Archive for the ‘Anxiety’ Category
Undecided Voter
Friday, September 5th, 2008by Susan
If my dad were alive he would vote for John McCain. If my grandchildren were old enough to vote they would vote for Barack Obama. I'm an undecided voter and as a senior citizen it puzzles me to be undecided at this time in my life. I usually make up my mind early. Somehow, this seems like a very important election to me......more so than all the other presidential elections I've voted in over the years.
Maybe my indecision has to do with increased depression.......I'm not sure. I do know that I feel a certain amount of anxiety associated with this election. This has been one of the most interesting races to date and I've probably spent too much time sitting around watching television and the Internet in an effort to learn as much as possible about the candidates and the issues.
I feel a bit of anger when some of my loved ones tell me who they are voting for and they haven't listened to the speeches of all the candidates. They obviously base their decision on something else.....but what? Have they done some other kind of homework so they are informed? Maybe I'm taking my one vote too seriously.
I found an interesting article about undecided voters at WebMD and learned that I may not be undecided at all. I just don't know it yet.
Triggers of Depression
Thursday, August 28th, 2008by Susan
My husband and I spent four days at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital with his mother who is 94 years of age. She is out of the hospital now and will be returning to the hospital soon for a procedure on her back. The many hours we spent in the ICU and adjoining waiting room were very similar to times when I was there for my own mother and for one of my sisters.
Needless to say, I believe the events of the past week have triggered some depressive feelings for me. My mother passed away in 1999. She was in the hospital for 10 days as a result of a fall due to the unsteadiness she suffered with Alzheimer's Disease. All of my sisters, as well as my brother visited and spent time together. We all rallied together again a few years later when one of my sisters spent 10 days in the ICU on life support.
I believe significant events such as loss of a loved one and life threatening illness of a loved one can trigger depression. I also believe similar events can re-trigger those same feelings of depression, fear and anxiety.
There are so many events in our lives that are possible triggers of depression. Job loss, financial problems, arguments with loved ones, death, illness and many many more. Some of us may be depressed due to genetics and chemical imbalance but these triggering events increase our levels of depression, sometimes to the point of immobilizing us for a short period of time. If you find yourself unable to function somewhat normally for you, get professional help as well as help from family members.
Here is an interesting site that lists many of the triggers of depression "Causes of Depression: Possible Triggers of Depression?"
Perfectionism: Do Your Worst!
Monday, August 4th, 2008I’m Having Anxiety Disorder Symptoms……..by Susan
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
I'm having some anxiety disorder symptoms this week and I know why. This coming Saturday, June 21st, my youngest of three sons is getting married. He will be moving out of our house and I dread the initial empty nest feeling I know I will experience. My oldest son will be coming home for the wedding and I feel a lot of anxiety about that as well. I have no explanation for this other than I am so happy and excited to see him that maybe my feelings are getting all confused inside.
My middle son and my daughter will be coming for the wedding too and this will be the first time all of us have been together for over four years. My husband and I are busy scurrying about getting things ready for the family gathering at our home. Today my husband and I bought, hauled and put away what seemed like tons of groceries. Tomorrow we'll clean house and mow the yard. Not bad for senior citizens.
The anxiety disorder symptoms I'm experiencing are headache, nervousness, sleeplessness and worrying. I'll do much better after the festivities begin......it's the anticipation and preparation that get me all flustered. I just hope I won't be shaking when I have two of my sons walk me down the aisle for the third one's wedding.
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My middle son and my daughter will be coming for the wedding too and this will be the first time all of us have been together for over four years. My husband and I are busy scurrying about getting things ready for the family gathering at our home. Today my husband and I bought, hauled and put away what seemed like tons of groceries. Tomorrow we'll clean house and mow the yard. Not bad for senior citizens.
The anxiety disorder symptoms I'm experiencing are headache, nervousness, sleeplessness and worrying. I'll do much better after the festivities begin......it's the anticipation and preparation that get me all flustered. I just hope I won't be shaking when I have two of my sons walk me down the aisle for the third one's wedding.
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Keeping Secrets in Your Relationship…….by Susan
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
Yesterday I learned of yet another secret that my spouse kept from me. He has had a need for over 40 years to keep secrets about things.....lots of things. I don't think it's good for our relationship, but this time I was prepared mentally to not stress out about his latest secret. His secrets usually involve hoarding money but there have been plenty of other things too. I calmly told him what I thought of his latest secret and went on about my business. Today it's bugging me.....so here I am blogging about keeping secrets in our closest relationships.
