Overcoming anxiety caused by thinking about work

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kamiyu910
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07 Jun 2015, 2:25 am

My anxiety has gotten a lot worse with all the stress that has been piling up, and I don't know how to work around this. I have to get this project done (art design) but every time I even think about it, I start freaking out.

I now have this massive aversion to the project, and I've noticed I've started getting an aversion to a things like housework (not the normal aversion but the panic) and I'm not sure how to fix this. We've been so stressed this past year, especially the last couple months, I feel like my body doesn't want to add to it. But it still has to get done...


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Adamantium
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07 Jun 2015, 10:35 am

Sorry that you are going through this.

Something possibly a bit similar happens to me. Perhaps my approaches to dealing with it will help you.

1) I don't really trust or believe in the anxiety any more. When I am anxious, my thinking is distorted. Sometimes just remembering that somehow relaxes me a little bit and some of the anxiety bleeds away. If the anxiety is very strong and I am imagining the worst and feeling physical sensations from it, I take a pill that knocks it right down.

2) There is usually some specific sticking point that is making it hard for me to get going on the project. This could be information that I don't have, or a procedure that I don't know how to do, or something of that kind. What is always helpful is to immediately ask someone for the information or details on the procedure.

3) It all feels like an overwhelming mess and you don't know where to begin. But when you analyze a specific part of it, it's perfectly clear what needs to be done. So just do that. After a while, the other parts will also be clear and eventually you will have done the whole thing. It's like the old cliche: the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take that step.

You have almost certainly been in this sort of position before and worked your way out. Now is the time to do that again.

Good luck.



btbnnyr
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07 Jun 2015, 2:23 pm

Adamantium wrote:
Sorry that you are going through this.

Something possibly a bit similar happens to me. Perhaps my approaches to dealing with it will help you.

1) I don't really trust or believe in the anxiety any more. When I am anxious, my thinking is distorted. Sometimes just remembering that somehow relaxes me a little bit and some of the anxiety bleeds away. If the anxiety is very strong and I am imagining the worst and feeling physical sensations from it, I take a pill that knocks it right down.

2) There is usually some specific sticking point that is making it hard for me to get going on the project. This could be information that I don't have, or a procedure that I don't know how to do, or something of that kind. What is always helpful is to immediately ask someone for the information or details on the procedure.

3) It all feels like an overwhelming mess and you don't know where to begin. But when you analyze a specific part of it, it's perfectly clear what needs to be done. So just do that. After a while, the other parts will also be clear and eventually you will have done the whole thing. It's like the old cliche: the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take that step.

You have almost certainly been in this sort of position before and worked your way out. Now is the time to do that again.

Good luck.


Does #1 mean that you have learned to defocus from the anxious feelings instead of getting sucked into them and making it worse? I find that I learned to defocus from them, and this helps me get on with things.


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Adamantium
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07 Jun 2015, 2:42 pm

btbnnyr wrote:
Adamantium wrote:
Sorry that you are going through this.

Something possibly a bit similar happens to me. Perhaps my approaches to dealing with it will help you.

1) I don't really trust or believe in the anxiety any more. When I am anxious, my thinking is distorted. Sometimes just remembering that somehow relaxes me a little bit and some of the anxiety bleeds away. If the anxiety is very strong and I am imagining the worst and feeling physical sensations from it, I take a pill that knocks it right down.

2) There is usually some specific sticking point that is making it hard for me to get going on the project. This could be information that I don't have, or a procedure that I don't know how to do, or something of that kind. What is always helpful is to immediately ask someone for the information or details on the procedure.

3) It all feels like an overwhelming mess and you don't know where to begin. But when you analyze a specific part of it, it's perfectly clear what needs to be done. So just do that. After a while, the other parts will also be clear and eventually you will have done the whole thing. It's like the old cliche: the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take that step.

You have almost certainly been in this sort of position before and worked your way out. Now is the time to do that again.

Good luck.


Does #1 mean that you have learned to defocus from the anxious feelings instead of getting sucked into them and making it worse? I find that I learned to defocus from them, and this helps me get on with things.


Yes, that sounds right.

But there is this very specific moment when it's starting and I am reacting to the anxious feelings and starting up with some catastrophic thinking, and I remember how it's been in the past and have this moment of saying, "Oh, wait--this is that anxiety again-it isn't real, and I don't have to take it seriously."

That often allows me to sort of ease off it and refocus on other things.



kamiyu910
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12 Jun 2015, 12:22 am

I'll have to try the different suggestions, thank you :)


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Your Aspie score: 171 of 200
Your Neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 40 of 200