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Maybe someone can help (long, sorry)
I feel like sometimes things I write on the Nest get misintepreted, but I like you guys so I keep trying. Anyway, I have been working through a lot of stuff in counseling and trying to catagorize things in my life as far as what I can control and what I can't. Lately, I am having obsessive thoughts about things I can't control.
1. I know the BVAL thing has been discussed ad nauseum but it really bothers me. I love it here, but naybe I need a Nest vacation.
2. That awful cruise ship thing. I know it was horrible but I can't stop thinking about it and I had no connection to any of it.
3. The NY school thing with the girls with the tics. Once again, I have no connection. Seizures scare the hell out of me, but don't they scare everyone. I did have a friend a few years ago who had a seizure and was basically never the same since. He had a heart attack a few weeks later and died. I don't know if one relates to the other but in my head I associate the two. Maybe the NY thing brings that up although I know tics and seizures are different.
4. That awful story about the missing woman whose husband killed himself and the kids.
I feel like I can't take a "news vacation", but I need one. I am the one in my group of friends who people go to for current events news. LOL! How can I take one now with elections coming up? Has anyone ever taken one? I just feel like I would have to avoid tv, facebook, yahoo, twitter, etc. Where is the line between not obsessing about news and not being totally clueless?
I am sorry if this is long and disjointed and appreciate any advice. I am in therapy and plan to discuss my news vacation idea at my appointment this week.
Re: Maybe someone can help (long, sorry)
I got this book and it helped me a little bit with regard to things I have no control over:
http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-Handbook-David-Burns/dp/0452281326
Are you on any meds for ocd?
I don't know, Julie. Why do you think you obsess?
Would it help if you limit yourself to a certain amount of time devoted to the news? Or if you limit your sources?
I don't do twitter and I barely do FB, although I don't think of either as news sources. Can you change your settings on Yahoo so it only shows stories related to the election or finance or what have you? Not too many personal tragedies in those sections.
I think you can. If not, switch to gmail. No news stories there.
Why does the BVal situation (here and elsewhere) bother you? Does it cause you anxiety? What is going on with that aspect of your post?
Happy News Daily
Cute Overload
Do your best to try not to read disturbing news right before bed. I usually try to read the comics or one of the above so that I am in a good mood before I go to sleep.
Other than that I would say a news break could benefit you.
I had a "seizure disorder" a few years ago. Basically, I started having unexplained seizures out of the blue. It had absolutely NO lasting impact on me. So I'm living proof that sometimes a seizure is just a weird occurrence that isn't indicative of anything larger wrong (or mean that it'll have lasting, negative effects on the person).
Currently Reading: Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes
Have you given much thought as to why you internalize these stories? Will you replace the news with something else to obsess over?
Can you plan to put that energy into something more productive instead?
Thanks for sharing this. Did you ever take anticonvulsants while they were trying to figure out what was wrong? Awesome that it had no lasting impact.
This. Have you discussed any specific strategies with your therapist? Are you being totally open about how difficult this is becoming for you? Also, what kind of things does your therapist do with you? CBT? Homework?
"Feeling Good" is a great book (haven't tried the workbook, but really like the regular book). It's designed around helping depression, but IMO many of the things Dr. Burns talks about in that book can apply to anxiety as well.
I went through something similar after our daughter passed away. I was truly stuck in the anxiety phase of grief and I felt like I could never get out of it. My Dr thought I was developing hypochondria. It was as if the anxieties and worry were overtaking my life. I can't tell you how many cancers I thought I had and everytime I got a swollen lymphnode I thought I was dying. No I am not joking. I felt a constant compulsion to look up any symptom of illness I might have. I was just so miserable. I decided to see a counselor and I think that was the healthiest decision I ever made. Here are some things she suggested.
1. Keep a worry journal. At first I was hesitant to do one but I eventually did start a journal. It felt so good to talk about my worries and fears and to get them out of my head. I was also a good tool to give me perspective. I would look back on previous entries and think " That's right, I was really worried about that and now I am not. Maybe my current worries will go away too."
2. I had to avoid triggers. I would not let myself watch any health related shows at all. If I was watching the news and a health related story would come on, I had to change the channel. IF I was on theNest and a health related topic would come up, I would leave the post or not open it at all. Most importantly, I had to avoid the urge to look up any symptoms I was feeling.
After I had a few, they put me on Keppra (antiseizure). They said that they would keep me on it for 2 years. If I didn't have another seizure, I could come off of it in 2 years and they would declare me out of the woods. I didn't have a seizure another seizure in that time and I'm no longer on it.
I went through MRIs and EEGs and all that... and they couldn't find any reason why it had occurred. They explained that sometimes people's seizure threshholds just get lowered and they have seizures for no good reason. I would have the seizure, wake up, be a little groggy but an hour later I felt completely normal.
Currently Reading: Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes
i was also going to ask about OCD. this sounds pretty clearly like the "obsessive" portion of the disorder.
having both OCD and major depression, i stay away from most news programs. i am mostly out of the loop in terms of current events, but i still have most of my sanity. it's a trade-off that i am willing to make.
Sounds like a good trade off!