timetoheal79
Member
(sorry about punctuation and grammar, takes to long to punctuate lol)
I was a social gonna up until about 3 weeks ago when things started to change. Which was actually around the time I joined this site desperately looking for something to cling on to. I didn't realise how bad my social anxiety. I guess it was bad enough after so many years to seek help and start seeing a psychologist. I'm 33 so it's gone past its cutesy wootsey stage when you are young when people you come in to contact with can just brush it off as shyness or think that you might not possibly know yourself properly yet. It changes when you hit your 30's when every time you speak to someone new you start sweating, voice starts breaking up, heart palpitations, lips shaking, thoughts running through your head while trying to talk, saying stupid things... like I said to this girl at Uni the other day, after she told me that she might like to work in a lab studying human cell behaviour or whatever, "Oh yea you look like a lab person".. she goes "Do I? Why is that? I said "I don't know, you just do"....and then I started sweating. I didn't even think she looked like a lab person. I just said it because I couldn't think of anything to say and started having a bit of a panic attack and just blurted anything out. It doesn't sound like anything but it was one of the most awkward moments at uni so far lol. Any way as I was saying at 33 you look like a major tool when you get SA symptoms in front of people your own age and just people in general. They don't understand and prob never will. Most people see the symptoms as me either being arrogant and up myself or aggressive in some way. Anyway I feel 10 times better now and wanted to share the things I have focussed on and taken up in my daily routine.
in no particular order and may or may not be contributing factor to me feeling absolutely fabulous, can't put my finger on anything and would just say its a combination.
*started chakra healing guided meditation nearly everyday for 3 weeks.
(i have meditated for over 10 years but has never worked for me SA wise)
*fully come off my meds which ive been taking on and off for 7 years. 'avanza'.. mainly used them for sleep. didnt really do much for my anxiety but if you get a good nights sleep you all know that helps anxiety..
*started doing weight lifting again together with my weekly jogging routine.
*STOPPED ALL COFFEE AND TEAS. This has made a remarkable difference to my general well being and feeling. I think having the caffeine in the system really helped trigger anxiety symptoms. The mind would do the rest...
*stopped all sweets. i was a major lollie head. still am. and might start introducing them back in later on down the track when i feel confident enough.
*no junk food. i eat really healthy anyways but have been fairly particular about what goes into my stomach. especially sugar contents.
*concentration on breathing into diaphram
*have not had alcohol for 2 weeks. that is ages for me. i love my beer and wine. i have had bouts where i would drink 8 beers a night... so i have done the whole alcholic thing - runs in the family.
* started seeing a psychologist. was a major step and it made me feel like crying that i had got to the point of desperation to see a psych. i am one of those people that hardly like to admit defeat so it was huge for me to go in there and talk to a dude about my ****. the first week after seeing him my anxiety levels increased a lot only because i felt like i had given up and it was also an intense session because 1. i have never spoken to anyone about this condition. 2. all anxiety symptoms arose while talking with him. he was fine with it, they see this behaviour in their office all day everyday - nothing new to them!!!! after the next session i was started to feel much better and could have a laugh with him about my symptoms, like when i would start blushing or would start to sweat or shake.. its fantastic talking to someone about it. psychs wont fix the problem for you, they just enable you to blurt **** out and as you blurt **** out you find more buried **** to blurt out. and once its out its out. its good trust me.
*taking multi vitamins everyday.
*i started taking this A2 stuff from the internet. its a herbal mix that is supposed to calm you down and relieve anxiety. it was $2.95 to try it for 14 days. im into about my 8th day. I think it helps but cant put my finger on it.
*i take fish oil tablets every day
*drinking plenty of water. 2 litres min a day.
im running out of things i can think off, will add more if i think of them. i think one of the fundamental things that i have incorporated into my daily routine is that i say to myself out loud or in my head:
"I DEEPLY AND COMPLETELY LOVE AND ACCEPT MYSELF".
I have been saying this constantly for 2 weeks. i drove 2 hours to the city the other day and the whole way i just repeated this is outloud. and the whole way back! anyways because i have said this so much it has started to replace all the noise in my head. even when im talking to people now i dont have the negative thoughts, but i have this statement running through my head lol its weird. but its way better than the negative thoughts.
I've done a lot of reading also and the more you read the more you start to see a common denominator. Main one being that it's the negative thoughts running through your head that is giving you these sensations NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!! It's a negative cycle of you having thoughts that generate a feeling that generate more thoughts that generate a stronger feeling and then in most cases a feeling so strong that it pushes the 'fight or flight' button inside of a gland in your brain which produces all those horrible and intense symptoms that we really don't need when we are just trying to talk to someone new.
