scared to leave the house?

[dan15]

I'm getting to the point where I am afraid to leave the house lately.  I am so worried about my heart.  I wish I could just deal with working on my anxiety, but my mind tells me that it is more than anxiety causing me all these symptoms.  How do you just shut out the symptoms and concentrate on getting yourself better?

[dan15]

I am also starting a new job and would like to start without so much anxiety, so I know I will start off on the right foot.  They want me to be a manager, and are training me to manage the front line of the store right away with my customer service background.  I just don't want to mess this up.  I want to be able to show them that they chose the right person for the job.

[AYKM]

dan15-

Starting a new job can be very stressful, but also exciting, fun and ambitious. They wouldn't have hired you if they didn't think you could do the job and do it well! You know the term "don't let em see you sweat?", well don't. If you get panicky, excuse yourself to the restroom or go do a different activity. Try to stay as focused on the job as you can. With management and customer service (did that for restaurants for almost 10 yrs) you will problems and issues come your way everyday. I bet you will get so busy trying to learn the job and deal with all that, that you will "forget" about your heart. I have realized that when another issue arises that I have to dive into to get solved, my "symptoms" have a tendency to go away.

About your house fear...don't go there!! I have been there, and it's awful. Venture out just a little today if you can. Go clean out your car, or if you have any landscaping poke around in that for bit. Maybe not go run a full day of errands, but do something other than stay in the house.

More importantly, congratulations on your new position.

[Kayteecatt]

If you lock youself up in the house, you're allowing the anxiety to win.  We have to keep thinking of anxiety as the enemy.  You're a ballplayer, you have to be competitive at heart right...then think of anxiety as the other team.  Don't allow yourself any errors.  Put that mit to the ground and start the chain for a double play.  Living with anxiety is like playing a game that never ends.  Sometimes you get down by a couple of runs, but then you hit a grand slam and you're up again. 

During my rough stage, I too was scared to death to leave my house.  I began venturing out only to areas that were close to hospitals..you know, just in case...then I got more comfortable with being out and I could go further away.  Here's something that made me feel better...I always had my cell phone.  No matter where I was, my phone was with me and always fully charged.  I could call for help from anywhere. 

I know this sounds totally nuts, but wake up every morning, look at yourself in the mirror and say "I am going to have a good day today.  You can try to ruin it if you want to, but I will fight you the entire way."

[dan15]

I did get out today.  I went to the bank and took my dog to the park to run.  I have a baseball game tonight.  It's the first one since I took myself out of the game last Friday night.  I'm starting to get nervous and can feel the palps starting, but I'm going to battle it.  I know I can't let my anxiety win, and that is why I am trying so hard.  I just wrote Strength, Courage, and Family inside of my hat so that I never lose track of what I need to do. 

I hope I can play tonight and let go of all the fears.  My coach knows I have anxiety and he won't let me out of the game unless I battle with him, because he knows how good I am and that I can't let it beat me, but sometimes it gets too strong, and I feel like I let my team down sometimes.  Our home park is about 2 miles from our hospital, and I think about that a lot but sometimes the anxiety is too much for me to keep playing.  I just hope I make it through the game without letting it win. 

[marc]

I could not say it any better than Kayteecatt.

[Reg]

I am also starting a new job and would like to start without so much anxiety, so I know I will start off on the right foot.  They want me to be a manager, and are training me to manage the front line of the store right away with my customer service background.  I just don't want to mess this up.  I want to be able to show them that they chose the right person for the job.

Good luck. I'm starting a new job soon myself, and it is stressful. But chances are, once you start, you'll be so busy learning new stuff that you won't have time for anxiety. Especially if you're interacting with people all day (which is what managers do, right?). The more you have to think about, the less time you have to think about anxiety.