I wish I didn't have to worry about anything
Sometimes I just I didn't have to worry anymore about Covid, the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine and so on. The only ongoing crisis I don't worry about much is global warming. The thing is I don't like or enjoy talking about something negative I want to get it off my chest and get some reassurance that something isn't as bad as I seem to think it is. I get frustrated particularly when people in my family I live with tell me that they have been busy all day and want to sit down and relax and tell me that I should have talked about it earlier in the day and then I choose to go away in my room with my thoughts going on in my head. I seem to think that if covid wasn't around and the war in Ukraine wasn't going on and just the cost of living crisis was going on I wouldn't worry about that as I seem to think I don't go around wasting and spending so much money anyway. For a week or more now I've stopped watching the news altogether and I feel better that I'm not looking at it. I don't know whether I should seek a help with a professional again but I don't need any more doses of medication to suppress the negative thoughts.
Me too. I hate having things to worry about. It's like I can be feeling happy and ready to take on the world, when all of a sudden something in my brain says, "hey, you remember covid? Your turn is coming! And you know the war between Russia and Ukraine? That'll just get worse until Putin kills us all with his nuclear weapons. And you know cancer? That runs in your family and all your relatives are going to get it and die until you're the last one left, and because socially you're s**t you'll never make friends to replace your family. Oh, and by the way, that slight cramp you keep getting is probably ovarian cancer and it's probably already too late".
Then I can't relax and be happy any more.
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Female
I have been saying to people not to watch the news for a while as I have to be honest that it does have a negative mental effect.
The issue with the news is that negativity sells so one never gets a balanced view.
Life is not as negative as the news portrays. (Ok, if one is in the middle of a war it may be different or going through a crises!)
What I am trying to say that in real life we get good seasons and rough ones but we know that like the rainy weather, good seasons follow the rain.
And this is how life should be.
So yes. Avoid the news. Just focus on the good things.
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And this is how life should be.
That is a good way of looking at it.
But it's not just news on the TV, it's news on Facebook and this very forum. I try to stay away from the news and current events and PPR but sometimes when I'm bored on WP I wander on to the sections I don't normally visit and then see things I wish I hadn't seen then I go into panic mode. Also some triggering things are posted in the GAD section. It's like people see a study from somewhere and have to post it, just to fearmonger or to write some stupid joke about it that I don't find funny. I hate being told that my autism will be the death of me.
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Female
Is why I am being selective of what I read and reply to as I want to avoid mentally stressing things.
When we go outside and look at the sky or the scenery around us, all is ok. The insects and birds and other things are all enjoying themselves doing things that they like to do just like they have always done. Everythings ok.
We need to know that at times. We need to know that. We need to walk through a field or explore a new path... We need the assurance that all around us is happy and safe.
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Ditto, but I'm a natural worrier. The same ones you guys got plus my own physical health which could definitely be doing better... oh, and my personal financial situation, but I suppose we all worry about that to some extent.
Anyway, what helps for me is to think what can I do to make the situation better, as well as thinking "It's bad, but at least I don't have it as bad as person X or as bad as it could be, like at least the situation's not Y."
You know, in my head I always whine about my boring dead end job with a low pay, but then I remind myself that it could be worse, I could be unemployed. And since I've actually been in that situation, too, I know that it's definitely worse. Reminders like these help for me personally.
I don't really know anyone who has it worse than me. My (late) mum did have it worse than me when she had cancer and I tried not to push all my problems on to her when she was ill, because I knew that she had the worst thing you could ever have, much worse than autism. But I didn't like to think "at least I haven't got cancer like my mum", because then it would feel like I'm boasting to myself. I just cried and worried for her, because I loved her so much that her having cancer was just as bad as if I had cancer.
Now I'm obviously missing my mum, which doesn't do my mental health much good, although I am carrying on with my life and trying to paste a smile on my face when I'm around people. But nobody else in my family has to suffer with any autism s**t, and those with traits still have normal social lives and lots of friends, so that isn't very comforting for me really. Yes I know they have their problems but at least they ain't got life-threatening illnesses or autism.
