http://www.anxietytribe.comAnxietyTribe.com http://www.anxietytribe.com/rss.php?header=blogs&id=24325 http://www.anxietytribe.com/rss.php?header=blogs&id=24325 Again, I am new to this and don't want to sound like a broken record, but can anxiety turn you into a hypochondriac? I keep trying to figure out what's wrong with me and doing internet research often ends up making me more nervous because of all the maladies and symptoms you find out there. I have never been like this before. Always been happy and healthy. Advice, please! Appreciate you guys and what everyone is going through. Wed, 4 Jan 2012 10:01:05 -0600 http://www.anxietytribe.com/rss.php?header=blogs&id=24063 http://www.anxietytribe.com/rss.php?header=blogs&id=24063 Again, I'm new to this world of general anxiety, and I'm admittedly a type-A, need-to-do-something-now and figure-this-thing-out kind of guy, so I've been working on a new theory for the last couple of weeks thatwhat I am going through is a sort of mid-life crisis. I would love to hear your opinion on the matter as I welcome the advice and perspective of others. I would think that I am still a bit young for this kind of thing, but maybe not?I'm35. I read online at Webmd that the loss of parents can be one of the triggers for a mid-life crisis. I also remember a friend saying, from a few years ago, that a man never really grows up until he loses his parents. Well, I didn't lose my parents last year, but my wife did -- both of them. Her father died from complications with Parkinson's at the early age of 60, and then her mother died (they were divorced many years) from a heart a-fib at the early age of 61 just 4 months later. It was devastating. She's coping, mostly by not overthinking it (which is a blessed ability that my wife possesses), but it's had me screwed up for awhile now. Looking back, I think I had a "spell" (about 2-3 weeks) with anxiety back in the spring because of this, but now with the onset of the dark months of winter and the approaching anniversaries of these deaths, the ole' anxiety funwagon has kicked into full-gear. I find myself constantly worried about my own mother (who is not in the best of health though she is only 58). She has recently moved out on her own (lived with us for 3 years), and though she is close by, I worry about her health (of course, she's on Prozac herself. I'm currently unmedicated for the anxiety and am doing everything I can to stay that way), and thinking of her just brings up the childhood memories and makes me very sad. And I love my own 2 kids way too much now -- to the point of where I get sad just walking into their room or even just thinking about them. They make me happy beyond belief, and I'm afraid of ever losing that happiness, the relationship that I have with them -- of something happening to them. So does the mid-life crisis scenario make sense? Am I "growing up" and looking mortality in the face, realizing that at some point to love is to lose? It is inevitable that we will lose some of those we love (especially those who are older than us), but this really does suck. I love my family and friends, and I want to enjoy that love, not fear it. Or would you think this is something else? Self-analysis is so difficult. Appreciate you folks! Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:12:05 -0600 http://www.anxietytribe.com/rss.php?header=blogs&id=23353 http://www.anxietytribe.com/rss.php?header=blogs&id=23353 How come talking helps so much? Just finished a conversation with my sister about anxiety, family problems, etc., and it was helpful. I've only been dealing with anxiety at a higher level for about 3 weeks now (I'm 35), but I've found that talking helps -- with mother, doctor, sister, wife. Perhaps the vocalization of the words concretizes the abstract lines of thought tossing around in the mind and allows one to see them for what they are. In the end, talk seems to be hope, to make hope happen. And we can never give up on hope. It truly does prove to be one of the sublime virtues, and one shot of hope genuinely feels better than one shot of anything else. Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:12:02 -0600