Anxiety of being alone
Hi! I am experiencing a little bit of anxiety because I am alone.
I live with my boyfriend and since the begining of the pandemic we've been almost all time at home, I'm still in home office and he is currently looking for a job, so I think I may have developed some sort of separation anxiety. Today is his mom's birthday and I wasn't able to go to her birthday breakfast because of work, so I've been alone all day, and I'm not feeling that well. I am afraid to be alone with my brain, obviously i have lots of things to do between work and school but for some reason without my boyfriend I feel like there's a hole that's starting to get filled by anxiety and I am scared. I know I can't depend so much on his presence, but i don't know how to deal with these fears (maybe I don't want to deal with them either)
Hi @sincerePlace8195
Often when we feel alone, it can create feelings of intense anxiety, especially when we have been used to being around another person for quite a while. We grow an attachment to another person, and because you have been living with your boyfriend during the pandemic, it would make sense that when that familiarity of being together all the time turns into a little more time apart, that can be a scary process to wrap your mind around.
It sounds like the adjustment is a little difficult for you, where although you don't want to depend on him or his presence, that presence has become a comfort to you over time, so being alone more often now is creating some more fear and anxiety because of that new extended time on your own.
While we cannot provide advice on 7 Cups, there may be a couple of good questions that may help you in the process of adjusting to this new routine:
1. Each day that your partner is away, what is one nice thing that you can do for yourself? It can even be something very small like watching an episode of your favourite TV show
2. Do you think talking with him about how the alone time is affecting you would help to ease that anxiety a little bit?
I hope some of this proves helpful, and feel free to request a chat with a listener here on 7 Cups anytime!
Hi! I am experiencing a little bit of anxiety because I am alone.
I live with my boyfriend and since the begining of the pandemic we've been almost all time at home, I'm still in home office and he is currently looking for a job, so I think I may have developed some sort of separation anxiety. Today is his mom's birthday and I wasn't able to go to her birthday breakfast because of work, so I've been alone all day, and I'm not feeling that well. I am afraid to be alone with my brain, obviously i have lots of things to do between work and school but for some reason without my boyfriend I feel like there's a hole that's starting to get filled by anxiety and I am scared. I know I can't depend so much on his presence, but i don't know how to deal with these fears (maybe I don't want to deal with them either)