I’m having bouts of Anxiety – Need advice .

[Somjot]

57 minutes ago, bignok said:

How do you get 90% of people out of your life?

Can`t speak for everybody, but I moved to Thailand.

 

Best decision ever.

[Somjot]

8 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

A companion to high anxiety is OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. People with OCD do not like "change", and we don't function well in an environment where there is total chaos around us.

 

I always have a Plan A, B and C because I know that when I'm dealing with people that live in a bubble and don't understand critical thinking, reason or logic, then my plans are destined to be thwarted.

8 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

By in large most of the population have "hearts of stone", cannot be trusted and we are surrounded on all sides by evil which can affect our peace from day to day. 

I am not quite sure if I understand your post.

 

Are you really blaming the population of Thailand for being evil, having hearts of stone, not being trustworthy and living in a bubble, which makes them unable to understand critical thinking reason and logic?

 

Or are you blaming your OCD for perceiving them like this.

 

I am by no means trying to patronize you, but did you ever hear about high - context and low - context cultures?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-context_and_low-context_cultures#:~:text=Within high-context cultures%2C people,as important figures to identity.

 

Our cultures are low context cultures, which means simplified, that we exchange information by talking quite directly.

 

The Thai culture is high context or in other words, they communicate more between the lines.

 

Which unfortunately means that no matter how well we speak their language we still might face huge difficulties to really understand them.

 

To give you an example:

 

I was at some office with a friend, who asked the employee for a certain service and the answer was: “Khit gon”, which means, “let me think about it first.”

Later I asked my friend, where he's going to get that service.

And he answered: “I will wait for the decision of that employee before I look for other places.”

“But he just said no.”

“Didn't you listen? the guy said, he will think about it first.”

“Which is a clear no.”

 

Thais do not want to confront you with a negative answer out of politeness. They don't want to make other people feel bad. So they refuse between the lines and not directly.

 

This may be the reason why so many of us think, that Thai people are dishonest and not trustworthy or even liars and cheaters.

 

I am not saying, all of them are 100% honest - let's not forget, we talk about Pattaya, the largest brothel of the world - but it wouldn't surprise me, if in most cases the message just didn't get through. 

 

However, we should always keep in mind, that it is us who live in a bubble in their country and not the other way around.

 

And the only solution is:

 

LEARN (their ways) or LEAVE (or keep suffering)

 

8 hours ago, fittobethaied said:

I too recently flew out of Thailand for a two-week vacation in the US, and as soon as I boarded that plane, the anxiety left me as if a millstone had been taken from around my neck. 

Again, I'm not trying to patronize you, just out of curiosity: why are you still here?

 

[georgegeorgia]

Is this a form of anxiety.

 

I once saw a middle aged farang, who I must say didn't look drunk ,shouting at traffic that didn't let him cross the road near Tukcom 

 

He then bumped into a street vendor and then he started shouting to himself before turning left towards the market area where there are no foot paths where he got a loud beep from a motorcycle taxi and he was shouting " get me outta here !!

 

Is that a type of anxiety??

[scubascuba3]

40 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Is this a form of anxiety.

 

I once saw a middle aged farang, who I must say didn't look drunk ,shouting at traffic that didn't let him cross the road near Tukcom 

 

He then bumped into a street vendor and then he started shouting to himself before turning left towards the market area where there are no foot paths where he got a loud beep from a motorcycle taxi and he was shouting " get me outta here !!

 

Is that a type of anxiety??

mental issues with or without anxiety 

[Jelli]

Vipassana meditation: most can't do 3 let alone 10 days. I recall a monk saying NOT to do this if you have head problems. Not talking to anyone for X days does many heads in. Usually, the 10 day classes in India drop about 85% as people need to be social.

 

Weed these days brings on wandering thoughts and paranoia. NOT recommended

 

Benzos probably quickest fix but imo not good short or long term unless they are REALLY necessary.

 

Exercise cardio, exercise lose weight, exercise walking, listen to fave upbeat music, don't read political news. Whatever you are doing - do the opposite. Everything opposite/ radically different yet focus on same goal. Get yourself out of the rut.

 

Change where and how you live.

 

Leave Thailand. If you truly miss it you'll feel good returning. If not then stay gone

 

Make to-do lists, work it and conquer any apathy and lack of motivation

 

Travel somewhere beautiful and fun.

 

Pay a pretty, young girl to entertain or help you do something. Not sexually. A fun, young woman. Both.

 

We are our own worst enemies at times. Myself, all the time.

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Is this a form of anxiety.

