How do i stop myself worrying so much?

Question

I'm a 27 year old male, i suffer with depression and OCD thing is i worry so much over everything. so much so that i get breathless and a tightning of the chest. i've worried like this since i was a boy. and i think i get it from my mum who also worries alot and being brought up by just my mum with little to no family was told all my mums worries from an early age, even encourged to worry like my mum, does anyone else suffer like this if so how do you relax, how do you block the worries from your mind? and how does it make you feel?
im currently taking prozac for my depression, but makes no diffrence, thanks in advance

Answer 1

god you must feel so trapped. i dont know what to say. nothing is worth making yourself ill over. ive heard about the brain being able to get retrained. i am so sorry for your situation

Answer 2

I have lots of OCDs mainly relating to superstition and worry far too much about things that could happen. Something will pop into my head and i'll jolt with worry over what might happen and sometimes physically feel sick about the idea. I find that if I keep repeating in my head 'if it happens, its happens, worry about it when it does' over and over then it starts to make sense why I shouldn't be worrying about something that may not even happen. It is only a temporary solution until something else comes up but it does give me a break from worrying all the time. Reading a good book also helps me. Hope things get better soon.

Answer 3

According to the reading I have done regarding hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) the brain, when it senses that blood sugar is low, will do sometimes strange things to get the blood sugar (glucose) out of storage and into the blood stream. Adrenaline is one sure way to do this. If worrying causes you to get an adrenaline rush, then low blood sugar is probably the cause.

Suggestion? The next time you catch yourself worrying or feeling depressed, go to the kitchen and get some protein, meat, a can of tuna or whatever, and eat it. Also have some carbohydrate, like a handful of chips, or some carrots/celery and some nuts or peanut butter. Eat at least 2 ounces of the protein. Then drink a glass of water and do something else for 30 minutes, preferrably something fun or active, like singing or jumping jacks. You may find your depression or worry has lessened a bit.

Chronic low blood sugar can also cause self-esteem problems, anger management problems and a whole bunch of other physical and mental nasties. You may want to check out the symptoms link on www.hufa.org, and see how you check out.

You may also want to search Yahoo!Answers for this topic OCD, as it is asked regularly, and has gotten some great answers.

Answer 4

I know exactly how you feel! I've been like this practically all my life and as I get older (I'm 28 now) I find that my anxiety gets worse.

I have just bought a pack called the 'Linden Method' which is written by Charles Linden who suffered from extreme social anxiety and panic disorder and has developed his own way of almost completely curing himself. Since then he has been helping people worldwide get over anxiety and panic disorder. It's £117 which isn't cheap but you get a manual, 1 DVD and 5 CDs. You also get one year's free telephone counselling with his inhouse counsellors and psychologists. The advice seems very simple but when you think about it it all makes sense but it takes work on your part - no-one else can help you but yourself. Just type in 'Linden Method' in the Google browser and the website will come up.

I only bought the Linden Method a month ago. I'm having a difficult time but I'm determined this is going to work!

Good luck!

Answer 5

There is a lot of good information on the net about the latest ways of coping with OCD - my own son has symptoms so I went on a search on the topic. I once had an episode of depression which was like a winter in my brain, fortunately it passed, and I hope yours does before long. Your doctor may be able to prescribe something that works better for you.
In the meantime, eat well and take some form of gentle exercise daily to keep your general health up. Best wishes.

Answer 6

Find a hobby, read, find someone you can use as a "panic" buddy who you can just call and have them calm you down. If the Prozac isn't helping then ask your doctor to try something else and keep trying other meds until something does work. So many people suffer from so many different types of depression that there are literally hundreds of meds to chose from....Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

The best way forward is to re-learn how you cope with life in general. If you allow yourself to dwell on the past and sad memories etc you will continue to re-live them over and over again.
I have been where you are, ie on prozac and having depressive thoughts, but I have beaten them both.
It's a matter of finding other ways to deal with problems. I started to take control by being more aware of the dark spirals and learning to reduce the length of time I allowed them to control my mood. You need to practise stopping the negative thoughts from taking you over, its a slow process but if you deliberately intervene in the process you can learn to control things more and more. Develope some strategies for distracting yourself and build up on these by using them when ever you feel you are being controlled by negative thoughts. I also slowly weaned myself off 2 prozac a day and have never taken them since. Do you have any support networks where you live, perhaps a self help group to motivate you.

Answer 8

you have to get yrself in to a pattern. like when yr at home the only thing you think about should be regular things. talking to friends watching tv. doing some jobs etc...... each thing as it occurs not going over things that have happened or things that might be. one thing as it comes up is the way. disregard all others. as soon as you find yrself starting to think of other things call a friend and change the thinking process. prozac i think is a waste of time
try some st johns wart tea twice a day once in the morning and once in the afternoon. this with relax and calm you. youll find this at any health shop

Answer 9

I'm 28 and have real problems with anxiety. The only advise I can give is deep breathing. When the panic gets so bad you feel yourself really starting to freak out, sit down and take some deep breaths,,, concentrating only on your breathing. I know that sounds like crap advice but it's helped me in the past.

Oh one more thing... i found laying off the coffee and coke/other high caffeine products in favour of chamomile tea/raspberry tea helps take the edge off things.

Answer 10

You might benefit from another medication for the OCD. There have been tests of Tramadol (Ultram) that look promising, and Luvox is approved by the FDA for treatment of OCD. Talk to your doctor about taking a calming medication in addition to the antidepressant.

Answer 11

Maybe you should sing Woody Guthrie's song to yourself and it may help you stand outside of these feelings.

WORRIED MAN BLUES

Oh it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
Yes, it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
Yes it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now but I won't be worried long!

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