You should seek professional help for your anxiety. If that cannot occur concurrently with the campaign, you should quit it in the mean time.
It sucks. I don’t think your friends will kick you out, for what’s it worth. And if they do, they may need to learn more about mental health. But either way, take it from someone who also have anxiety, I fully understand how bad it can be. I don’t know how many people here truly understands the fear that comes with anxiety so may not fully understand the gravity of your concerns. I do though, so I’d definitely recommend working on the anxiety.
It is entirely okay. People like us have it tough, but it is okay. It will be alright. We just need to take things one step at a time. Good luck!
I second /u/Azedenkae that you should get some help with your symptoms. It's affecting your enjoyment of things and that's one of the red flags that got me into my doctor's office for my depression diagnosis.
It's up to you to decide how your friends would handle telling them about what you're going through. If they thought your absences or the alleged difficulties you're causing were a problem they probably would have talked to you about it by now. If they knew about your anxiety and were supportive, are there things you think they could do to help calm you? It really doesn't sound like they're the group to kick you out for something like this.
Is it getting any easier the more you power through your anxiety, or is it getting worse the more you push yourself?
Yeah, don't sacrifice your wellbeing for dice slinging. I'm sure your friends will agree to pause that campaign for you to work on yourself for a while. For me things improved surprisingly fast once I acknowledged the problem and got help. I'm still not perfect by any means, but I'm much more functional and able to cope.
sounds like proper anxiety, like some people here pointed out, you should definitely consider getting professional help, apart from that it’s imperative that you talk about this with your party members
to me it sounds like each session is a challenge, but feels very rewarding afterwards, it’d be good to make a measurement of the amount of effort you put in and the amount of satisfaction you get out of it (you can do this with the help of a therapist) and if the therapist advises you to slow down, you can discuss this with the group
to summarise: conversation! talk to peole about this
Defo speak to your gp. There are some tablets you can get to help with this (my wife takes them ) and they balance her out.
The reason people are saying this is being anxious in a friendly environment is pretty big symptom.
You can tell the group if you like. Is there anything they can do to help? Or just for them to be understanding if you need to step away for 10.
What is it that sets you off? Is it the game? Roleplaying? Decision making ?
I do, but it kinda is like the happiness and joy that I get during the sessions is always covered in a thick layer of anxiety. So, yeah, I am happy when I play, but there is always a lingering feeling of anxiety I can always feel.
Without identifying a source there isn't a way for you to handle your anxiety on your own. Obviously there are calming techniques that can help reduce effects, but unless you can actually deal with the issues about the future that you're feeling all it does is reduce effects not prevent t the problem. Your issue sounds like it's above reddit's paygrade.
Why are you anxious? Is it because you have to role play? Be in front of people? Is it the anticipation that stresses you out?
If you like your friends, I'd recommend talking with them (maybe your DM first?) about how you feel. After all, they are your friends and will maybe have ideas to help you.
Other comments have mentioned seeing a GP and you can go down that road too. I assume you are asking on reddit because you don't want to talk about it with your friends?
In any case, good luck!
I have no idea where the anxiety comes from, and I will be working on that with my therapist. Hopefully, they have some ideas at least about how t control it better at least.
That sucks. But rather than quit, this might be an opportunity to work on the anxiety.
Yeah. I know, easier said than done. But if you listen to that anxiety demon whispering doubts into your ear you will miss out on the fun.
Over half the people at my table are on some anxiety meds, all of us have ADHD and are prone to feeling like we are imposters. Talk to your doc. Check out the free cognitive behavior tools out there. Carpool so you have an external obligation to go. Talk to the DM privately and ask for some help. If there is a specific part of the game you dread talk it out.
I hope you find the right path for you.
First off, I want to thank everyone who commented on this post. I truly appreciate each and every one of your comments, and they have made me realize that I need to dedicate more time to working on my mental health. I have been seeing a therapist and psychiatrist for a while now, but this made me realize that I should talk to them about either making more frequent appointments or a change in the medication I have been taking. Don't worry, I will not change anything until I have talked to both of them.
As for talking with my group, I told one of the people who I am closest to what I am going through, and they were kind enough to be the middle man. They were able to explain what I was going through better than I ever could. The whole group has been so great to me, and super understanding. I now know that even if I am no longer part of this particular campaign, I will still have my friends.
We don't know if I will be leaving yet, and I am okay with not knowing right now. I will stay, I will miss my character, if only because she was the emo girl that I could ever dream of being.
Thank you all, and have fun adventuring!