Anyway i just wanted to share my experience over the last couple weeks. I HAVE BEEN FEELING SO GOOD ITS NOT FUNNY. I still have a long way to go but i feel like i am out of me head and more in my body and connected to the universe in a deeper way. i have created a lot more space in my head so that i can listen to others better. i have also set myself up to feel so good that its a lot harder for the anxiety to push thourgh when in public or speaking to someone new. i have some work to do yet but PLEASE KNOW that this is a set of learned behaviours that you can unlearn but you must be persistent and you must never give up.
a website that really helped shape my thinking on this subject
SocialExpression.NET | Social Anxiety Support | Social Phobia Help
good luck, I'm always here
Pat
I was a social gonna up until about 3 weeks ago when things started to change. Which was actually around the time I joined this site desperately looking for something to cling on to. I didn't realise how bad my social anxiety. I guess it was bad enough after so many years to seek help and start seeing a psychologist. I'm 33 so it's gone past its cutesy wootsey stage when you are young when people you come in to contact with can just brush it off as shyness or think that you might not possibly know yourself properly yet. It changes when you hit your 30's when every time you speak to someone new you start sweating, voice starts breaking up, heart palpitations, lips shaking, thoughts running through your head while trying to talk, saying stupid things... like I said to this girl at Uni the other day, after she told me that she might like to work in a lab studying human cell behaviour or whatever, "Oh yea you look like a lab person".. she goes "Do I? Why is that? I said "I don't know, you just do"....and then I started sweating. I didn't even think she looked like a lab person. I just said it because I couldn't think of anything to say and started having a bit of a panic attack and just blurted anything out. It doesn't sound like anything but it was one of the most awkward moments at uni so far lol. Any way as I was saying at 33 you look like a major tool when you get SA symptoms in front of people your own age and just people in general. They don't understand and prob never will. Most people see the symptoms as me either being arrogant and up myself or aggressive in some way. Anyway I feel 10 times better now and wanted to share the things I have focussed on and taken up in my daily routine.
in no particular order and may or may not be contributing factor to me feeling absolutely fabulous, can't put my finger on anything and would just say its a combination.
*started chakra healing guided meditation nearly everyday for 3 weeks.
(i have meditated for over 10 years but has never worked for me SA wise)
*fully come off my meds which ive been taking on and off for 7 years. 'avanza'.. mainly used them for sleep. didnt really do much for my anxiety but if you get a good nights sleep you all know that helps anxiety..
*started doing weight lifting again together with my weekly jogging routine.
*STOPPED ALL COFFEE AND TEAS. This has made a remarkable difference to my general well being and feeling. I think having the caffeine in the system really helped trigger anxiety symptoms. The mind would do the rest...
*stopped all sweets. i was a major lollie head. still am. and might start introducing them back in later on down the track when i feel confident enough.
*no junk food. i eat really healthy anyways but have been fairly particular about what goes into my stomach. especially sugar contents.
*concentration on breathing into diaphram
*have not had alcohol for 2 weeks. that is ages for me. i love my beer and wine. i have had bouts where i would drink 8 beers a night... so i have done the whole alcholic thing - runs in the family.
* started seeing a psychologist. was a major step and it made me feel like crying that i had got to the point of desperation to see a psych. i am one of those people that hardly like to admit defeat so it was huge for me to go in there and talk to a dude about my ****. the first week after seeing him my anxiety levels increased a lot only because i felt like i had given up and it was also an intense session because 1. i have never spoken to anyone about this condition. 2. all anxiety symptoms arose while talking with him. he was fine with it, they see this behaviour in their office all day everyday - nothing new to them!!!! after the next session i was started to feel much better and could have a laugh with him about my symptoms, like when i would start blushing or would start to sweat or shake.. its fantastic talking to someone about it. psychs wont fix the problem for you, they just enable you to blurt **** out and as you blurt **** out you find more buried **** to blurt out. and once its out its out. its good trust me.
*taking multi vitamins everyday.
*i started taking this A2 stuff from the internet. its a herbal mix that is supposed to calm you down and relieve anxiety. it was $2.95 to try it for 14 days. im into about my 8th day. I think it helps but cant put my finger on it.
*i take fish oil tablets every day
*drinking plenty of water. 2 litres min a day.
im running out of things i can think off, will add more if i think of them. i think one of the fundamental things that i have incorporated into my daily routine is that i say to myself out loud or in my head:
"I DEEPLY AND COMPLETELY LOVE AND ACCEPT MYSELF".
I have been saying this constantly for 2 weeks. i drove 2 hours to the city the other day and the whole way i just repeated this is outloud. and the whole way back! anyways because i have said this so much it has started to replace all the noise in my head. even when im talking to people now i dont have the negative thoughts, but i have this statement running through my head lol its weird. but its way better than the negative thoughts.
I've done a lot of reading also and the more you read the more you start to see a common denominator. Main one being that it's the negative thoughts running through your head that is giving you these sensations NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!! It's a negative cycle of you having thoughts that generate a feeling that generate more thoughts that generate a stronger feeling and then in most cases a feeling so strong that it pushes the 'fight or flight' button inside of a gland in your brain which produces all those horrible and intense symptoms that we really don't need when we are just trying to talk to someone new.
Anyway i just wanted to share my experience over the last couple weeks. I HAVE BEEN FEELING SO GOOD ITS NOT FUNNY. I still have a long way to go but i feel like i am out of me head and more in my body and connected to the universe in a deeper way. i have created a lot more space in my head so that i can listen to others better. i have also set myself up to feel so good that its a lot harder for the anxiety to push thourgh when in public or speaking to someone new. i have some work to do yet but PLEASE KNOW that this is a set of learned behaviours that you can unlearn but you must be persistent and you must never give up.
a website that really helped shape my thinking on this subject
SocialExpression.NET | Social Anxiety Support | Social Phobia Help
good luck, I'm always here
Pat
