Obsessive thought of anxiety ruining my happiness, excitement, or pleasant moments
I have struggled with this issue where I'll get excited for one moment and then suddenly start thnking about anxiety will ruin everything, which eventually leads me to start obsessing about my anxiety. Sometimes I worry I'll never be able to stop thinking about it. Does anyone else struggle with something similar? I'm worried I'll never fully get better from this, even though I am gaining more knowledge about this.
@GingerMC I feel like over think everything and honestly that is my biggest problem. I can't even enjoy myself if I'm up in my head too much and I am just wondering how long this nice thing will last and I'll be back to being depressed again. For me, I try to get out of my head as much as possible by doing something that is physical and mental at the same time - honesty those escape rooms that are popping up everywhere now are pricey but the PERFECT distraction- so I have no choice but to be present in the moment. But you are not alone :)
@straightforwardPlace2498 Yeah, I try to be in the present as much as possible these days. But the thing it's when I'm in situations where I hope I'll be happy and make sure that I feel this way that triggers this problem. Because I don't want anxiety (or some other mental illness I've never had) to ruin everything. The more special the moment the more I fear the thought of anxiety. The minute I think about anxiety I start panicking and dwelling on it because I'm forcing it to go away, which just amplifies the feeling. Then I think about how I'll never be able to be happy again and stuff.
@GingerMC so you have anxiety about getting anxiety?
@straightforwardPlace2498l Yes I do.i just can't get it off my mind. Especially when I have an important event coming up.
Hey, it sounds a bit like you're having ruminations - obsessve thoughts that you just can't seem to get away from. I used to get these really bad and what helped me finally was getting on medication. was amazed by just how much time and energy I was wasting mulling the same thoughts over and over in my head and getting worked up about them - it was like I was inventing some bad thought for no reason other to stress myself out. Mindfulness wasn't very helpful for me because I was already super aware of how I was feeling, and that was part of the problem, you know? I was over analysing everything, second guessing myself and gernally working myself up. What I needed was a break from my introspection, not tryint to tune into it more.
I don't know if you have access to health services or insurance, but after being in therapy for several months and it not really helping, medication brough it under control really easily. A general practictioner/family doctor should be able to prescribe it for you, so you don't have to go to a specialist. The first medication I tried did absolutely nothing for me, but the second was great so don't give up if your first try doesn't work great.
@ghostOfTheNavigator Hmm, I heard that medications can have unwanted side effects. 🤔😟 Currently what has helped was CBT and mindfulness. Currently, I'm in therapy (on here! 😜). I'm thinking of other new strategies as well.
