For those of you that live with really bad anxiety… How do you deal with it? I feel like I’m dreading every minute of the day and I can barely focus most of the time. I used to play World of Warcraft to try and distract myself, but I’m burned out and now I don’t have anything to stop my thoughts from going in the wrong direction.
I’m hoping some form of therapy helps, but I just feel so helpless with it. If you have coping methods, please let me know. Also, sorry that this is less on the game topics and more on a personal one, but reaching out feels kind of nice.
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Talk to your doc and get started on Fluxatine.
It’s on walmart’s generic list and a 90 day supply is like 10 dollars here. I will not stress enough that meds have helped my anxiety drastically. It takes about 6 weeks for it to fully go into effect in a good way though but you’ll notice a decrease at around week 2ish.
Go to therapy and if wow has you burned out, it’s ok. Find something else to pick up to keep yourself entertained. Find the root cause of what’s causing you anxiety and deal with it. All of that you can discuss with a therapist if you choose to do so.
Also, when you start getting anxious, find something you can physically do or touch to destress. Lot of people have stress balls or stress toys that they squeeze and those can help. I lift things when I’m stressed out like weights or something (doing gardening).
You’re having a rough time and it’s affecting your enjoyment of the game. It’s ok to reach out. We are all part of the same game community, so it’s understandable to do so.
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I like to put into words the actual worst case scenario and then I realize it’s not that bad. I suffer for 100 years or I die. Not great, but every other scenario is better than that.
I’m scared of talking to someone? What’s the worst realistic thing that can happen. I accidentally insult them and they slap me. Then I say sorry and they apologize for the slap. But pretty much every other scenario is better.
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I get it at times, I usually workout or play Warcraft that helps for me. Or I visit friends and family. Just try to do things that make you happy.
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I go to therapy and take medication.
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Also to add, some fidget toys are considered stress / anxiety toys. The one I’m linking is a good one if you like to have something to fidget with compared to squeezing (like a stress ball). What it does is it basically takes your mind and allows you to focus on the object and just wind down.
https://www.amazon.com/Pressure-Relieving-Children-Relaxing-Reliever/dp/B082RH46BV/ref=sr_1_7?crid=ZJ7YS9XMDGBI&keywords=stress+toys&qid=1656965806&sprefix=stress+toys%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-7
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If your anxiety is this severe, you really need to see a dr.
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I feel like my anxiety gets very bad when I don’t have a purpose or goal that I want to work towards. It’s that sense of purposelessness that makes me overthink a lot. That’s what I’ve been struggling with the past few months. Idk what exactly I want to accomplish IRL rn other than just going through the grind.
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Also if people say, “just shrug it off you’ll be fine.” DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT!
Talk to your doc. Do not feel as though going to the doc is a bad thing. People have this all the time and it’s completely normal to want to get help for your mental state.
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I don’t, I just drown my issues with distractions which is why I spend the vast majority of my time on the computer playing games, the less I have to think, the better.
After paying a fton of money I gave up on getting a driver’s license after failing the driving exam twice because I couldn’t sleep the night before and I get some massive stomachaches making it impossible to concentrate for instance.
I am also stuck in life, I struggle with making decisions, I avoid relationships of any kind be it platonic or romantic, I am having a hard time creating the motivation to choose what I wanna go to college for, having a hard time finding a job, etc.
So I guess games are my drugs and my life currently, I am still anxious as hell, I still hate life with a passion and can’t see myself living past my 30s, but hey, at least I can distract myself with interactive media.
And taking medication does not make you weak. You wouldn’t call a diabetic weak for needing insulin. Psychiatric drugs are no different.
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Exactly and medicines are there to help people. There are a lot of people that too that get scared taking medicine and it’s understandable to feel that way.
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I felt that way for many MANY MANY years. Now I am on 3 different meds (2 for anxiety, 1 for ADHD) and my only regret is I didn’t do this a couple of decades ago.
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I came to this conclusion earlier this week!! I’ve been really trying to figure out what my issue was and how to solve it. The worst part is, I understand what I’m going through isn’t rational, but getting sucked into it is so easy. I used WoW to keep things progressing. I don’t have that anymore since I got burned out so it’s hard for me to really find something I can focus on.
I have an appointment with a psychiatrist next week. It seems so far away and I know medication takes a bit to kick in if it works. I’m just so up over my head that it’s hard to keep things on track until then. Thank you for your input though, sincerely.
Thanks for this!! I honestly never thought of any sort of fidget toys, but I’ll definitely give it a try. I’m sort of desperate at this point to be honest.
This means a ton to me. Your whole post really put me in a good state, so really, thank you for that. I hope to feel like I used to before it started to get really bad again. I’ve dealt with this since high school, but it only recently started back up again. Looking forward to my appointments to try and get some more outside opinions and help.
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Weed is legal in my state. It’s not for everyone and can make anxiety worse in some people, but I tried meds and the side affects made things worse for me. No side affects at all with weed for me. 
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I would also like to say that I took some medication for a while maybe like 10 years ago. I can’t even remember what it was. It helped a lot though and I’ve been fine. You don’t always have to take it forever.
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Biggest thing is to understand what anxiety is (dreading a potential negative outcome relative to your goals) and what is causing it.
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Eating right and exercise can make a world of difference. Your overall physical and mental health can be improved by these. I would start there before I started an RX.
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Hey you’re welcome and there’s different things you can do. Breathing techniques, yoga, things of that sort too. You can sign up for yoga classes once or twice a week too in order to help destress or the gym.
Almost everyone at gyms are accepting for the most part. Everyone is there to improve themselves. Once school lets up, I’m going back to the gym again.
And I wish weed was legal everywhere. I took an edible the other day and man that was uh…
Don’t mix that with fluxatine! XD
But yeah meds (or herbs in this case) is diff for everyone.
Even then a mix of both can help. Sometimes it’s a chemical imbalance and just those 2 things alone can’t fix it.
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