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Female
No matter how "bad" autism is, it's never as bad (autism without any co-morbids) as having a chronic illness.
If I spent my life just having autism, and never get a chronic illness, I would count myself fortunate.
That's the way I feel about it.
It's a pain in the butt---and it can get unpleasant. But at least I'm not experiencing physical discomfort because of the autism.
I've found that you can learn to ignore it even if you'll still feel the physical symptoms. When it comes to disorder, the things you worry about are sought out to fuel the specific anxiety disorder; one worry will switch to another as they aren't a "threat" anymore, and one will eventually begin to worry about things that aren't actually a threat at all. The longer you ignore it, your worry will continue to ameliorate along with the physical symptoms. Certain things can trigger anxiety disorders, but you can learn to ignore them all the same and face those phobias, and if you don't you can get disorder feeding off disorder, which just makes it harder.
I only have a couple of panic attacks daily now and you wouldn't even know it as I just ignore them too (I usually wake up with one and have another in the evening). Whereas 20 years ago they'd be back to back and I'd let them affect me to the point of non-functioning. You don't want to get to where I was with the latter, because that leads to the hospital and can bring out more severe mental illness if one is prone to it. Note how I said, "'I'd let them... .'". My fight or flight is stuck on because of those violent things, which is why I get that panic. You can even do this in the face of disorders that are far more stubborn than anxiety ones. You can ignore hallucinations or intrusive thoughts if you really want to.
This is just me though, but I don't think I'm any more mentally and/or emotionally resilient than anyone else. I think I'm pretty weak there actually.
Now I'm obviously missing my mum, which doesn't do my mental health much good, although I am carrying on with my life and trying to paste a smile on my face when I'm around people. But nobody else in my family has to suffer with any autism s**t, and those with traits still have normal social lives and lots of friends, so that isn't very comforting for me really. Yes I know they have their problems but at least they ain't got life-threatening illnesses or autism.
Neither do I as far as I know. Of course, someone that I know could have cancer and simply hasn't told me, that has happened before, but yeah, as far as I know, no one in my circles got it worse than me at the moment... but the thing is, I don't limit it to people I know when I think at least I don't have it as bad as X.
For example, I'm a low wage person with autism and chronic conditions, but... at least I don't live in Ukraine. Bet there are people who have problems like mine and even worse in Ukraine, too. Not that there's anything wrong with the country itself, but in these times of war, I'm glad I don't live there.
If I spent my life just having autism, and never get a chronic illness, I would count myself fortunate.
That's the way I feel about it.
It's a pain in the butt---and it can get unpleasant. But at least I'm not experiencing physical discomfort because of the autism.
I've got two along with autism, and either could cost me my life at some point. Now the other one's pretty hush hush but the medication for the other is expensive and constant... am I allowed to whine?
I only have a couple of panic attacks daily now and you wouldn't even know it as I just ignore them too (I usually wake up with one and have another in the evening). Whereas 20 years ago they'd be back to back and I'd let them affect me to the point of non-functioning. You don't want to get to where I was with the latter, because that leads to the hospital and can bring out more severe mental illness if one is prone to it. Note how I said, "'I'd let them... .'". My fight or flight is stuck on because of those violent things, which is why I get that panic. You can even do this in the face of disorders that are far more stubborn than anxiety ones. You can ignore hallucinations or intrusive thoughts if you really want to.
This is just me though, but I don't think I'm any more mentally and/or emotionally resilient than anyone else. I think I'm pretty weak there actually.
It's easy to say that, but when worrying or fretting is wired into your personality it's hard to just ignore your feelings. My mum was a born worrier and I've inherited the trait.
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Female
It's hard to say and far harder to do, but it can be done. It's more a warning not to get to the point I did because there's always the chance it continues to accelerate. One can smolder along at a "tolerable" level of anxiety for life, but there's a point where one combusts and your psyche is burnt away. I don't sleep without powerful tranquilizers because of the burns.
