When you get older, you’ll be surprised how fast the time passes. Enjoy it while you can!
4 Likes
Another thing that might be worth trying, if you’re living in Taiwan, is the martial art of taijiquan (太极拳) or informally just “tai chi”. It’s reported to have beneficial health effects, and it requires body awareness, relaxation, and coordinated breathing, in combination with flowing yin/yang motions. It can lead to better posture, better sitting and walking, better breathing, and so forth, all of which I think help one to relax and help reduce stress.
At least in Taipei, I saw several morning group practice sessions in the park (in 228 park, as I discussed in another thread), and I would guess that other areas in Taiwan also should have plenty of opportunities for either free park practice or a paid class.
It’s also a group activity with a very long history and very deep connection to Chinese culture, which is good for providing opportunities to interact with other people and, again, to hopefully reduce stress.
1 Like
4 Likes
Is there anything particular that you’ve found triggers your anxiety or you get anxious about @marasan ?
Yes, work stress. But I’m sure it was a personal traumatic experience a few years ago that started it. That is okay for the most part now. At present, work related events now trigger my anxiety.
However, it’s maybe 85% gone now and it continues to dissipate. The different things I’m doing seem to be working. Speaking of which, I’m headed out for a mountain run now. I hope there’s no lightning!
If that were the solution… if there were a solution…
You have two legs! 
1 Like
I believe it was only the right leg in the photos, unless jd has 2 left feet.
Activity definitely is the key. Get your ass out of bed and get moving. Struggling with matters as being described at the same moment. I would rather lose a leg than see a loved one go through a psych hell.
Love you all and God bless.
1 Like
It does look confusing, but look again.
It’s not the key, but it’s a key action too. I’ve been thinking about anxiety these days, or better to say, I have had some new thoughts about it, and wanted to share it here, but I need to gather the required energy to put it in a way that makes sense and adds something to the conversation.
1 Like
Seems like gathering energy is a common issue, one I am working with and bent on fixing in our realm.
Activity is a short term answer, but does wonders.
Keep sharing your experience, because it may save a life or two.
1 Like
Well, I’ll give it a shot but it’s mostly a bunch of not well connected thoughts.
Anxiety would be better defined as a natural reaction to a threat perceived with a varying degree of consciousness. It would be the mental equivalent to that adrenaline rush you have in a physically dangerous situation like getting into a fight. It’s part of the anticipation. That would be the more typical definition or view of it. In many cases it alternates with depression, which could be that inner void, that sadness, that powerless feeling. I guess that during one stage you’re still feeling you have something to lose, while during the other one you feel everything’s lost, you already gave up.
The way I see to fight these is a combined, multiple front fight. I’ve had depression and anxiety on and off pretty much all my life, but in the last years it intensified as I have been through a slow motion fatal crash, so to say. I didn’t have the energy to take much action as the events were taking place, but I did come up with a plan, which I kinda failed to implement:
- have a schedule: very important to both keep active and make progress, have achievements
- related: have goals. As part of your plan, you need to establish what you need to achieve, what you need to learn, what skills and “badges” are going to help you to get back to a normal life
- related: stay active! Mind, brain and body deteriorates if you’re just sitting on your ass whole day
- reflect on your problems, your personality issues, and what should and could be changed
- find the company of positive people who will support you: you need the good words, the happiness, the laughs. It’s therapeutic and also it’s time you don’t spend alone with your negative thoughts
- exercise: it keeps you in shape, it makes you feel strong, which you need, it releases endorphins and dopamine
- Good food: have a healthy diet which will make you feel better. You need those vitamins too for feeling well. It’s too easy to end up having a lazy diet based on processed junk food and mostly carbs
- watching uplifting, happy, funny movies
- Therapy: to navigate through the difficult days, to release some steam, to hopefully hear some useful insights, to feel listened without having to wear your friends with annoying, negative, depressing shit all day
- Medication: I was aware of some medicine but I don’t really know the details anymore. Betablockers? something that doesn’t make you feel anxious and shitty whole day while you need to perform in a society that doesn’t give a shit about how you feel
So I didn’t really do many of these things. Besides, the problems just don’t disappear because one day you don’t have anxiety or depression. Those are usually just your body and mind reactions to the problem or problematic situation, unless you do have some chemical imbalance, which might be the case of some people.
Recently it just occurred to me that on the top of all the previous, anxiety may have another function apart from alerting you about or preparing you for a problem, it may have a social function or dimension: to alert others about your situation, some sort of SOS call, a call for help for you’re losing control or you’re already fucked and need people around to give you a hand. Which is also related with the other flip of the coin, what I was saying earlier: reality, life, doesn’t give a shit about how you feel. If you feel bad about something, if you feel or know something’s unfair… it doesn’t change anything, or not in most cases, or not if you don’t have much power of influence. Probably in people who feel that things in life, or that life/reality have an order, a meaning, etc… is also true that their anxiety is also a communication device for alerting others, for asking for help. Maybe.
I alternate mind conditions of realisation about problems (current and future), depression, anxiety and total acceptance and indifference about everything. A bit similar in some way to cyclothyimic… er… cycles. Difficult to get out of it. Very difficult actually. Not many good or positive things have happened in the last two years, and when something good happens, then there’s a very negative side to it which spoils everything and takes you back to losing something. Might actually write about the last thing like this that has happened in my life, just not here.
5 Likes
Let it all out! It helps, as you mentioned. I’ve had an older close friend who is ALWAYS there for me. He has and continues to be an immense help to me. I hope everyone has someone to go to.
2 Likes
Not trying to steal Marasn’s topic, but I believe this is quite common. I appreciate the op for putting it out here.
Endocrinologist on Monday is booked for next week.
1 Like
Absolutely don’t worry about this at all. I’m very happy to see discussion here because I know there’s always a chance that what is said will help someone. Anxiety and depression suck. Keep the discussion going!
1 Like
Glad that I repatriated with Forumosa when I did. And I (we) are blessed with your posting.
1 Like
For me, a gym membership, and just being out of the house when there’s no work that demands me to stay at home, accomplishes several thing but big part is being outside the house means I don’t need to use the AC, and also cuts down on cabin fevers. Working out hasn’t really made me less depressed or anxious (all it really does is make my muscles sore) but I’m sure it helps.
3 Likes
In my twenties, I lifted weights to get big and strong. When I last lifted weights, I would do a circuit workout. I would switch muscle groups and do lots of abs for my “circuit.” If a machine or bench was being used, I would move to the dumbbells or do more ab work. I just wouldn’t stop the whole time. It would be about a 40-50 minute workout. I would sweat like crazy. Have you tried circuit training? Maybe something like that would give you the high I felt when I did those workouts, and like I feel now with my runs and swims.
I ran this morning, and will swim and sauna this late afternoon. It’s therapeutic and I’m getting in great shape, especially since I’m not drinking anymore.
I’m basically bumbling through workout routines, because I see people spend forever at a machine so I have no idea what they’re doing that I’m not. I try to use the ab machine but I find people spend hours on the ab machine for some reason. I start with biceps, then triceps, a chest press, lat pulldown, and a deadlift. Then spend 30 minutes on an elliptical machine at high resistance.
Maybe I just need to do it consistently longer before I’ll see anything.