Why Can't You Stop Worrying?

MSNBC.com ^ | 11-30-07 | Stephanie Dolgoff

[JamesP81]

I open my eyes with a start, like the murderous freak in the slasher movie the audience thinks is dead but isn't. The clock reads 3:55 A.M. I've awakened within six minutes of this time for the past three nights. I shut my eyes and take a breath, hoping to ease back to sleep. Too late.

The anxiety is already gathering momentum, my brain roiling with thoughts that have no business being there in the middle of the night. It's like a Law & Order episode in my head: Opposing sides argue and counterargue, witnesses are badgered, lawyers shout objections. I bang the gavel and demand silence so I can get some rest. That works for a minute, then the ruckus begins again.

[JamesP81]

Ping

[Kate of Spice Island]

It takes quite a bit to stop the worrying in the night (daytime, too...)

I had to use medications to help with the PTSD symptoms.

Thanks for posting the article.

[JamesP81]

At least I can claim to come by it honestly. My dad and his mother are the world’s worst worriers, and my grandpa on my dad’s side was basically a professional pessimist. That can be a nasty hereditary combination.

[Moose4]

I’m very much the same way. When I get stressed, I’ll wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning and basically quietly freak out. I KNOW it’s irrational but I can’t stop myself.

}:-)4

[JRios1968]

I think you worry too much...

[JamesP81]

I’m very much the same way. When I get stressed, I’ll wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning and basically quietly freak out. I KNOW it’s irrational but I can’t stop myself.

I've never had this problem myself. I tend to worry and stress when I'm awake, though. I've also been working lots and lots of overtime since August and this has all combined to leave me feeling off and on sickly for about three months now. It's annoying to say the least.

[blam]

The whole worlds suffers under a Republican administration. These stories will end once the Democrats are in the White House.

[Resolute Conservative]

I am opposite after a really stressful event, becoming angered, or under a lot of stress I could sleep on a bed of nails.

[L98Fiero]

She should do what my wife does when she can’t sleep. Join the hubby in a little horizontal “exercise”. Works every time.

[RayChuang88]

I blame the MSM for causing too much worrying—the news reporting is so negative nowadays that it’s driving people nuts. And you wonder why relations between the sexes have gotten so bad since the 1960’s.

[Thrownatbirth]

And you wonder why relations between the sexes have gotten so bad since the 1960’s.

I stopped worrying about it in 1970.

[Froufrou]

It's like a Law & Order episode in my head:

Complete with that double-note stark music? Listen, I wake like this too, and at the same time! Sometimes, it's even when I've been up very late. I've been told it is a 'natural cicadean [sp] rhythym.' I've also been told to try Exedrin p.m. but have not done so.

[knittnmom]

I sometimes wake for no apparent reason. I lie there and think, okay, God, for whom should I be praying now? If no answer comes, I just start praying for family, then friends (both in person and on line), and I’m usually asleep again before I get to church and government leaders.

[JamesP81]

She should do what my wife does when she can’t sleep. Join the hubby in a little horizontal “exercise”. Works every time.

Not a bad idea, although that idea doesn't work for us single guys. I usually practice my martial arts, but this doesn't reduce worry and stress so much as it makes tired enough that I'm unable to care, at least until the next day.

[rlmorel]

I agree with some of the posters...the MSM wants you in a constant state of anxiety.

Personally, I just finished reading “Brotherhood of Heroes” about the fight for the fight for Peleliu in WWII. Those Marines sometimes went without sleep for three days at a stretch, because if they did sleep they were liable to get their throat cut by an enemy who was often lurking only yards away.

If I wake up at night, I’m gonna thank God I am not on Peleliu, and I am certain I will fall back asleep...

[RightWhale]

At 3:55 AM Coast is on the radio and the guest has just proven the Bilderbergers are funding the ChiCom and the UFOs. Who could sleep?

[VOA]

bump

[JamesP81]

If I wake up at night, I’m gonna thank God I am not on Peleliu, and I am certain I will fall back asleep...

Amen brother.

[blam]

"If I wake up at night, I’m gonna thank God I am not on Peleliu."

Peleliu

[rlmorel]

Thanks. Good link...I have read extensively about the Pacific war, but had not known much about Peleliu other than it was a very nasty battle.

What piqued my interest was a book called “Breakout: The Chosin Reservoir Campaign, Korea 1950” by Martin Russ. The unbelievable conditions those men fought under, up to -30 degrees was stunning. But there were more than a few of those men who had fought on Peleliu in WWII, where the temperatures had gone up to 130 degrees during the battle.

Good God. To have gone through what arguably were two of the hardest military campaigns in US Military history...at the opposite extremes of the temperature spectrum...

I WILL appreciate my bed at night.

[blam]

"I WILL appreciate my bed at night."

Me too. We have a lot to be grateful for.

[proudofthesouth]

I’m a world class worrier and always have been. I can and have literally made myself sick worrying about possible scenarios. However, since I became a Christian last Spring my worrying IS decreasing. I still do a lot of it but am trying to turn ALL my worries over to God and and am
trying to trust him to handle everything. I can manage to do that for a few minutes or hours and am slowly working towards doing it for infinity. I say this prayer aloud at least twice every day:

Dear Lord, I’m turning over all my fears and problems to You to handle today. I can’t fix a single thing by worrying about it - but you can fix anything because nothing is impossible for You! Thank You for my blessings,
big and small. Thank You for Your loving care for me. Thank You for being in charge of my day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I might borrow your prayer. I also tend to worry a lot about things. The fact that I have been in rough situations before and survived does not help my attitude much. When I run into a situation that reminds me of something unpleasant I survived in the past, I think, "Please, God, not THAT again!" Maybe that I can imagine a worst-case scenario gives me a sense of control in a perverse way.

What really makes it fun is when you are being torn apart in situations in your life while you have to give support to other people. You grit your teeth, force a fake smile and muddle through as best you can. When something bad happens, I try to ask not, "Why did this happen to me?" but rather, "Why not? Why should I expect to be exempt from suffering when better people have suffered much worse?" Usually I am not so high-minded so I sulk and complain. I am against the "name it and claim it" brand of Christianity where some televangelist says God gave him a Rolls Royce because God likes his hairstyle. American Christianity in general glosses over the reality of suffering.