Black Dog Gang 7

Oh Doodle thank goodness for these forums. When I was younger and there was no internet I thought I was the only one worrying about the family. Now it's children, grandchildren (and future great grandchildren) DH, myself. What if this or that happens?

Hello all. I am sitting here melting in the heat at the moment.
puzzler it’s so good to hear how you have managed to cope with your problems and the advice you have for others.
I don’t have any particular health anxiety for myself, I do worry about DH as he’s had so many things wrong with him over the years. maggie you and joce must have a hard time with health anxieties as they probably never go away. What I have found with DH is that as soon as something happens we get it investigated and set to with any treatment or operations involved. He has come through many illnesses thank God. Do you have particular reasons for your anxiety, for example others in the family having cancer?
nonnie I hope you are remembering your good times and trying to hang on in there. ?
blueSky your anxiety sounds a lot like mine. Family related. I seem to spend most of my life thinking what if this happens or that happens.
scardeycat the physical feelings of anxiety like panic, heart pounding, that dreadful low feeling on waking are awful to deal with.
I do think mindfulness is a good way of coping with things. Distraction rather than brooding,
annie you asked a good question. So helpful to have others thoughts on treatments and therapies.
Hope you all have a good day and a peaceful night.

Hello all, hope you are all coping ok.
I’m just plodding on, but thankful,
Annie i know how you feel, I like you worry when my children leave to go home, mine are only at the most 15 mins away, I always say let me know when you are home. We never stop worrying about them,

Puzzler you are an example we should all try to follow, you have come through when many of us are still unable to. Please keep posting to give us hope.

It is good to read the things that trigger issues with others because we are all so different. For example, I am not the least bothered by Covid 19, why? I am doing everything I can to not catch it and grateful that my life is secure. I liken it to when I am going for an operation, get really stressed until I'm in the hospital and then seem to have passed the problem on to the medics. I think I am lucky in this respect.

My anxiety seems to be about the things that might happen, that I can't do anything about, that are waiting out there to hit me. Daft, I know but there it is.

Today I am no longer that elegant lady, I am short and fat with frizzy hair. Tomorrow? Who knows?

Hi all x

How are we all today ?

Maggie, you said yesterday you had anxiety about cancer and you felt ashamed, you have no reason to, please don’t,
health anxiety is high on the list of anxieties, others here have
the same , x

nonnie how odd the councillor you saw tried to make you
believe what happened to you didn’t happen , if it happened
that’s it, when I had EMDR therapy the therapist talked with me through everything related to the trauma, you were so
unfortunate to have that councillor x

Doodle worry about loved ones ? I can certainly understand
that, when my younger granddaughter come to see me I clock
watch, she lives 50 miles away and I time the car journey , when she leaves to go home I always say the same,
let me know when you get home . x

Sound advice Annie, enjoy your music.

I can get out a hobby e.g. sewing or a jigsaw, and get engrossed, and before I know it an hour has passed and I realise I’ve not been aware of any thoughts, just had my mind on what my fingers are occupied with.

Aside from that I wanted to mention,

I tried a Lamp for S.A.D. in wintertime. Didn’t work for me. I kept it on approval on the 90 days guarantee and used it daily.

All I found was it gave me a headache from the piercing light.

I packaged it up, returned it and had a full value refund.

Has anyone else found one helps them when we are short of daylight hours?

Maggie yes daily hobbies are part of Mindfulness, I live alone, no family near now, can’t leave the house - yet.

I do crosswords, Killer suduko, cross stitch and family trees
research, not in a tizzy, I relax and enjoy them, and now I have
been bought an Echo Dot I play music I loved when young,
am listening to Fats Domino now , going to do some cross stitch now, doing two for my granddaughters.

It’s not a case of blocking out the past, that can’t be done but it
certainly stops me from dwelling on it x

Wish I knew how to say how I feel all day everyday at the mo,
I don’t or can’t I just don’t know any more..
does the health anxiety over take the depression or does the depression make the heath anxiety worse..

I did take CBD oil and yes I do think it helped me a lot.
I did stop, but will start again as soon has I can...
antidepressants umm was on them for 15 + years never really helped. I don’t think anything can help with the health anxiety think it something one has to learn to live with, if there is I would like to hear about it.
For depression I really do think counselling can help.
Have a peaceful Sunday all..

Annie I suppose daily hobbies are a form of mindfulness, would you agree? What works for you? I’m humbled to hear of the losses that you’ve endured, your spirit and kindness shine through.

Good afternoon to you all, so interesting to learn more about what makes people tick (or not). It seems that the virus has triggered/heightened things for a lot of us and it really has exacerbated my anxiety, although I’m not concerned about getting Covid. My biggest fear (as dear Joyce knows) is a fear of getting cancer and it rules my life (I’m really ashamed of this).

Interesting discussion you’ve started Annie. I’ve tried everything - medication, counselling, CBT, mindfulness and natural remedies such as SJW and CBD oil. Sadly nothing’s helped in the long term. I do feel though that mindfulness/meditation has to be the real way forward and I keep hoping I’ll get the knack! Does anyone feel it’s worked for them?

Puzzler no, not looking for myself, we talk about the nightmares of living with anxiety and depression so I thought
we could talk about treatments for them .

I had EMDR therapy last year for PTSD, recommended by
a counsellor from MIND, and with financial help from them,I didn’t know I had PTSD , have a great fear of snow ! amazing what one’s mind can block out. It certainly helped me.

