Constant Worry

gadawgmom

Hey ladies! I hope you all have been doing well! 

I am wondering if anyone else is dealing with constant anxiety over terrible things. I can't watch the news anymore and the comercial for the new season of American Crime where the mom screams my son was raped, plays over and over in my head. I am constantly worrying about him being a victim of a violent crime. I find that some days it consumes me. 

I am sure that I should go speak to a doctor about this but what I am wondering is how you ladies cope with the world. It is such a big scary place and there is so much that can go wrong. How do you brush it aside and move along or even have additional kids. I wanted to have a football teams worth but now I constantly live in fear and I think I am so selfish for bringing another person into this world. 

Help please! 

princesslockness

I personally don't have those fears. I would definitely talk to my doctor if I did. It sounds as though you might have some anxiety issues that could be linked to PPA.

Until you can talk to your doctor I would focus more on keeping your LO happy and safe within your community. Make sure your play dates are safe, he is warm enough, and mentally stimulated.

gadawgmom

Thanks for the reply. With the board being so slow I didn't know if anyone would. 

I am going to call the doctor next week. It wasn't until recently that I thought it could be PPD related. 

In the meantime, how do you not worry about those things? The idea of not being terrified of that is so foreign to me. 

princesslockness

gadawgmom said:

Thanks for the reply. With the board being so slow I didn't know if anyone would. 

I am going to call the doctor next week. It wasn't until recently that I thought it could be PPD related. 

In the meantime, how do you not worry about those things? The idea of not being terrified of that is so foreign to me. 

I think it might be because I have too many other things to worry about. Such as: H Having a job, the dogs getting enough exercise, cleaning the house after teachin all day, remembering to mail the checks to pay the bills, ext.
or maybe I'm just too lazy/laid back of a parent. I don't really worry about L because if something were to happen, I can only deal with it then.

BecNJake

I struggle with this also. I worry about SIDS constantly, and everything looks like a death trap to me (stairs, brick walls, etc). I think it started for me when my baby was at risk during labor. It was terrifying thinking I could lose him and even though the birth ended up being normal I think I never shook that terrifying feeling. I talked to my acupuncturist about it, she gave me some great advice. She said a constant state of worry is not healthy for you or baby and can't possibly help. Anytime I put baby down or hand him off, she advised me to say a quick prayer of protection over him ( this was personalized advice for me- if you don't pray you can think positive thoughts or just leave him with a feeling of peace visualizing good things for baby). This is really for your own health, not baby. I have found these quick prayers ease my mind and I feel like I am doing all I can. If this doesn't work for you please do talk to someone! It helped me so much, I am feeling at peace with baby but still working through some new mama anxiety. You're a good mama for caring so much, but find ways to not go overboard and turn that into worry! You will be happy you did

irohspupil

Yes, absolutely. It's Post Partum Anxiety. I had/have it. Please confide in your OB about all of the things you are feeling so you can get some much needed help.

Mine got a lot better when my family offered to watch LO overnight so I could catch up on sleep. If that's available to you, I recommend you let family help. A couple pills and switching from EP and FF to just FF helped me also, but everyone is different!

Other things that helped: making time for sexy time with DH.

I really hope you get to feeling better soon<3

gadawgmom

Thank you ladies. I really appreciate the feedback. ]

Sonadora

I'd definitely talk to your OB or your regular physician.

It's not that I don't acknowledge that the world can be a dangerous place, but it doesn't preoccupy my waking thoughts or anything.

brinbri

I would talk to your OB because that sounds like bad anxiety. But I have a five year old and am the crazy mom who won't let her son play at anyone's house without me there, or even when he is outside with neighbors they have to be in front of our house so I can watch. I worked at a Police Department as a dispatcher and saw some awful stuff. I think the more home and family centered you can be with your kid the safer and more well raised they will be. I intend to be the house where everyone else comes to play and mostly because I don't want my kids in people's homes that I only sort of know.

kettlekitten

@gadawgmom it's definitely not normal to feel consumed by those thoughts so I'm glad you are seeing a doctor. I do get a little obsessed at times by things I see in the news but for the most part these only niggle at the edges of my mind from time to time rather than being at the forefront of my thoughts. Perhaps some counselling will give you perspective, also if you think about the likelihood of these awful things happening, it's very slim. E.g. You just hear about the people that were harmed/killed in the news, but you don't hear about the 4 billion or so people in the world who survived yet another normal day.

Try to avoid watching news, violent Tv shows and movies, as I find that you can get too focused on awful things that way. I no longer watch anything with violence because I know I can't get some of those things out of my mind.

It's normal to worry about your LO but not to the point that it is crippling you. Hope you find your doctor is helpful and you can get some peace!

gadawgmom

Man, you ladies rock! Thank you for the kind words.I forgot how great this group was. I am already started to feel better just in speaking with you ladies. 

heath3er

There is nothing we can do. I feel the same but pray over my boys big and small daily.

I still want more. We have two. Whenever it happens it happens..

beckygoetz93

I have struggled with anxiety for about 2 years now. I get these thoughts from time to time. I kind of just run horrible situations that could happen to my family and just worry about it for a while and then it passes and I get back to normal thought. I've talked to my doc before and she has offered me meds but I don't want to take anything. Idk if you're religious but praying has helped me tremendously. Also don't watch the news. It's nothing but terrible and will not help your situation at all. I hope you find a way to push it to the back or get rid of it all together.