General Discussion

My anxiety had reached the point that I felt like I was hooked up to an adrenaline drip. My heart just pounded in my chest, my chest felt tight, I couldn't focus...and I was sunk into such a swirling black hole of depression that I spent weeks just laying in bed watching TV the entire day. The anxiety induced heart pounding went on every day for a couple of weeks.

I FINALLY convinced my new Dr to put me back on an anti-depressant. He doesn't like them and talked me into going off Prozac after 15 years, about a year ago. I was managing OK, and then March happened. We went lockdown and I just spiraled. Finally convinced the Dr to put me back on meds, and he prescribed Cymbalta. It took care of the depression pretty quickly, but the anxiety took a couple more weeks to subside.

These are terrible times, and everything is uncertain - not the least of which being the fate of our nation. Give yourself a break. NO ONE is immune to the anxiety. The fact that you have anxiety over what's going on shows you have heart, and care about the world, your community, your family. You haven't let anyone down. It's because you ARE a strong person, and you feel helplessly unable to do a goddamn thing about what's going on around you, that you feel stress. Your reaction is "fight or flight", and stress is caused by being unable to do either one.

Turn off the news for most of the day. It's all just repeating the same horrible news hour after hour after hour. Pick one hour to watch, get caught up and then distract yourself by bingeing something fun, or doing something else, going for a walk, matching up all your tupperware lids and bottoms...lol. Anything.

We're all losing our shit, and it manifests in different ways. Some people take to arming themselves and playing militia, some people have overwrought "Karen" meltdowns in public, some of us make signs and march, most of us suffer quietly at home desperately trying to keep our shit together through sheer force of will, and it works - until it doesn't. Don't be ashamed that you had an anxiety attack. Kudos for making it 200 days without one!