Dealing with anxiety symptoms

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by NY65912

So, what does one do when all the good suggestions of exercise, yoga, therapy, meditation do not work? This is where I have been for a while now.

Meds. Benzos can treat symptoms and are useful but carry a risk of addiction. They work on the alcohol center of the brain so they tend to be effective. Using low dosages are key and ideally you want to avoid regular/long-term use. There are more systemic choices like wellbutrin or various SSRIs, but there is no single answer. Often you'll need to work with the psych to get the right med.

Everybody is wired a bit differently, and some people respond to meds well. Others not so much.

[Rickysa]

Ted, I'm sure you've seen the movie "Pushing Tin"...the scene where the fella is trying to return to the job and gets out of the car saying "it's a great big sky...big sky...", while his co-workers are betting on how far he will get from his car...well, that was me with regard to work as well

not ATC, but I felt the same way

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Rickysa

Kach, this is not meant as a dig towards you at all , but some of these anxiety issues can be likened to a diabetic that requires insulin....(imvho, of course)

Things I've done since 2008, cut way way down on caffeine, it was making my heart go pitter patter.

For the last 1-1/2 year I've gone gluten free (minor cheating) which has done a lot to level out my blood sugar levels.

No white potatoes, low sugar intake, staying away from most processed products (soy) and so forth.

Work wise I'm just sick of doing what I'm doing or more like how I'm doing it, and currently making plans to change all that.

A man without hope, without a dream is no man at all.....................or so I've heard.

[NY65912]

A BJ is better than Yoga for stress relief!

[kach22i]

I just designed a yoga studio (under construction), going to have to check it out once it opens.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by NY65912

A BJ is better than Yoga for stress relief!

There was an well services company around here called BJ Services. I always laughed when I saw one of their trucks on the road.

BJ Services Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[tweezers74]

Everybody is different. And different at different points of our lives. A night out with friends, a BJ, a drunken night, working out hard for a weekend may have been enough when we were young but may not be a enough now. For me, it is the opposite. I had a lot of stress and anxiety when I was younger and those things didn't work. Now, I am much more relaxed and although I get stressed, it doesn't take much to get me back to normal.

All the advice here is good. It is important to note that stress and anxiety is not totally avoidable. It is part of life. It is part of being human. Once there is some of that acceptance, it makes it easier to deal with. At least for me. When I was younger, I expected everything to be perfect. Known. Organized. Predictable. And when it wasn't, I fell apart. Now, I accept that life is ALWAYS going to have strife, sadness, stress. It sounds weird but to have that expectation that something wrong is going to happen brings a level of peace. When the "bad" thing comes, I almost say, "oh, there it is".

The next step is to always have perspective. When you stop, take a deep breath, you realize 95% of what we stress about really isn't that important in the big scheme of things. I find it useful to go back to basics. Go to nature. No phones, internet, etc. Realize even if I lost my job, I could make enough to have a roof over my head. Food on the table and honestly, the simple life seems pretty good sometimes. Sometimes I think with the more "comforts" we accumulate, the more stress we accumulate as well.

Now your past trauma is no light matter. I agree that although your life may be normal now, it is amazing how past demons can affect your current life without you even knowing it. Therapy may be beneficial and it certainly wouldn't hurt.

Meds. Don't be scared to take them. I am not saying become dependent on them but even healthy people have to take antibiotics to give them a boost during a downtime. You may have to take them to help you get through this until you figure out the right balance of exercise, therapy, yoga, BJs, etc.

Finally, it isn't a stagnant process. Like I said, our life changes. Our support changes. Our job changes. Our stressors change. Constantly. Just because you figure out how to balance your life today, doesn't mean it will work tomorrow. It's like eating right, exercising, marriage. It is a constant work in progress. Improving. Figuring out new ways. But don't look at it as daunting and an exercise in the futile. Look at it as an adventure, learning, growing, an opportunity to find out cool stuff that you can do and learn. For me, I have figured out it is all about perspective. And I struggle with it every day. But every day I get a little better at it. You can't figure out how to get up correctly if you never fall.

[NY65912]

Agreed, the constant flux of life changes one's perspective. I never had a problem as a young man. The last 20 years have been tough. Now, I work hard at acceptance. Accepting what comes along makes it easier to take and deal with. We're all different and see the world from different viewpoints.