Appointment anxiety?

[Luckiecharm]

Hi all,

I've been working on my recovery for 4 years now and I'm happy to report that I'm finally in a place where I can more or less accept myself and the fact that I'm socially anxious sometimes. 8) So, lately I've been noticing that my anxiety levels only get to that high level of panic when it comes to keeping an appointment. What I mean is, if I just decide on the spur of the moment to call round to a friends house or go into town shopping, I'm ok with it. But God forbid I actually make an appointment to meet someone or arrange to go to town the day before!
It's like going to the hairdressers: I can walk in off the street (if they're not busy) but if I have to make an appointment, it's like a lamb going to the slaughter!! I don't know if anyone else has the same experience. I mean, is there an appointment phobia?? If so, I have it :roll: I had my car booked in for a service the other day and I spent the two days before worrying about it. In the end it was a piece of cake, but I never seem to learn from these experiences. I suppose it will just take more CBT or something.

 

[lonley1]

yeah I sort of know what your saying, wheather it be for work or doctors, even a bbq or something my anxiety skyrockets.. bring on the benzos

 

[IceLad]

Yes I know how it feels. When it comes to something that's planned, you have time to work yourself up over and over again over the event. I really hate anticipatory anxiety- it is a real problem for me. Sometimes, I work myself up over events days or weeks in advance. I wish there was some way of combating anticipatory anxiety.

 

[Mary]

Hi everyone! I think appointment anxiety might be a part of SP or SA as well. And I am actually going to the doctor's right now in like 10 minutes! 8O :lol: But I have even surprised myself by how well I have been doing w/my anxiety today. What I did that was different fr. other times is that I have purposefully not thought about it! The thought will try to come, "hey your going to the doc. tomorrow.." and I stop myself fr. dwelling on it and focus on the present. I listen to music or read, something to distract myself. I heard once that you can't think two things at the same time so if you choose to focus on something else, you interupt your train of thought and the worry goes w/it. It has been working good for me today and yesterday too. I even slept well last night. I am just keeping in the moment, observing whats going on in the here and now and not letting my mind carry me away into the future before it is actually here! Hope this can help some of you as well. I really do have to be going now though..

 

[thequietone]

I have great difficulty with Anticipatory Anxiety as well....and it's always related to social stuff. I'll worry days, weeks, even months in advance for something that will be over in one day. It's irrational. :x

 

[Predacon]

The worst ones for me are job interviews, whenever I have one, I find it hard to think about anythingelse.

 

[Septor]

Yea I aways had problems with Anticipatory Anxiety.Just one of those things that comes along with SP I guess.I usually try not to make any plans unless I have to.If I have to go out somewhere and I know for weeks in advance I start obsessing over it until it come up,then I back out of it .It's better if I don't make any plans before hand and just do it on the spur of the moment and by the time I start to get anxiety it's to late to turn back.Unfortunately in life we can't always do everything like that.

 

[boodizm]

The worst ones for me are job interviews, whenever I have one, I find it hard to think about anythingelse.

I have one tomorrow, first interview in quite a while, and I'm relatively calm right now. This is partly because I don't think i'll get it, but I'm using it more as practice, so what the hell, I don't have that much to lose. I know my confident facade will be crumbling away in the morning though, i'm sure of it.

You have to try to keep yourself occupied in the meantime somehow to keep your mind from straying onto the subject too often, I guess it gives you more time to doubt yourself.