Worserning Anxiety

My depression score on the quiz has been steady recently and is infact declining but my Anxiety score after a very stable period has jumped from 33 too 40 and now up to 50.

I don't tend to have severe panic attacks often as I normally feel them coming on and can deal with the anxiety before it becomes a problem. However I'm nervous sometimes with customers at work and am avoiding going out if those from my inner circle as it were are not out. I seem to have anxiety problems every time I go out so I avoid events where there will be more people I don't know then I do know.

I'm dogged by nightmares about my friends leaving me or dying or something this has made me fearful of sleep. I was diagnosed about a year ago but I e never been this bad before.

Any advice and help will be much appreciated

Regards

Eamonn

Hello Eamonn: I don't know as I have any particularly useful suggestions for you here. I also struggle with quite a bit of anxiety. Getting plenty of exercise is important. We have a small dog we take for fairly long walks twice a day every day regardless of the weather. I also do walking meditation. And I enjoy listening to chant videos on YouTube. They sooth me. Of course, you want to avoid caffeinated beverages too. (That's one I could do some work on if I was a mind to.)

Beyond that, my personal perspective is that one has to simply be sensitive to what one can & cannot tolerate & avoid putting oneself into situations that are more stress-producing than one feels comfortable with. I know that can be limiting. But, to my mind, the alternative is psych med's for anxiety which I prefer not to take if I can avoid it. And at the present time, I'm managing to do so.

The matter of sometimes being nervous with customers at work might fit in a slightly different category of some kind, but I think the others above are related to our feeling or at least wanting to feel "protected by the herd" or experiencing "the protection of human community". Like you, I could easily become anxious at the thought of not having my own "inner circle" of friends for security in a sometimes-hostile world, and maybe something as simple as "Count your blessings" while including them at bedtime could help alleviate the nightmares.

I read dream interpretation. They have a forum too here on PC.

I'm sorry you're struggling with anxiety I understand..

I'm there...
It seems to me that, over the years, my once discrete, if awful and long-lasting panics (that I would still go to work with etc...) have become less frequent, shorter, but a generalized, difficult to shake anxiety has been creeping in too often for too long
and it is interfering with work, and life...
((((((((((((((((((hug))))))))))))))))))))))) today happens to be ok so far...i live for these moments

stay away from those online tests lol. that clearly has just made you worry more. try going to a counselor or someone who can diagnose you again and help you get through it. honestly that's the best thing you can do for yourself
my anxiety has gotten a thousand times worse since this time last year. I'm a huge hypocrite but I really hope you take my advice because I wish I had done these things to prevent myself from being where I am now. definitely seek out a counselor or a psychiatrist. someone you can talk to about your nightmares, fears and everything else. my old friend went to counseling for anxiety and it helped her so much, its amazing. you just have to be open to it and be sure to actually talk. now another thing you should do is not avoid everything you're scared of. you have to overcome this stuff and hiding and avoiding things only makes things 10 times worse in the end. because yeah you can avoid that one social event right now, but what happens when something comes up with a lot of people that you absolutely have to go to? you'll be terrified because you haven't been around a lot of people in so long. you're anxiety will be so bad then. so do not avoid anything! I promise you that's the worst thing someone with anxiety can do. its hard, believe me I know. but you can do this, you can get over your anxiety or at least make it easier to deal with. it will take effort though and small baby steps. you have to believe in yourself. remember back to the times when you didn't have anxiety and use those times to empower you to fight to get back to that point. try to take a friend and go out to some small social place like a coffee shop. just talk to people around you. even just giving a stranger a compliment or stupid stuff like 'its so nice outside today' is good for you. it'll keep you interacting with people even if it's on a very small scale. it'll help you get comfortable with social situations. and with customers at work you can say the same things to them. just try to remember ya know they're human. they may be just as nervous as you! try to figure out what triggers your anxiety, what's causing it, what makes it worse etc. you'll have to be real honest with yourself to overcome this and I really hope you do. because if not you'll end up like me. never leaving the house. having no friends. not being able to go inside anywhere, not even to the gas station to get gas. it sucks so much. I wish I had the strength back then to get over my anxiety and do the things I told you about. I don't know if anything I said helps any but at least try getting a counselor because I know they'll be able to help you! I'm sorry things are getting worse for you but I hope things can slowly start to get better for ya. good luck

I've had counselling before and doing these tests on this site has been really helpful for me in keeping track of how I'm doing and I also use the information when I have visited my doctor. He said doing something like that is a good idea.

I tried keeping a diary but I just didn't have the patience too write in it all the time so these test have really helped me and also showed when I've improved looking back on them that keeps me inspiration as I know I've been there before and came out on top

well cool then lol

Depression + Anxiety...
Same here.

Are you still on the meds prescribed you last summer? Has your prescribing doctor adjusted them? Could your rise in anxiety be related to the holidays and/or the winter season? (Feel free to ignore the questions.)

For me, over the years anti-anxiety meds have been more valuable than antidepressants. Of course, different people have widely differing experiences.

Depression and anxiety here too ....

Hi

I was on anti-anxiety meds originally then went onto anti-depressants but had to come off them as they reacted with other meds I take. So currrently I'm not taking anything but I've been under a counsellor and have referred myself again.