Hello there!

[Chorizo_13]

Hello,

My name is Reezy, and I am brand new here. I recently read a book from someone who used these online forums as a coping mechanism, and I thought I would give it a try.

I have had depression and anxiety since I was 10 years old (I'm now almost 30). I have recently had worsening symptoms of anxiety, to the point where I am struggling to maintain my work schedule. I hope to learn some new coping techniques or even some alternative medicinal options.

Thank you for having this resource here.

 

[janemariesayed]

Hello,

My name is Reezy, and I am brand new here. I recently read a book from someone who used these online forums as a coping mechanism, and I thought I would give it a try.

I have had depression and anxiety since I was 10 years old (I'm now almost 30). I have recently had worsening symptoms of anxiety, to the point where I am struggling to maintain my work schedule. I hope to learn some new coping techniques or even some alternative medicinal options.

Thank you for having this resource here.

Hiya Reezy and a very warm welcome to our friendly community. You have found the right place to come for friendly support and understanding. I'm sorry that you have suffered from this for such a long time. There are some coping techniques on here in the forums and the YouTube thread. We often get support just by chatting with each other and knowing that we are not alone.
Again, welcome, and I'm looking forward to reading your posts.

 

[Kaynil]

I like your username Reezy.
I think is pretty cool someone would recommend this place in their book. Glad you found this spot.
Many of us suffer from different stuff. We're happy to listen, share experiences and support each other.

If you haven't already, you could start a new thread telling us in more detail about your work schedule and how anxiety manifests for you. That'd make it easier for us to give our input.

 

[Claraviolet]

Hi Reezy.
Welcome to Anxiety forums. It's truly a pleasure to meet you. You are right about interacting with people for coping with the anxiety. It helps a lot. It can't do wonders but it would help you a lot in the long run.
Anxiety is not easy for others to understand and I gave up on making others understand my situations and panic attacks. For them, it can be easily solved as it's only in my brain and that's not true at all.
So, getting advice from people who experience is the best way to get some quality techniques to make it bearable.
If you could give us more information, we could help you.

 

[Chorizo_13]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

I work in a call center, and lately the volume has increased for our inbound calls, to the point where there are dozens of folks waiting in queue to speak with us. Previously, we would have some time between the calls from customers so I had some time to breathe.

Right now I am working four 10 hour days so I can have 3 days off. Generally speaking, the length of the day isn't something that affects the anxiety. It's more the overwhelming nature of having to be "on" for such an extended period of time (between scheduled breaks).

The anxiety tends to happen first thing in the morning, and that is also when I tend to get any kind of "attack."

I think a lot of it has to do with the inherent negativity of being a customer support line, so you never know when someone might blow up at you (I don't like confrontation haha), but a big part of it is that whole process of developing a relationship with someone, and then someone else, and then someone else, and so on.

Currently I am reading about meditation, and the various techniques for it. I am also taking medication (Lexapro 20mg, Vitamin D, and Buspar 5mg twice daily. I have Hydroxyzine as needed, but it makes me drowsy and I get wicked dry mouth).

What sorts of grounding or other techniques do you use when you can feel an attack coming on?