I don’t want counselling for grief over my darling daughters
suicide, haven’t blocked it out, impossible to do so, I developed agoraphobia 3 years ago and was having help with
it until lockdown.

I am a firm believer in daily hobbies.

BlueSky Covid is causing much anxiety in people who were
never anxiety suffers,

Scaredycat i am glad you found this site, it was started by
Batty, who was a forum member , she wanted posters to share
and not be isolated , I supported her , she was brave to do it , there has been over 8,000 posts

Nonnie thanks. I would like to hug you as I can imagine few things if any, worse than losing and then forever grieving, for a child. I think that requires specialist counselling and with someone who maybe has first hand experience.

Thank goodness turns of phrase like being or not being mentally ill are no longer in use.
There is a whole spectrum of conditions of the mind, sometimes they play tricks on us, and thoughts can be taunting us and just need to be shrunk into the back of your mind instead of always jumping to the front and causing symptoms of panic.

This is a sentence that really opened up my mind :

Imagine you come upon that fast flowing river in which all your fears and worries are floating and those of your loved ones. You have a choice to either stand in the river and let the troubles flood around you, or you can stay on the bank and watch those troubles float by and let them go.

I am now able to acknowledge them, and allow them to pass by.

Scaredycat - thinking of you and hoping you find some comfort soon. It is very exhausting to feel scared, and on high alert all the time isn’t it?

Thank you so much for your kind words. Yes my username describes me pretty well at the moment!! I,ve dealt with some horrible events in my life but this present situation has really triggered the old anxiety feelings especially the physical ones. BUT have a lot to be grateful for and a lovely family. So glad I found this site . Enjoy your Sundays

Oh Nonnie my heart goes out to you and all the other people who tragically lost their children.

Hi all. Anxiety has been with me all my life. With children and grandchildren abroad the anxiety escalated almost out of control. Then I got used to the idea. ( had to) but the Covid brought it all back with a vengeance plus feelings of depression. I just take it one day at the time now.

Puzzler so good to hear from someone who got through, well done.

It seems many of us are wobbling and then coping then back to wobbling.

I wish I could tell my story to you all but can't because I would be outed on here. Let me just say that like annie I have faced many hard things over many years, starting as a young child. Fortunately they are things most people don't have to go through. Yes, I have coped and I have come through but I do wonder if I have been damaged by it all. I worry for so many people and even sometimes feel news items as strongly as if I knew the people concerned, I suppose that means I have anxiety.

On the other hand I constantly thank God for all the good things in my life and I have many. I wonder if that conflict is why CBT didn't work for me. I tried it with 2 different people but it felt as if they wanted me to pretend that what had happened hadn't and I couldn't do that. I wasn't any good at mindfulness, which I did online, as it asked me to write down how I was feeling each day and it didn't change! Might have done better with something face to face. I did have counselling after my son died, the first one told me I wasn't ready for counselling (and she had a soppy voice!) Second one was much better and managed to get me to talk much more than I had ever done to an outsider. She told me that in her opinion I was not mentally ill and that what I was feeling was perfectly normal.

Interesting thing this morning in online church. One of the readings was done by a blind woman, never seen that before. She was excellent. I think losing my sight would be the worst disability.

Happy Sunday all, or at least not unhappy.

Has anyone tried a support group? It took me a long time but I finally joined one just before lockdown so have yet to find out its impact but I feel hopeful.

Are you looking to take a different path, for a kick-start as it were, for yourself Annie ?

Have a good Sunday all ?

Counselling, (CBT). Annie as I was funding it I went online and chose a lady who I thought - from what I read about her professional qualifications, some things she said, and her photo - I would feel comfortable with. Remembering you are going to be divulging personal stuff, it needs to be someone you feel a bond or trust with. Call in instinctive.

Medication : I had one Citralopram tablet daily from my GP (still do).

Engaging: I embraced Mindfulness and started daily hobbies e.g. word and number puzzles, adult colouring books, jigsaws, Scrabble, cross-stitch and cooking for eating and pleasure.

I needed to get into cooking again as I lost all interest in food, lost my appetite and a lot of weight with anxiety and depression.

I’d recommend all these things and, just as importantly, I counted my blessings and began writing them down every morning, then progressed to just going over them in my mind at the beginning of each day.

Morning annie hope you are ok.
I think I am firmly in the anxiety camp. It’s worry about family really rather than depression.
Mindfulness helps I think if you stick to it. Sleep apps can help sleep. Counselling helped me with my claustrophobia. I didn’t think it did at the time but realised it did later.
Haven’t tried any of the others although I have found that certain smells (a perfume or certain flowers) can lift my spirits. Would that be classed as aromatherapy?
Have a good day all. ?

Hi all x

Your opinions on the many tried treatments for anxiety and depression

Counselling. Mindfulness. Hypnotherapy. Acupuncture.

Homeopathy. EFT. UMDR. Honey. Herbs. Essential Oils.

CBD Oil. Vitamins.

Good night Joce I hope you sleep well.

Evening all hope everyone’s doing ok, well, hopefully better than me... I won’t grumble..
I hope everyone has a peaceful nights sleep..
hugs for everyone. ?

I agree annie we should be able to talk about things without being embarrassed.
puzzler it is so good to hear you are in a better place and you had some help that worked for you.
This heat has made me really tired tonight. My eyes feel heavy. I may watch the evening online service and then head off to bed.
Sleep well all and have a peaceful night. x