gamingeek said:

I was going to ask what the source of your anxiety was, but you said medical problems.

I suffered from bad anxiety for probably as long as you have. What changed for me were 3 things, getting older helps, you just get more comfortable in your own skin. Travelling also helped, I know its an expensive option but getting out of your bubble and seeing the way different people around the world live, changes your perspective on life, and meeting and mixing with different people. And also the very act of travelling to distant locations around the world made me realise that the world is so huge and you tend to just focus and obsess over the very small bubble of your life. When you see people drying cow shit on a wicker roof in the Indian countryside, for fuel, it makes you reconsider if the things that bother you are so important.

But the biggest thing was that argument with my brother years ago, we are talking now but it was a pivotal moment for me. Because it flipped a switch, I just gave up caring. And I think that's something that a lot of people with anxiety need. Narciscistic people (spelling wrong?) are happier than most because they love themselves and don't care about other people as much. Yes they are douchebags but they are happier. When I gave up caring what other people think of me and adopted a fuck everything point of view - up to a point (i'm not some total douche) it just let me become a lot calmer and happier. So I don't know what kind of medical problems you have, I had a cancer scare a couple of years back which dominated my life for a few months. I just gave up caring. If you can just say to yourself, whatever happens, happens. You can go with the flow and just accept it. Its easier to say, than to actually do and its not something you can just decide, for me it was a gradual process that just led up to this point where I just thought, fuck it. Whatever.

Yeah unfortunately my stupid brain wants to keep sending signals to my body that somethings wrong. It doesn’t know what but somethings wrong. Was hoping that it would have been something that went away when I got older but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. I’m glad that you were able to have gotten past it.

Archangel3371 said:

Yeah unfortunately my stupid brain wants to keep sending signals to my body that somethings wrong. It doesn’t know what but somethings wrong. Was hoping that it would have been something that went away when I got older but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. I’m glad that you were able to have gotten past it.

The generalized anxiety is the worst. I fortunately don't have it constantly, but it hits sometimes. It's one thing to have anxiety over a specific thing, that's manageable. But just getting hit with the anxiety hammer for no reason? That's just dirty.

RV Show sounds boring.

I think I created a thread not too long ago addressing my sleep issues.  Stress and anxiety, I suppose. I'm now beginning to get some good sleep, but work starts again next week.

Thanks for sharing Archie, just reading others experiences is helpful. I wouldn't say I have anxiety at the level of a medical condition cause I've never had a panic attack or felt sick, but I defeintly get really nervous whenever I get into social situations that are not normal for me. So I just don't go out and that's a problem for me. After I while I settle down but im always anxious just going to party or hanging out with people I don't know. Anyway there is no shame in this, take medication if it helps, mental health is HUGE.

On the topic of sleep, I get like 6 hours a night not because I can't sleep but because I want to do things. Either play a game, read a book, watch a show. I know the moment I sleep I am back on the hamster wheel for another 12 hours. But as the week goes on I get really tired and just pass out doing those activities. There are moments, a lot more lately, where I do think about problems. Clearly the state of the world and specifically my state is maddening. I have family members that sadly have complete opposite brainwashed views on the world and the vaccine and it drives me nuts that I can't get through to them. Any time I let that into my brain before sleep I have a bad night. So that's why I just do what I love, the stuff that keeps me sane in an insane world.