Anxiety without thoughts?
Whenever I experience anxiety it's almost always with minimal thinking. It's nearly all physical. Right now I have a nervous pit in my stomach and I feel like my heart is going to leap out of my chest and go run a marathon!
Whenever I read about "what to do about anxiety" it's almost all thought-based cognitive help. But I'm not having anxious thoughts! I just feel scared. It's often triggered by trying to decide what to do and feeling the conflict between all the different things pulling me in different directions. But again, I'm not having specific thoughts that I can reframe, just this physical reaction. Anyone else have this? Any words of help?
@faithfulPlane4538
I have that sometimes too... usually for me it happens when I'm already struggling a lot with depression. Like my brain doesn't have enough energy to race, lol. I usually just try to relax my body, get in a comfy position... sometimes I'll try and find a way to distract myself, like talking to a friend or watching a youtube video. I wish I had more helpful advice, because that doesn't always work for me. 
Good luck!
Hi @faithfulPlane4538
I'm sorry --you seem to feel a bit lost regarding your anxiety, while I do definitely have anxious thoughts I thought I would throw in my thoughts on this. I do understand that you might not be able to have any use of these words, but they're just as much a comfort to know that you're not completely alone, I hope x
I get from what you describe that you're confused as how to treat your anxiety from the guides you read online due to the fact that they're all cognitive-based. I myself have suffered from anxiety for years now and are only just getting started with treatment that seems to work for me. My current therapist(s) believe that anxiety can be treated through conitive based treatment like many forums and guides online. You have stated in your post that you don't have one specific thought that causes your anxiety, but it is "only" a physical reaction, however, your anxiety was based around your conflicting thoughts that you're experiencing. May I ask if you have ever tried speaking to anyone about these conflicting thoughts you're having?
I personally have social anxiety. There's definitely thoughts that can set off my anxiety, but also "as little as" a situation where a panic attack will occur. I have through many therapists (and Google also) narrowed it down to generally only be in social settings, though one in my anxiety group have generalised anxiety and doesn't have one specific thing that she is anxious about.
It seems to me (and please correct me if I am mistaken) that your thoughts about what to do is what is causing your troubles. I think it would be effective for you if you figured out what your thoughts on that was instead of treating without knowing the base "problem" --does that make sense?
If you ever feel like talking I'm available for chats.
Take care x
