[The Lizard of Oz]

(12-23-2013 03:53 PM)pants Wrote:  

Yes, there are several angels I will start working in 2014.

-Get some friends on a deeper level.
-Some regular girls I can nail every week. Truth is i have not gotten laid in 3 months now. I can direct 40% of my anxiety in that direction.
-Move into a more private apartment. Right now I rent a bedroom in a house. Not exactly private. Would be nice to have a place I could really unwind after a day working.
- Need to learn how to express myself better. I hardly ever get mad at people or demand anything. Lots of emotions are just bottled up.

Reason for this thread was more to hear from people suffering, and what actions they took to get out of it.

Appreciate the advice given so far, many things I will put on my schedule for 2014!

One more thing: the above all sounds good, but it's also important not to overwhelm yourself with excessive expectations about what you hope to accomplish.

Part of anxiety is trying to solve your problems all at once, then feeling let down if some of these goals are not immediately reached, then feeling anxious about that, in turn, and so on. A vicious cycle.

Instead, you should accept that the anxiety is something that is likely to be around for a while, and that it is not a catastrophe -- it is an annoying problem that you can live with, and with some effort, improve over time but maybe never completely eliminate. Don't make yourself more anxious or beat yourself up because you've decided that you must eliminate anxiety, yet you still have it. This happens to anxious people all the time. By the way, this is one of the most basic lessons that CBT would teach you.

Bottom line, take some rational steps that are likely to reduce your anxiety over time, but also don't expect it to be gone overnight and don't worry or stress about it still being there. You can still enjoy your life even with some anxiety, though you'll certainly enjoy it even more once it is reduced.