 

I once saw a middle aged farang, who I must say didn't look drunk ,shouting at traffic that didn't let him cross the road near Tukcom 

 

He then bumped into a street vendor and then he started shouting to himself before turning left towards the market area where there are no foot paths where he got a loud beep from a motorcycle taxi and he was shouting " get me outta here !!

 

Is that a type of anxiety??

More likley either drugs or psychosis. Much more severe than anxiety.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Jelli said:

Vipassana meditation: most can't do 3 let alone 10 days. I recall a monk saying NOT to do this if you have head problems. Not talking to anyone for X days does many heads in. Usually, the 10 day classes in India drop about 85% as people need to be social.

 

 

Hardly 85% or anything of  near that high a percentage. But yes, in most courses there are people who can't handle it and ask to leave, and in some there are people who become so anxious/disruptive  that they are asked to leave for the sake of the other students.

 

People with serious psychiatric problems should certainly not take a Vipassana course unless they have been stable  for a long time and their psychiatrist concurs - and the course managers will insist on a letter from their doctor to that effect and perhaps a pre-interview. Generally, it is not a wise idea.

 

Lots of people with "garden variety" neurosis (depression and/or anxiety) do OK in retreats but it does depend on the severity, especially in the case of anxiety, and also how motivated they are. I have no way of gauging the severity of OP's anxiety which is why I did not mention meditation as an option.

 

 

[connda]

On 10/9/2023 at 11:47 AM, radiochaser said:

The only thing that I eventually found that helped me most when I had anxiety attacks was Lorazepam

The problem with Loazapam as well as all Benzodiazepines is that if you get hooked (and they are physically very addictive) you'll curse the first day you took them as well as the day you were born.  At best they are a short-term fix and nothing you should use more the two or three days.  After that, if you continue to use them, you will experience even worse anxiety unless you continue to take more and more.  Don't do it. 

Natural remedies.  Try GABA.  However, long-term use of GABA will create neurotransmitter imbalances and if you want to quit you'll need to taper.  Just a head's up.

Personally - I'd work on the sleep.  Try Melatonin and Hydroxyzine HCL (Atarax).  Hydroxyzine is an anti-histamine and I find it works well. 

Also, start working on acceptance.  A good way to get there is via meditation.  Don't meditate?  I'll recommend Ajahn Brahm's book, Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook.  Find activities that will up-lift you. 

Afraid of death?  Then work on death.  A book I recommend include Advice on Dying: And Living a Better Life by the Dalai Lama. 

Best of luck.

[Bassosa]

My ex-girlfriend had the best advice in these situations:

"Just cheer up!"

[IvorBiggun2]

Kratom is the answer. Google is your friend.

 

Quote

Kratom and anxietyResearch indicates that higher doses of kratom may cause relaxation. For individuals with anxiety, taking higher doses of this substance may help alleviate anxiety symptoms. Lower doses of kratom can also improve sociability, which may also be helpful for individuals with social anxiety disorder.Sep 8, 2565 BE

https://www.google.com/search?q=kratom+and+anxiety&rlz=1C1CHBF_enTH1042TH1042&oq=kratom+and+anxiety&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTE3NzY3ajBqNKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[radiochaser]

On 10/13/2023 at 6:33 AM, connda said:

The problem with Loazapam as well as all Benzodiazepines is that if you get hooked (and they are physically very addictive) you'll curse the first day you took them as well as the day you were born.  At best they are a short-term fix and nothing you should use more the two or three days.  After that, if you continue to use them, you will experience even worse anxiety unless you continue to take more and more.  Don't do it. 

Natural remedies.  Try GABA.  However, long-term use of GABA will create neurotransmitter imbalances and if you want to quit you'll need to taper.  Just a head's up.

Personally - I'd work on the sleep.  Try Melatonin and Hydroxyzine HCL (Atarax).  Hydroxyzine is an anti-histamine and I find it works well. 

Also, start working on acceptance.  A good way to get there is via meditation.  Don't meditate?  I'll recommend Ajahn Brahm's book, Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond: A Meditator's Handbook.  Find activities that will up-lift you. 

Afraid of death?  Then work on death.  A book I recommend include Advice on Dying: And Living a Better Life by the Dalai Lama. 

Best of luck.

I understand about the addiction part, but not from personal experience.   In my life, I have found that doctors were overprescribing addictive medications.   One doctor prescribed 90 10 mg valiums per month, for muscle spasm problems.  I would use what I needed and dump the rest.   The last bottle I had in a prescription, a 90 day supply, was only half used 2 or 2.5 years later.  I turned it in to a pharmacy to be destroyed.   

