work place promotes a culture of mental health, talking about how people should not stigmatize mental ill-health, and offering resources for people who might be struggling. I am lucky in that I could take time off to regain my own health.
And then I had my performance review and one of the goals suggested to me was to improve my attendance. If I was ill, and they supported my efforts to get myself well, it confuses me as to why this would be brought up - it is a mixed message, I think: "Sure we understand you were sick, but come to work anyway"? Would the same goal be suggested if someone had suffered a severe physical trauma that kept them home for six weeks?
There've been two suicides among our 130 staff members in the last few years. After the second one, the messaging on mental health became a lot more insistent. But I think I'll suggest somewhere that if one is mentally ill and dealing with it means taking some time off work, that absence shouldn't be noted in the performance review.
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1. My work place promotes a culture of mental health, talking about how people should not stigmatize mental ill-health, and offering resources for people who might be struggling. I am lucky in that I could take time off to regain my own health.
2. And then I had my performance review and one of the goals suggested to me was to improve my attendance. If I was ill, and they supported my efforts to get myself well, it confuses me as to why this would be brought up - it is a mixed message, I think: "Sure we understand you were sick, but come to work anyway"? Would the same goal be suggested if someone had suffered a severe physical trauma that kept them home for six weeks?
3. There've been two suicides among our 130 staff members in the last few years. After the second one, the messaging on mental health became a lot more insistent. But I think I'll suggest somewhere that if one is mentally ill and dealing with it means taking some time off work, that absence shouldn't be noted in the performance review.
1. This seems to be the way now but... does the walk match the talk ? I am very good about giving people time off no matter what but they HAVE to ask for help. I can be harsh if people don't ask for help and I probably have to work on it.
2. Yes, I don't think I would allow my managers to put that feedback into anyone on the team.
3. That's ... sobering. I haven't had to deal with that at work. A few deaths, the death of a friend's son in an avalanche, a young guy who died in a freak bike accident in his 20s, a mis-identified executive who was mistakenly thought to have killed himself (and that took a harrowing full day to sort out), a death of a client's child which I didn't communicate well on... sadness but we have to be humans first.
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Exercise - even a daily walk, less caffeine, good natural sleep and even naps
All of this helps
Stress relief from natural sources.
Less screen time too but ... well yeah ....
All good suggestions. Unless pain keeps you in bed all day, makes it very hard to sleep, and the is ultimately the source of most of your stress and anxiety. And screen time is all you do all day.