This started about two weeks ago whenever I was taking my break at work. I decided to get some shut eye for about 15 minutes, when a thought came to my mind,”What if you start noticing yourself blink?” I didnt think much of it considering my eyes were closed, but since I opened them I started to notice it. The first two days of noticing it were okay, then I got a really bad panic attack at work bc of it. Since that attack ive been getting anxiety attacks everyday. And I’ve tried Atarax, Valarian and Melatonin and those only make me more anxious. It’s grown from the fear of having anxiety attacks, to me being depressed bc I keep noticing myself blink. I feel like I won’t be myself again. I’ve noticed myself blink before about four years ago but that went away no problem. This is much worse. I’ve had a history with anxiety since I broke my arm years ago, so I’ve been suffering with it for about six years. I don’t know if this is the beginnings of OCD or something worse, but I would like to see if there’s anything I can do about it. I seriously need help because this is eating my life away. Someone please help.
Thank you
This does sound ocdish. I would recommend looking into OCD and thinking about the underlying fear this may be attached to. To me it seems like a classic fear of losing control as something like blinking is not in your control. The way to fight OCD is not to fight it. Let yourself obsess about blinking, lean i to the anxiety completely. Sooner or later your mind will get bored and less scared and will move on.
Thanks for the quick reply! It does sound very ocd, hence why I’m a little worried. I’ve tried to just accept it since the beginning because that’s how I got over it the first time. That doesn’t seem to be working. Because I do good at first, and then my anxiety gets the best of me. Would you recommend any meds to take??
Thank you!
Hi. Mike has very strong views on benzodiazepines, obviously from personal experience. Discuss with your gp as they are there for a reason and work well for some. Everybody reacts differently to certain meds, some help some don't you could also say stay away from ssri's and opiates. I personally would never say stay away from certain meds, ally meds come with warnings and need to be discussed with gp. Just speaking from my personal experience and what has helped my anxiety over the years, most meds if monitored by gp and not abused can be helpful in stabilising bad periods of anxiety, 😊❤️
Meant to say, totally get the blinking thing. Very OCD, the more you focus on trying not to do it the more you do it ' drives you mad' I had the same , I would swallow or clear my throats then when I would notice it and intentionally try to stop but just couldnt. Loads of different OCD , makes anxiety worse , therapy , etc can help, good luck, know it's frustrating.😊❤️
I get relief from 7.5mg of mitrazapine at bedtime. Nothing else works for me. Although getting messages, taking epsom baths and focused breathing eases my anxiety/OCD a little.
Jonathan, what happens if you drink a beer? Does it ease up or get worse?
Yeah it's frustrating as hell. Whenever my mind is preoccupied with hanging out with friends and etc... It goes away for the most part. But when I try watching a video or a movie it comes back worse.
Perhaps you can try to trick it away. Start playing an instrument where you focus on sound instead of visual stuff. Worth a try?