[Help] More anxiety as i get older

[BLOCK F]

Just to say, as has been said before exercise really helps. I have been swimming 5 or 6 mornings a week for 2 months after my first exercise loves (football and running) have been taken away from me because of back issues. I disliked swimming until recently but in those 2 months I have improved dramatically and there is no better feeling for me than getting out of the pool after 30 minutes feeling lively, refreshed and with the whole day still in front of me.

Yesterday was a day off from swimming, and I was knackered after having my second covid jab so I was feeling melancholy when I wrote what I wrote. But when I've been swimming, I'm a different person.

I used to swim regularly at Donyngs in the early morning when we lived in Reigate.Loved it, always had a good laugh and chat with fellow swimmers in the showers afterwards.
Like yourself, I have a back condition and can’t even enjoy a walk anymore, but living almost literally on the beach means I can swim in the sea, which I do from April to October. Some think I am mad, but it does do wonders for my physical and mental well-being!
It is good to see so much honesty and genuine kindness on this excellent thread.

 

[Wardy's twin]

The sudden onset of OCD for me during the early part of lockdown (bizarrely not germ-related) has really knocked me for six mentally over the past year or so. Secondary depression/severe anxiety is a very common side effect of having OCD, and that's definitely hit me hard. Standard things such as not enjoying hobbies/days out/activities that I used to really enjoy etc. I've been receiving private therapy, and also had an appointment with the top OCD specialist in the country, which has definitely given me an enormous amount of perspective into and knowledge of the condition. However, it's coming to terms with the fact that what I'm suffering from isn't something that is just going to go away overnight. It's likely something that will be with me for the long-term, which can sometimes make me feel REALLY down, so my focus is on trying to change my attitude towards it and life my life according to my rules rather than OCD's, But, like a lot of other things, that's a lot easier said than done.

That was a long way of saying you're definitely not alone, OP.

I have full empathy with this. As a result of anxiety i went into a deep bout of OCD. I had often shown symptoms (e.g. me rushing round the house checking switches & DOORS when the taxi to the airport was waiting) but those incidents were mild & contained and almost like a ritual to end work before I could go on and enjoy my holiday. Proper OCD hit me big time 8-9 years ago. I had been bottling up the anxiety with work for about 4 years , then i slipped into full OCD and it was paralysing, I was going through the routine of counting on my fingers the thing I was repeat checking all the time one half of my brain was saying this is wrong. The 'cure' for me was coming out into the open and sharing my problem, maxing out on citalopram and taking time of work (2 months) and when I came back i said i am not going to manage people again which was source of my problem. I was lucky because i finally got a GP who understood and greatly helped and work were good and allowed me to change. Things have been a lot better , and were better still after I retired.

P.S. Early on I used the word cured, possibly misuse of the word but the reality is i still take lower doses of citalopram and am aware some days are darker than others BUT nowhere near as bad as it was . I am not an expert but always happy to talk to people about this and show that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[raymondo]

Covid
Brexit
Boris Johnson
Looming Climate disaster
Cost of housing
Cost of living
Cost of further education
Unemployment
Food bank usage
Wealth disparity
Right wing politics
Frozen wages…
Frankly, I’m more concerned for the mental well-being of anyone walking around without anxiety

What’s the saying?
If you’re not confused then you don’t know what’s going on.

I agree, and I'd add to the list:
- the appalling treatment of leaseholders stuck in flats with severe fire risks
- the poor treatment of NHS staff by govt and some individuals during the Covid crisis.
- we could go on and on...
It's easy to feel we can't truly have an influence on these subjects. The politicians do what they want, very often for self serving reasons. There are so many lies, top down, and we can see it but still people in the wrong are not held to account. It's painful. With Covid, one hoped to see more compassion at the top, but it feels like less. The compassion has come bottom up.
This feeling of helplessness around the big issues is not good for the soul.

 

[Norman Potting]

A bounce to say that I have found this thread very interesting and that many of the posts reflect my personal experience as a Citalopram user for around 10 years, and recent feelings of heightened anxiety. I am confident that the latter is almost certainly something brought on by the Covid situation. I have found weekend walks with family or friends of benefit both physically and mentally and have also joined the local gym and am trying to get into a habit of regular visits.

With regard to a medical approach my doctor suggested that I self referred to the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust "Health in Mind" programme. I did, and fairly quickly had a 45' minute or so assessment by phone resulting in being offered a place on a remote (phone I assume) course of sessions starting in September - an earlier course was when we are on holiday.

Hope this may be of help.

 

[Nobby Nomates]

Another one here. Worked all the way through the lockdowns, now off work with stress and anxiety, after trying to hold it all together for months. I also contacted the NHS wellbeing service, I've had the assessment and have been offered a course of CBT to start in August. I'd heard (assumed?) that you had to be suicidal to get any NHS help, but that's obviously not the case.

Currently feel listless, uninterested in anything really. Exercise is the only thing that takes my mind off it, and it needs to be hard - long run or playing football in the park with some other old blokes.

Hope it gets better for us all

 

[Happy Exile]

I read this today, which some might also find interesting. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html

If you can't get into that article (first time access is free then pay wall I think) there's a bit more here https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...onavirus-pandemic-mental-health-b1835269.html