In my opinion good mental health involves having good relationships in our lives. It's not everything but it's pretty darned important. I think trust and openness in a relationship are vital to it's success and yet.....how has my relationship lasted over 40 years without these key ingredients? I think it is because for the most part, I've accepted this person for the very private and secretive person. However, by accepting this about him, I've also accepted a much lower level of intimacy in our relationship and therein lies one of the reasons for the anger, stress and anxiety I often feel.
I did an Internet search on keeping secrets and found an interesting article. The article weighs the pros and cons of keeping secrets in a relationship. My conclusion is that if you want intimacy in your relationships, reveal the secrets when it feels safe to do so.
I may have a problem in revealing too much about myself and my feelings.....I'm kind of an open book, so to speak. However, it feels like a good, honest way for me to be, so I guess I'll continue on my path while others 'keep on' keeping their secrets. Thanks for listening.
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In my opinion good mental health involves having good relationships in our lives. It's not everything but it's pretty darned important. I think trust and openness in a relationship are vital to it's success and yet.....how has my relationship lasted over 40 years without these key ingredients? I think it is because for the most part, I've accepted this person for the very private and secretive person. However, by accepting this about him, I've also accepted a much lower level of intimacy in our relationship and therein lies one of the reasons for the anger, stress and anxiety I often feel.
I did an Internet search on keeping secrets and found an interesting article. The article weighs the pros and cons of keeping secrets in a relationship. My conclusion is that if you want intimacy in your relationships, reveal the secrets when it feels safe to do so.
I may have a problem in revealing too much about myself and my feelings.....I'm kind of an open book, so to speak. However, it feels like a good, honest way for me to be, so I guess I'll continue on my path while others 'keep on' keeping their secrets. Thanks for listening.
Please visit:
Ozzieblackcat's home page
Happy Mental Health Month…..by Susan
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
May is Mental Health Month. This is a time for us to work harder at attempting to raise awareness about mental health issues.
According to the Mental Health Association, 95% of us talk to someone about important decisions in our lives. I would imagine this would include family members, other relatives, friends and professionals. It sounds like many of us are getting support and have friends.
I happened upon an article written by Dr. John Grohol which addresses the findings of the Mental Health Association. You can find it in the PsychCentral Newsletter. I think it is interesting. In the article there is a link to the survey and findings of the Mental Health Association. It's really worth reading.
I hope our blog readers have people in their lives who are supportive and lend an ear when you need it. David and I have found that having each others' support, makes a huge difference in our ability to keep on going when things are tough.
Happy Mental Health Month to everyone!
According to the Mental Health Association, 95% of us talk to someone about important decisions in our lives. I would imagine this would include family members, other relatives, friends and professionals. It sounds like many of us are getting support and have friends.
I happened upon an article written by Dr. John Grohol which addresses the findings of the Mental Health Association. You can find it in the PsychCentral Newsletter. I think it is interesting. In the article there is a link to the survey and findings of the Mental Health Association. It's really worth reading.
I hope our blog readers have people in their lives who are supportive and lend an ear when you need it. David and I have found that having each others' support, makes a huge difference in our ability to keep on going when things are tough.
Happy Mental Health Month to everyone!
Anticipation or Social Anxiety……..by Susan
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Many people who suffer from depression also have problems with social anxiety. I'm one of those many. Sometimes I find it difficult to distinguish eager anticipation from social anxiety. I often mistake eager anticipation for anxiety, and vice versa. I can only assume other people have similar experiences.
When waiting for visitors to arrive at our home, I frequently feel a mixture of eager anticipation and dreadful social anxiety. Actually..... I think I'm feeling a little of both at the same time. As you can already tell, I'm easily confused about just exactly what it is I'm feeling when awaiting a social situation.
Prior to my visitors arrival, I worry about how the house looks and how I look. I tend to fuss over silly details. After my visitors arrive or the social interaction gets underway, I usually become much more relaxed and begin to enjoy myself.
The most maddening thing for me is to feel this way not only when I'm expecting "visitors" but also when expecting family members, including my own adult children. My daughter told me recently that she had seen me at my very worst plenty of times, so don't worry. I think that's great advice but very hard advice to follow when you suffer from chronic anxiety. I keep her words in mind and work towards doing less worrying when it comes to social interactions. That's a step in the right direction, right?
When waiting for visitors to arrive at our home, I frequently feel a mixture of eager anticipation and dreadful social anxiety. Actually..... I think I'm feeling a little of both at the same time. As you can already tell, I'm easily confused about just exactly what it is I'm feeling when awaiting a social situation.
