Music seems to feed my anxiety?

[Claire Andrea]

It's difficult to explain. It's been many years since music, in general, any kind of music, causes me certain reactions. I've been able to quit smoking or stop drinking, but I can't stop listening to music even though I know it might be feeding my anxiety.

When I start feeling desperate which is every time in the day in which I am left alone, I take my headphones and play music and start imagining things that might never really happen in real life. I feel the need to jump or move, and if I don't do this I feel bad, but I also do feel bad for doing this for I can't stop. Hours and hours spent in this strange habit; sometimes, I even need to lock myself in the bathroom in order to listen to it and jump or move without people staring strange at me.

I mentioned this once to my teraphist, but it seems she does not consider it important. Is this a common practice in life? To go around hiding to jump and listen to music that helps you to imagine your life as you wish it was? I can react to any kind of music rock, pop, country, even classical, when I listen to it, it's as if through the headphones thousands of possibilities, unreal moments, appear in my head, and I feel satisfied. But when I can't do this, or when I'm forced to stop in order to continue with life everything is so depressing due to the contrast within real and unreal. I write, I Paint, I run, and still I can't quit this habit.

Can someone please tell me how to quit this or if it is normal?

 

[janemariesayed]

It seems as though your listening to music is also helping your anxieties as you say it satisfies you. The fact that you do it for hours and feel as though you have to hide yourself away, though, says otherwise. If listening to music takes you to a place in your mind that makes you feel better then what is wrong with that? You're not crazy because you do that.

Sometimes I like to listen to music and have a dance around but if someone walked into the room and saw me I would be so embarrassed. So I would do what you do and dance around in private.

Listening to music helps you to be creative in your mind, it must be feeding your creative side and assisting your painting and writing. I think you should embrace it and use it.

 

[Sweed1]

Sometimes music is a great escape from the world, but not all the time. Maybe you should attempt to channel your attention into a new hobby. Such things as gardening or nature walks away from other people to let your mind focus outward instead of constantly being plugged into music. It seems everywhere I go these days people are plugged into their cellphones or music, I miss the days before electronics took over when you could speak easily to people and know that they could actually
hear you.
I too have gone through times when a habit has separated me from the real world for a period of time and it was like having a safe place to hide. But then I realized how much of my life was being hidden away from the real world and how much I was missing. So maybe you should try to break out of this habit for several hours a day and see if your mental health improves, as hiding inside ones safe place is a sign of depression and just forcing your self to try something new might be a better path to follow.