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Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#11

Post by maurys »

I've had weeks and months like this.

The general healthy advice all worked for me to different degrees.

Exercise, meeting friends and having non-desk/screentime intensive hobbies.

Meeting friends and nurturing those relationships helped hugely. And sadly, the second most effective thing was switching to a less-intense team.

I've definitely seen other friends with unhealthy habits and anxiety in the industry too so I'd try some of these and see if it helps.

And you could definitely try therapy and/or medical help too.

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#13

Post by freyir »

I started a Silicon Valley FANG job about two years ago. I now wake up early most mornings with anxiety. I’m close to 40 years old, and this is the first time in my life I’ve experienced this.

I’ve wondered if the pandemic and quarantining has exacerbated this. I don’t have much going on in my life right now besides work, and get little human contact beyond Zoom calls with my coworkers.

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#14

Post by mettamage »

youeseh wrote: post #6

I have been able to: 1. Reason my way out of anxiety. 2. Take my mind off anxiety by visualizing myself surf the perfect wave. 3. Box breathing. #2 is very effective in going back to sleep and has yet to get old / used up after years of use.

Ha! Thanks for saying two. While I'm not a surfer, that looks like a lovely visualization.

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#15

Post by jstarfish »

Absolutely. Same thing as you-- for the same reasons, I dread going to bed. I dread waking up. I do everything I can to avoid being at my desk.

This all started about six months into quarantine. Went away briefly but now back with a vengeance.

While I do have some personal drama going on, I'm thinking SAD is playing some part in this too-- the days are shorter and darker. I was already prone to that pre-COVID.

Mind that your relaxation space and work space are now permanently commingled. You can't get away from work. It lives with you now.

I don't have a solution for you, but hang in there. It should get better when you regain the option of leaving your work at the office.

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#16

Post by okoslaatoo »

Your anxiety is trying to save you, just as much as depression.[0]

Disclaimer: I am not a professional in medicine of any kind, just another techie, recovering from the depths of anxiety.

Do not blame yourself for your anxiety. Look for causes in your environment. By the shrug you seem to accept it, yet you know it's wrong.

Seek help, be it professional or supportive environment outside work, be it a new hobby, be it sky watching, etc... Add different stimulii to your mind before going to sleep.

Once you find out what is wrong, address it. Is your anxiety caused by uncertainty? What uncertainty? Do you have control over it?

BTDT, never again. All the money one making will all go to health care. There are plenty of discussions on HN about recovery advice.[0]

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25546043

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#17

Post by billyruffian »

0n3z3r0 wrote: post #3

CTO of UK IoT business. Yep, I once had this daily, but now, not every day but maybe once or twice every week or so. For me, after some experimentation and ruling things out one by one, I found it to be bunch of things. First and foremost for me it was caused by work. Those lovely insane deadlines from the board are a big source of anxiety for me. Also, what I am consuming. Consuming from a diet perspective, news, so…

I vouch for this approach 100%. You could set your clock to the 4am sweat panics that would always wake me up with my head spinning from minor problems that I couldn't put away.

I try my hardest to do one hour's vigorous walking a day when I can, audiobooked and podcasted to the max. When it's raining cats and dogs I'm doing some yoga (I'm using my free trial of apple fitness but there are loads of similar programmes) and it really helps me. It's 100 times more effective than self-medicating.

I still wake sometimes but less often and when I do, I'll get out of bed for 10 mins (cooling down seems to help) and, daft though it sounds, repeat to myself that I'm in control of what I feel.

Anxiety is absolutely horrible and I think you've got to experience it to realise how awful it can be.

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#18

Post by Escapado »

Used to have panic attacks and constant anxiety (without knowing what they are and what was wrong with me) every day for about 2 years triggered by a bad cannabis experience . Turned out I was predespositioned and it runs in my dads family. It started to mix with depression. 7 Years later I still sometimes get panic attacks and anxiety and dystonic thoughts, especially when my perceived stress is high (I work as a freelance SE). I have identified following long term factors that help bringing frequency and severity down significantly (talking about going from daily to maybe once every few months): - Exercise 4 times a week (preferably running) - Eat healthy (I cut sugar and eat according to an app 90% of the time) - Being outside every day and exposing myself to sunlight - Balancing alone time with social time according to my needs - Walk away from things that stress me out for no real benefit (that also means walking away from people) - Do not overpromise

Factors that help me coping when it hits anyway: - Breath slowly, deeply and on exhale remind myself that its only temporary - Put my feet on a cold floor - Smile and nod - Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (google it) - Walk outside

Re: Ask HN: Do you wake up with anxiety?

#20

Post by JSenns »

My first bout with anxiety started when I got engaged. Heart palpitations, had to wear a Holter monitor for a week, the works, but everything checked out fine... Skip a few years and then decided to buy my first house. I'd been staying up for tons of hours trying to bank a bunch of cash for the down payment. Was working on a project that was make-or-break for a local startup, the guy before me didn't care enough, but I wouldn't let it fail, stayed up for 4 days building it and BOOM, crippling anxiety again. Different though, couldn't take full breaths of air this time. But in both cases I wasn't getting enough sleep. Got some sleep, talked to my doctor, then my dad, and then I was fine. Used to stay up for 2-3 days during college all the time so I really didn't think much of it. Sleep is huge.
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