Prior to my visitors arrival, I worry about how the house looks and how I look. I tend to fuss over silly details. After my visitors arrive or the social interaction gets underway, I usually become much more relaxed and begin to enjoy myself.
The most maddening thing for me is to feel this way not only when I'm expecting "visitors" but also when expecting family members, including my own adult children. My daughter told me recently that she had seen me at my very worst plenty of times, so don't worry. I think that's great advice but very hard advice to follow when you suffer from chronic anxiety. I keep her words in mind and work towards doing less worrying when it comes to social interactions. That's a step in the right direction, right?
I Want My Normal Depressed Self Back………by Susan
Friday, March 14th, 2008
On February 28th I had surgery to remove my gall bladder. It was a simple laproscopic surgery and I had hoped to be back to "my" normal but somewhat depressed self by now.
I'm disappointed with how slowly I am recovering despite following all the doctors' orders. Maybe it has to do with my age or my general not too healthy condition, but whatever is slowing my recovery is also increasing my depression. I want to be back to "my" state of normal! A mild case of depression is "my" normal state of being. These past few weeks have been an exception and I don't like it one bit! I'm sure my family hasn't enjoyed it much either.
My husband and I get out and walk every day which is a big help to both my mental and physical health. When I can't walk outside, I pace the floors inside to get the exercise I know I need. In fact, I have contributed greatly to wearing out our carpet. I'm also wearing out our recliner and watching a lot of movies. I am enjoying the movies!
It's great to no longer have the daily nausea associated with my failing gall bladder. Lingering problems with healing are just as unpleasant for the time being. Fatigue seems to be controlling my days and evenings, so I haven't been on the computer as much as I would like to be. In my opinion fatigue and depression go hand in hand. I've experienced that many times before without having had surgery. On a good note, in spite of my general inactivity following surgery, I've actually lost a few pounds!
Wish me well and I'll try not to whine too many more times.
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I'm disappointed with how slowly I am recovering despite following all the doctors' orders. Maybe it has to do with my age or my general not too healthy condition, but whatever is slowing my recovery is also increasing my depression. I want to be back to "my" state of normal! A mild case of depression is "my" normal state of being. These past few weeks have been an exception and I don't like it one bit! I'm sure my family hasn't enjoyed it much either.
My husband and I get out and walk every day which is a big help to both my mental and physical health. When I can't walk outside, I pace the floors inside to get the exercise I know I need. In fact, I have contributed greatly to wearing out our carpet. I'm also wearing out our recliner and watching a lot of movies. I am enjoying the movies!
It's great to no longer have the daily nausea associated with my failing gall bladder. Lingering problems with healing are just as unpleasant for the time being. Fatigue seems to be controlling my days and evenings, so I haven't been on the computer as much as I would like to be. In my opinion fatigue and depression go hand in hand. I've experienced that many times before without having had surgery. On a good note, in spite of my general inactivity following surgery, I've actually lost a few pounds!
Wish me well and I'll try not to whine too many more times.
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My Avon Website
Know Who You are Ahead of Time………by David
Sunday, March 9th, 2008We are all as fair minded as we are going to be, at least for the time being anyway. We may bend a little from time to time depending on different circumstances. I feel a person needs to realize this ahead of time, so as not to be manipulated by others. Know who you are ahead of time!
Some people will try to make you feel guilty in an effort to get more out of you. They will attempt to get you to bend a lot more than you otherwise would. That is when some important clichés should come into effect such as “Stick to your guns†and “If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for everything.†Know ahead of time who you are.
There are abused women all over the country who don’t know who they are. They are made to feel guilty and through the guise of her man, he gets what he wants, whether it be sex or worship or both, usually both. These women lack the confidence to know who they are ahead of time.
We all know ahead of time there are certain things we won’t do such as going around taking our clothes off in public, robbing stores or shooting people. These may be extreme examples, but they are examples that most of us can give a clear yes or no answer to as far as whether we would do them or not. Well, I believe we can condition ourselves and change our lives by extending that principle to all aspects of our everyday living.
Will we allow people to manipulate us? Yes or no? If we are so lonely that we put up with that kind of behavior from people, then maybe there is no hope. Did you like seeing the words, no hope? I sure didn’t. I don’t even know you and I wouldn’t wish that on you or anyone!
If you were in Missouri and you were going to drive to California, you shouldn't end up in Maine. You would want to follow a road map which is what I think we all need in our everyday lives, along with the most important words, yes or no.....not maybe!