I have had oxycodone (I forget dosage size) prescribed for after surgeries.   Take every 4 to 6 hours every day was the prescription.  I took one, then 8 or 10 hours later I took half of one.  After that first day it was 1/2 pill every 12 hours.   Worked well to make the pain tolerable, then I stopped 2 or 3 days later. 

As for the lorazepam, I took hundreds of pills to a pharmacy for destruction after I stopped going to the Veterans Administration doctor.   I had no problems taking them when needed.  I found it would break the adrenaline build and stop the anxiety attack with .25 mg (half the prescribed dose).   

Melatonin and Hydroxyzine do not work with me.  Neither does doctor prescribed regulated drugs to make a person sleep.   I could feel something in my body a few minutes after taking them, but did not get sleepy or wanted to sleep.   

My problem is my body lost the ability to deal with adrenaline caused stress.   Too much stress and the adrenaline can go out of control.  Mindfulness, as I understand it, does not deal with that.  A loud unexpected bang, that sounds too much like an exploding mortar round or rocket, and my adrenaline level is sky high.   It's the fight or flight syndrome.   

[NorthernRyland]

On 10/9/2023 at 11:29 AM, Captain Disorderly said:

Over the past few months Ive started to have bouts of ongoing anxiety , where my mind is constantly racing non stop and thinking about many things in my life. I seem to be fixated and continually worrying about things like money / health / martial situation / Visa / daughter / rising cost of living / growing old at 74 / putting on weight / not sleeping well / Etc Etc .

 

Sometimes in the early morning hours, like 4 or 5 I wake up and feel anxiety about things in my life not going like I want. When I wake up later I'm usually fine however and go on my day as usual.

 

The lesson here I think is that we DO have problems in our lives and we need to actually fix them otherwise we know subconsciously things are not well and we worry. I think this our body working correctly and we need to heed the advice.

[bignok]

On 10/13/2023 at 8:42 PM, Bassosa said:

My ex-girlfriend had the best advice in these situations:

"Just cheer up!"

Just eat ice cream

[Will B Good]

I knew I shouldn't have read this thread.....my mind is racing now about all the problems I face, none of which seem to have a satisfactory solution........I'm up at 4am on the dot and find it very difficult to clear my mind of rubbish.

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, radiochaser said:

My problem is my body lost the ability to deal with adrenaline caused stress.   Too much stress and the adrenaline can go out of control.  Mindfulness, as I understand it, does not deal with that.  A loud unexpected bang, that sounds too much like an exploding mortar round or rocket, and my adrenaline level is sky high.   It's the fight or flight syndrome.   

 

I think rather it is PTSD being triggered.

 

Rapid Eye Movement Desensitization works very well for that.

[NorthernRyland]

On 10/9/2023 at 1:44 PM, Kinnock said:

I suffer from 04:00 am anxiety - major worries about finances, relationships etc, etc.

I have the same thing but let me ask, are those real problems you need to resolve? For me they're actually problems I need to fix them or otherwise find some compromise. I get as much exercise as my legs can handle (cyclist) but that's not a solution to anything except feeling good.

[Sheryl]

I also get the 4 (or 5 ) AM wakening with worries, I think it is natural. Not only is our sleep less deep at that point (if we are older) but all problems seem more worrisome at that hour and solutions less possible than they do by light of day.

 

For me what works is to:

 

1. Make a clear decision to deal with these issues the following day. If it helps, right them down - the issue nto the whole inner dialogue. Just so you have a sense it will not be overlooked/forgotten.

 

2. Sit up and read for a while so as to get my mind to "change channels",. Some people find it better to actually change location, for me just sitting up in bed is enough. I keep some light or calming reading matter near the bed for this purpose.

 

3. At the same time I take a dose of quick acting melatonin (sub lingual)

 

Usually within half an hour I have broken the "worry obsession" enough to go back to sleep.

[beaufoy]

I did have panic attacks which were very much like having a heart attack in fact I was taken by ambulance to a hospital with a suspected heart attack which was found to be a panic attack

 I was prescribed fluoraoxitine and i seemed to work but it also made my balence bad

 

  It seems it is all in the head you think you are having a heart attack and you panic and things get worse.....best thing to do is when you think you are having a heart attack just relax and think so what then the panic attack goes away

[radiochaser]

On 10/19/2023 at 1:50 AM, Sheryl said:

 

I think rather it is PTSD being triggered.

 

Rapid Eye Movement Desensitization works very well for that.

I am rated by the VA at 100% disabled with PTSD.   That started when I was in Vietnam.  There are several triggers that will get my adrenaline going, more so when I am experiencing stress.  I retired 13 years ago.   It was 3 or 4 years before I began to feel relaxed for some or most of the day.   

