Anxiety

MissCT8676

I’ve had anxiety since I was a kid (my mam had anxiety and depression throughout my childhood) and a counciller agreed that this caused myself to become very anxious from as young as 5, I’ve always worked and felt work was my escape but it was getting to the point it made me 100% worse and I eventually gave in and realised work was a HUGE aspect of making me feel unwell, I now get LCWRA and waiting for pip, I hate leaving the house and get very anxious but the last 2 months have been amazing I started having cold showers as I read they help and they were amazing! But the last 3 days I’ve gone backwards the showers aren’t helping, I nearly fainted At the drs the other day due to anxiety and I’m wanting to stay home again and not go for coffee with friends or go out with my daughter for days out I put the rubbish out and I feel generally unwell and I’m only leaving the house for a second! Does this happen to anyone else? I’ve never had such an amazing couple of months like that in a long time I thought I was finally better then boom back to square one … sorry for the long post xx

Tori_Scope

There's no need to apologise at all @MissCT8676. It's good to hear from you  

I think it's quite common for our mental health to fluctuate, with some times being better than others. It's also quite common for methods that used to work to stop working, which can be really frustrating. 

Have you been able to pinpoint why your anxiety might have suddenly increased? Is this something you've spoken to your GP about? 

I know it's much easier said than done, but try not to be too hard on yourself! Sometimes, I like to think about it like this: if I'm only feeling 30% well today, why would I expect myself to function at 100%? If I'm feeling 30% well, I'll try and have at least a 30% day. Obviously, this will look different to different people. I hope that makes a bit of sense!

MissCT8676

@Tori_Scope thank you for the reply, I can never quiet pin point it, I just want to be home in my safe zone it was strange to want to be out so much over the last couple of months and if felt amazing! But now I’m back to I just want to be home and rest. It’s such a strange thing mental health. My panic attacks aren’t as crazy now that I’m not worrying about work and I had terrible OCD habits when I was working which is so strange as now they aren’t as bad. I’m just so drained again lately and feel exhausted but like you say it’s going to fluctuate thank you xx 

Tori_Scope

Something I've heard some people find helpful is to keep a mood diary @MissCT8676. This can help you track your mood, and see whether there are any patterns. It's obviously not always the case that there's one single cause of dips in mood, or increases in anxiety, but it can sometimes be interesting. 

You could do this on paper, but there are also apps out there like Daylio that can help you keep track.

I'm glad your panic attacks and OCD symptoms have eased off a little since stopping work  

MissCT8676

Thank you so much 😊 

L_Volunteer

You are welcome @MissCT8676. It is the very least you deserve. If we can do anything else to support you, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are all here for you