A conversation with Sarah Wilson // Wed. 11 May // 7pm AEST

PS. I cannot say in two words what can be expressed in 3000 sorry!

Why should you? I think you express yourself very well @MoonGal and always enjoy your contributions.

Thank you @MoonGal I was hoping people would wander by today and share their thoughts. Yours are beautifully expressed as always.

Thanks again for everyone’s involvement last night. It was hectic but fascinating and so good to hear from so many people. I hope those of you who were part of the discussion found it helpful yourselves.

We’ve kept the discussion open and would welcome more members adding their thoughts. Rather than having to work through the whole discussion, I’ve pulled out some questions Sarah asked. Do you have anything to add?

I'd really love to hear how anxiety FEELS for you...perhaps a visual or physical analogy you use a lot?

I was wondering, what are your theories on “the cause” of your anxiety?

Anxiety attacks are mostly triggered by uncertainty – your thoughts?

To my mind and my straw polling over several years of researching this book has found decision-making pain is at the core of most anxiety. Is this true for you?

What helps you when in an anxious panic? For me, getting touched - a cheap Thai massage. I'm a meditator, but MEDITATION JUST WON'T CUT IT WHEN I'M SUPER ANXIOUS!!!! It makes it worse.

What can someone say (meaning well) that will just see your panic attack get worse?

Here's a big one...Men and anxiety…What gets you (if you're a bloke on here tonight) anxious? Is it decision making? What kind of decisions?

Do you feel it's different for you, compared to women? Do you think your anxiety is different to a woman's anxiety?

For me my anxiety ties in with my search for meaning. It always has… I’m really fretting that I’m not able to exist calmly, happily on my own, on my own bench…..My anxiety is my not being able to connect to this Something Else, my ultimate companion. Do you agree?

Do you have a sense that you're yearning something MORE? Me, I yearn to sit with myself comfortably and to know what this caper called life is all about. I yearn to know that I fit. That it all makes sense. What do you yearn for?

Depression v anxiety: I wonder about the relationship btw the two. Have you had both (together or diff stages in your life)? What’s worse?

We'll keep the thread open for a couple more days so feel free to think on it and come back

Hi @Former-Member

I have had a few panic attacks in the past 6 years. I remember one really bad one where I was driving home in winter at 7pm from work. It was a very dark night on the freeway. I started to feel really anxious, sick in the stomach, sick in my chest with flutters. I was talking to myself and yelling at my mum (not really there). I had to pull over because i was feeling really bad and emotional. I needed help; i started to dissociate and not really know where i was. I remember being in a terrible state and called 000. They got the police to come down but i couldn't tell them where exactly i was. But I remember the officer on the other line stayed with me until the police car turned up. He wanted to make sure I was okay until someone came.

They finally found me on the side of the freeway and i was a crying mess. I didn't know what to do, where i was. I felt like i was going to pass out and kept wanting to lay down in the car. The police officer ended up helping me out of the car and put me in his car while they called my husband.

I was okay after a little while but very exhausted. Panic attacks are very scary. I have had a few but haven't had one for a while. I think for me it was the fear of driving in the dark, and also i was 'seeing one of my abusers in front of my car' while driving. it was horrible.

Cause of my anxiety - i think for me it's a lot of stress, worrying all the time. And I mean all the time, i wake up during the night thinking of what i need to do at work, at home. i stress about finances, the kids. and then if i try to stop thinking about stuff it gets worse and i worry more. it's like a vicious cycle.

i feel for me the picture is like this - a very tangled up spider web. and all the web is mixed up with lots of emotions and tangled all together. the more i try to untangle these webs i get caught up in another web.

Thanks @BlueBay for your thoughts. You paint a very vivid picture of someone wanting change - relief from the struggle - but finding it so hard. You keep reaching out for help so there'll be a way out of that web at some point

Coindicently, saw this in an article today

“Discomfort avoidance is the common thread that binds all anxiety problems together.”
(John Forsyth, Ph.D., and Georg Eifert, Ph.D., psychologists specializing in anxiety)

wednesday night topic was great @A93, @Syp, @Sarah108, @Jules, @EmbracingArms, @Angels333, @sunfrog24h, @Jennifer_waugh, @Jaa66, @MudandBralettes, @Jeri, @JamJim, @KAS2016, @Jess967, @Kellsbells, @Mary2, @Pepperoni, @Lou1, @Florentine, @Grace_1991, @mumsbestfriend, @Alyssapetal, @BooK, @Deb13, @Shaz51, @Eljet, @sunsetstudies, @MoonGal, @sadgirl, @theaveragejoe

brings up spme good questions xx