I don't recall hearing the term Rapid Eye Movement desensitization before.   I did a search for it.   The description sounds very much like what a VA doctor tried with me in 1988 or 1989 (16 or 17 years after leaving Vietnam).   The process caused such extreme reactions that he decided that I was not a candidate for that kind of therapy.  

Edited October 23, 2023 by radiochaser

[Sheryl]

2 minutes ago, radiochaser said:

I am rated by the VA at 100% disabled with PTSD.   That started when I was in Vietnam.  There are several triggers that will get my adrenaline going, more so when I am experiencing stress.  I retired 13 years ago.   It was 3 or 4 years before I began to feel relaxed for some or most of the day.   

I don't recall hearing the term Rapid Eye Movement desensitization before.   I did a search for it.   The description sounds very much like what a VA doctor tried with me in 1988 or 1989 (12 or 13 years after leaving Vietnam).   The process caused such extreme reactions that he decided that I was not a candidate for that kind of therapy.  

A great deal depends on the skill of the EMDR-trained (and hopefully, certified) provider and the degree of trust and rapport between them and the client.

 

EMDR was not even developed until 1987 and has been further refined since.

 

I would suggest giving it another try, world of difference between how it was done back then and how it is done now. But make sure first your therapist is EMDR certified. You can find listing here    https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/

 

In Asia pickings are slim but if you are in the US, many providers to choose from.

[Elkski]

Very good thread.   Here i am up at 3 am.  So much to do.  I always feel its crunch time and my list has 20 items and everyone would cause dread in anyone.   I think to mut.  Add in a an unusual epic artic cold blast is coming later this week.     

  I like the idea that most human feelings are due to evolution.  Life is simple in upcountry Thailand.  Grow a bit of rice and like to eat it, then your worry about starvation living in a village is very low.  Always snails to dig up! Or some pond to net. 

This modern world is quite different than we have evolved to deal with.  Add in several major deadly conflicts, political striff everywhere, global warming, social media and I'd say most of us are coping pretty well. 

[radiochaser]

16 hours ago, Sheryl said:

A great deal depends on the skill of the EMDR-trained (and hopefully, certified) provider and the degree of trust and rapport between them and the client.

 

EMDR was not even developed until 1987 and has been further refined since.

 

I would suggest giving it another try, world of difference between how it was done back then and how it is done now. But make sure first your therapist is EMDR certified. You can find listing here    https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/

 

In Asia pickings are slim but if you are in the US, many providers to choose from.

So if that was EMDR therapy that was tried on me, then it was at the beginning of its use.   I had never met that doctor before and after about 3 (or 4) times that I had an appointment with him, I never saw him again.    I had better therapy results with people that specialized in treating people with PTSD, mostly police officers, who I paid for out of pocket and felt comfortable with.   The last one I saw died from cancer.   That was about 9 years ago.   

I don't remember ever being comfortable with PTSD treatment at the Veterans Administration.   Some of the other medical treatments were OK to excellent, just not the mental health department, in my opinion. 
 

[Sheryl]

Just now, radiochaser said:

So if that was EMDR therapy that was tried on me, then it was at the beginning of its use.   I had never met that doctor before and after about 3 (or 4) times that I had an appointment with him, I never saw him again.    I had better therapy results with people that specialized in treating people with PTSD, mostly police officers, who I paid for out of pocket and felt comfortable with.   The last one I saw died from cancer.   That was about 9 years ago.   

I don't remember ever being comfortable with PTSD treatment at the Veterans Administration.   Some of the other medical treatments were OK to excellent, just not the mental health department, in my opinion. 
 

It would indeed have been at the beginning of its use and very few therapists were at that point certified in its use. I have some doubts as to whether the one you worked with was. And, even if he was (open to doubt) he could nto possibly have had much experience with it.

 

I have undergone EMDR myself with 2 different therapists and excellent results. Both were certified and very experienced, in fact one was an instructor in it.  We did not go straight into EMDR, started it after a number of conventional talk sessions first to build rapport and give the therapist a feel for the issues.

 

The EMDR process itself as I underwent it emphasized letting the client have control and proceeding very careful always mindful of  the response. It is often best to start with memories/events that are lower on the trauma scale first and slowly move on to the more loaded ones, always geared to patient's tolerance and ensuring that the process does nto result in re-traumatization but rather in successful processing of the trauma in question.

 

Elements of Cognitive therapy were mixed in, i.e. with each traumatic memory underlying beliefs about it were identified and replaced with more realisitic and constructive beliefs.

 

I would urge you to give this another try. Done right, it really, really works.