I have been feeling super anxious lately about everything coming my way and it has gotten so bad that it even made me ignore messages from my friends and a response from me would take a few days when i used to reply immediately before. The thing is I don’t even understand where the source of such anxiousness is coming from, it has started to affect my daily life. I have had moments when I felt so overwhelmed by emotions when eating a meal and I had to stop eating to close my eyes and take in deep breaths to regulate my breathing. There were also countless times throughout the day where I had needed to stop what I was doing and regulate my breathing as my heart was beating too fast and making me lightheaded. I will also hear a high pitch ringing in my ears once ever few days - this is a thing I started having when there was a period of time last year when I had faced an immense amount of stress. Is there a way that I can start to feel and function my normal self again? Any advice?
Hi @User1445,
Thank you for sharing what you’re going through—I can hear how overwhelming this anxiety has been for you, especially when it starts to affect your daily life. The symptoms you’ve described, like feeling overwhelmed while eating, rapid heartbeats, and the ringing in your ears, are all signs that your body is in a heightened state of stress.
It’s completely understandable that it feels difficult to know where the anxiety is coming from. Sometimes, our body reacts to stress and anxiety even when we’re not fully aware of the source, which can make it harder to manage.
There are numerous potential causes of what you have described. I am not equipped to diagnose your condition, perhaps it would be best that you could reach out to a medical professional to assist you on this, since this is the first time that you are experiencing this?
Otherwise, if you are cleared from any physical impairments, here are a few things you might find helpful:
- Grounding Techniques: When you feel overwhelmed, try simple grounding exercises like placing both feet firmly on the ground, taking slow, deep breaths, and paying attention to your senses (e.g., what you can see, hear, or touch). This can help anchor you in the present moment and bring your body out of that fight-or-flight response.
- Recognizing Patterns: It can be helpful to keep track of when the anxiety feels the most intense, like during meals or social interactions. Writing these down may help you notice patterns that can give you more insight into what might be contributing to your feelings of overwhelm.
- Cognitive Breaks: You mentioned needing to regulate your breathing throughout the day, which shows that you’re already trying to manage this anxiety. Maybe you could introduce more frequent, short breaks during your day to focus on breathing or mindfulness. Sometimes taking a moment can prevent emotions from becoming too overwhelming.
- Reaching Out Gradually: If it feels overwhelming to respond to friends right away, consider replying to just one person a day. Taking small steps to reconnect with your social circle might help you feel a bit less isolated and overwhelmed.
It’s important to remember that anxiety can sometimes have both physical and emotional effects. If this continues to impact your daily life, it might be helpful to speak with a therapist who can work with you on tools for managing these feelings.
Take care, and be gentle with yourself during this time.
hey @user1445, thank you for sharing. as someone who has struggled with bad anxiety in the past before, i hear you. just never knew where it came from sometimes, it decides it should just pop in randomly, out of nowhere, uncalled for. affected my social functioning too. and all my other daily functioning. i’m sorry to hear what you’re going through.
i think FuYuan_Affections’ advice is fantastic and i agree on them all, so i wish to share some of my own experiences that may be applicable to you.
i’m not sure if this helps in any way but, if there was something i wished i did back then that i believe would’ve helped me, it’s to speak to a professional. i didn’t want to because of the price, and probably other reasons that i’m not fully aware of. they can work with you to figure out what the source of your anxiety is and guide you through identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and working on them. so if you are comfortable doing so, i do think it’s a good idea to see a professional.
apart from that, i personally find it helpful to occupy myself with activities that make me happy. in a sense where i will physically smile or laugh, like watching shows, wholesome videos or stories, or hanging out with someone that i can laugh with (i found that easier than talking on text). activities that require your full focus on it helps too. i also enjoyed going to places that help me relax - somewhere with a nice scenery, nice atmosphere, eating good food. it was also helpful to me to lean on a trusted person. to cry to them, vent to them, show them my moments. it’s okay to do that.
i also want to let you know that your feelings are completely valid. please don’t blame yourself for being unable to reach out to your friends, and don’t force yourself to do anything that you’re not comfortable with. i understand how frustrating it is to want to feel normal again. please be kind to yourself. take things slow, and do things that bring you joy. you will get better 