I think life is trying to drive me insane. It
finally lets me get a little bit more comfortable with it and then *BAM*
my job, which I love, is moving to a different state and I have to look for a new one
because I would probably completely fall apart if I lost my entire
support system all at once by moving. Obviously major life stressors are
unavoidable - people lose their jobs, get sick, lose people who are
important to them - but I could have used a little more time without an
extra anxiety producer.
I'm trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to think of it as a positive... it's forcing me to deal with some social anxiety. My therapist and I made an anxiety hierarchy and noticed a theme. Instead of "normal" job loss fears such as actually finding a new job, having the right qualifications, etc., my anxiety has a lot to do with social things. My biggest fear from this is having to change health insurance and having that new insurance company make me choose between keeping my primary therapist or my CBT therapist. I know how hard it is to lose a therapist, and even though it wouldn't be the same situation as before, I know that it would still be difficult.
My second fear is the change of people. I like my current coworkers and I'm comfortable with them. Changing that is nerve-wracking for me. The thought of learning the dynamics of a whole new set of people makes me uncomfortable even though I know that I am perfectly capable of normal social interactions and fitting in with new people. But I also know that before I get more comfortable, I'm going to feel very unsure of myself because I unfortunately care way too much about what other people think of me and I usually tend towards thinking they don't like me.
My third fear is the interview process... And the more I think
about it, the more I think this might actually be my second biggest
fear. Interviewing is basically someone judging you. I don't mean that
in a necessarily bad way, but someone is making a judgement of your
skills and personality to determine whether you will make a good worker
and whether you are right for the environment of the workplace. Knowing
that, makes me tear apart every single detail of every single
conversation and wonder if I've ruined everything by saying "and"
instead of "but".
So basically my brain is melting from all of this anxiety. I
am completely incapable of having a conversation without getting
distracted or zoning out at least once. I pretty much constantly feel
like hurting myself. My appetite has been really weird. And I've been
having ridiculous dreams/nightmares.
Change sucks.
I'm trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to think of it as a positive... it's forcing me to deal with some social anxiety. My therapist and I made an anxiety hierarchy and noticed a theme. Instead of "normal" job loss fears such as actually finding a new job, having the right qualifications, etc., my anxiety has a lot to do with social things. My biggest fear from this is having to change health insurance and having that new insurance company make me choose between keeping my primary therapist or my CBT therapist. I know how hard it is to lose a therapist, and even though it wouldn't be the same situation as before, I know that it would still be difficult.
My second fear is the change of people. I like my current coworkers and I'm comfortable with them. Changing that is nerve-wracking for me. The thought of learning the dynamics of a whole new set of people makes me uncomfortable even though I know that I am perfectly capable of normal social interactions and fitting in with new people. But I also know that before I get more comfortable, I'm going to feel very unsure of myself because I unfortunately care way too much about what other people think of me and I usually tend towards thinking they don't like me.
Nice blog and giving back is tremendous. Kudos
ReplyDeleteCognitively, we judge change as terrible and think of ways to back up this judgment. We all do it and PTSD forces us to avoid to build up walls of security.
These walls keep us from living our life. We have so many breaths on this planet, then we exist as we came, without possessions, approva, or anything we desired and gained in life.
PTSD people usually follow the ego's bidding of judging our situation as bad, dangerous and somehow life is against us.
Healing lets us open up and see opportunity, the abi
It's to move with fear and anxiety present. Life has challenges, it is like a journey on a big river moving quickly. None of us know what's around the bend.
So accepting the unknown, change as it comes is part of healing.
You can do this and heal, just need a plan for daily practice and discipline to stay present and resist ruminating.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
DeleteYou are absolutely right: change is a necessary and inevitable part of life. I tend to resist change, since it's scary and unknown, but accepting change into our lives is part of healing :)