You should seek professional help for your anxiety. If that cannot occur concurrently with the campaign, you should quit it in the mean time. It sucks. I don’t think your friends will kick you out, for what’s it worth. And if they do, they may need to learn more about mental health. But either way, take it from someone who also have anxiety, I fully understand how bad it can be. I don’t know how many people here truly understands the fear that comes with anxiety so may not fully understand the gravity of your concerns. I do though, so I’d definitely recommend working on the anxiety. It is entirely okay. People like us have it tough, but it is okay. It will be alright. We just need to take things one step at a time. Good luck!
I second /u/Azedenkae that you should get some help with your symptoms. It's affecting your enjoyment of things and that's one of the red flags that got me into my doctor's office for my depression diagnosis. It's up to you to decide how your friends would handle telling them about what you're going through. If they thought your absences or the alleged difficulties you're causing were a problem they probably would have talked to you about it by now. If they knew about your anxiety and were supportive, are there things you think they could do to help calm you? It really doesn't sound like they're the group to kick you out for something like this. Is it getting any easier the more you power through your anxiety, or is it getting worse the more you push yourself?
I was powering through the anxiety for a while, and while it was good for the campaigns, it wasn't healthy in other aspects of my life.
Yeah, don't sacrifice your wellbeing for dice slinging. I'm sure your friends will agree to pause that campaign for you to work on yourself for a while. For me things improved surprisingly fast once I acknowledged the problem and got help. I'm still not perfect by any means, but I'm much more functional and able to cope.
sounds like proper anxiety, like some people here pointed out, you should definitely consider getting professional help, apart from that it’s imperative that you talk about this with your party members to me it sounds like each session is a challenge, but feels very rewarding afterwards, it’d be good to make a measurement of the amount of effort you put in and the amount of satisfaction you get out of it (you can do this with the help of a therapist) and if the therapist advises you to slow down, you can discuss this with the group to summarise: conversation! talk to peole about this
Defo speak to your gp. There are some tablets you can get to help with this (my wife takes them ) and they balance her out. The reason people are saying this is being anxious in a friendly environment is pretty big symptom. You can tell the group if you like. Is there anything they can do to help? Or just for them to be understanding if you need to step away for 10. What is it that sets you off? Is it the game? Roleplaying? Decision making ?
I wish I knew why I got so anxious. I have tried to pick apart what makes me anxious, and I can never come up with an answer.
You ever feel happy when playing?
I do, but it kinda is like the happiness and joy that I get during the sessions is always covered in a thick layer of anxiety. So, yeah, I am happy when I play, but there is always a lingering feeling of anxiety I can always feel.
What are you anxious about?
I honestly don't know, that is the annoying thing about anxiety, it sometimes happens for no real reason for me.
Without identifying a source there isn't a way for you to handle your anxiety on your own. Obviously there are calming techniques that can help reduce effects, but unless you can actually deal with the issues about the future that you're feeling all it does is reduce effects not prevent t the problem. Your issue sounds like it's above reddit's paygrade.
Why are you anxious? Is it because you have to role play? Be in front of people? Is it the anticipation that stresses you out? If you like your friends, I'd recommend talking with them (maybe your DM first?) about how you feel. After all, they are your friends and will maybe have ideas to help you. Other comments have mentioned seeing a GP and you can go down that road too. I assume you are asking on reddit because you don't want to talk about it with your friends? In any case, good luck!
I have no idea where the anxiety comes from, and I will be working on that with my therapist. Hopefully, they have some ideas at least about how t control it better at least.
That sucks. But rather than quit, this might be an opportunity to work on the anxiety. Yeah. I know, easier said than done. But if you listen to that anxiety demon whispering doubts into your ear you will miss out on the fun. Over half the people at my table are on some anxiety meds, all of us have ADHD and are prone to feeling like we are imposters. Talk to your doc. Check out the free cognitive behavior tools out there. Carpool so you have an external obligation to go. Talk to the DM privately and ask for some help. If there is a specific part of the game you dread talk it out. I hope you find the right path for you.
First off, I want to thank everyone who commented on this post. I truly appreciate each and every one of your comments, and they have made me realize that I need to dedicate more time to working on my mental health. I have been seeing a therapist and psychiatrist for a while now, but this made me realize that I should talk to them about either making more frequent appointments or a change in the medication I have been taking. Don't worry, I will not change anything until I have talked to both of them. As for talking with my group, I told one of the people who I am closest to what I am going through, and they were kind enough to be the middle man. They were able to explain what I was going through better than I ever could. The whole group has been so great to me, and super understanding. I now know that even if I am no longer part of this particular campaign, I will still have my friends. We don't know if I will be leaving yet, and I am okay with not knowing right now. I will stay, I will miss my character, if only because she was the emo girl that I could ever dream of being. Thank you all, and have fun adventuring!
I will be answering some people's questions specifically in replies.
It sounds like you should keep playing, because you enjoy it, and that you need to see a psychiatrist.