Anxiety, procrastination and depression

Phil 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

This is easier said then done....I am always anxious about my achievements at school and how others would look at me if I do not do well. my fear of what people will think of me is so intense that I sometimes am anxious for days just worrying about one person.....

I really couln't put this in words....all I can say is this anxiety is draining me! I can't stand it anymore, almost everything I do is out of my fears, sometimes I avoid certain places afraid of meeting someone...

what makes me sick is when people tell me not to worry about what others think...for if only I could do it, I would have done it ages ago...

I am so tired of living in so much fear, I fear failure so much, I only wish I know why I am so afraid.I'm procrastinating from studies and worse yet, I am procrastinating from God...yet I won't stop procrastinating until I stop being so scared...my procrastination is getting worse and worse...yet I'm so tired of being a failure, I fail at every simple thing i do, I'm sinning all the time

I'm so tired of being afraid,
I'm so tired of running away
I'm so tired of expectations
I'm so tired of being sad
I'm tired of being hungry yet too tired to eat

Mt 11:28-30
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

this sinfulness of mine is blocking my way to righteousness(eg. my anxiety distracts my devotions)...I do not concider myself as crucified with Christ when I am holding onto my old self so tightly...my love for myself way surpasses the love for God...

If only I could let go of myself....my faith is so limited...I'm so afraid to cross the Jordan river........


Please please somebody help me...I've been stuck with this problem for years... I want to follow our Father but I'm so afraid to let go

I wish I had the best advice to give you, because when I was in university, I struggled with anxiety. The verse that helped me deal the most is "perfect love casts out all fear"

I realized that I just have to have faith. It is a choice! you don't need proof to have faith, even in situations that look hopeless if you maintain your faith you will easily be able to pull through. Plus great faith when you pray, allows the prayer to be answered (this I know from experience)
when your thoughts are on something anxious, just turn them around to your love for God! it works!

much love!

__________________
Be Still And Know That I Am God ...
Psalm 46:10

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4).

I know how you are feeling. It is hard to focus on God, when you are bouncing off the walls. It's not fun, it is a struggle. Are you getting any help, medication or couseling? If not, I would recommend it. I tak lexapro and it has helped me a great deal. Also read and study as much as you can on anxiety and depression. Learning to avoid things that trigger it takes discipline, but it is a very good thing to to.

__________________
"These Things I Have Spoken Unto You
That In Me Ye Might Have Peace. In the World Ye Shall
Have Tribulation, But Be Of Good Cheer; I Have Overcome
The World" -- John 16:33

God, please help E.l.I. you know what will do for her,
please help her run to You with everything, trust in You and

there is this newsletter called anxious for nothing,
I'll send u a pm with the link, esp. the stronghold-thing is
good, I just read it today...

God bless you loads !!!
try & trust........keep asking God to help ya, just don't give
it up..............cause God rocks..........even when we
don't see it =)

This may sound an odd and irrelevant question, Endearing lil influenza, but are your parents very right-wing politically? Does ambition figure very prominently in your family ethos? Of course, don't answer unless you are totally happy to.

Wow this thread is timely. I might be pulling an all-nighter tonight working on a paper that I've been procrastinating on, and I lost some sleep last night worrying about it.

I want to help, but I can't guarantee what I'm going to say here will. These ideas have helped me though, so I share them with you for what they're worth, and I also pray that God may bless you.

First, in a practical vein, consider study groups. Learning in a team environment not only helps get past mental blocks and provides a structure and schedule for learning, but it also lets us see how others deal with tests, pressure, goal setting, etc. Also, try to maintain your physical fitness if possible (dancing or skating or jogging at least). Excessive use of the brain while allowing the body to be dormant can cause problems.

Second, there have been MANY times back in my college days and later in my career where I was convinced I had gotten in way over my head, and that all I could do was put in a little bit of extra effort and hope for the best. Sometimes it was a bit of extra reading on the train, one time it was doing some work when I was awakened in the middle of the night by a noise and couldn't get back to sleep. In many cases I found that what I thought was just a modest little bit of extra effort gave me a big edge over everyone else. My point is that sometimes we're in competition with what we THINK other people are doing, when the reality is actually a lot less.

Thirdly, there is of course a connection between self-confidence and anxiety. If you were an accomplished gymnast and someone tried to tell you that you had poor coordination and were in lousy shape, you'd wonder about them, not yourself. There can also be a connection between setting unrealistic goals and anxiety. For example, if you convince yourself you cannot be a lawyer unless you go to Harvard, and can't go to Harvard unless you get a scholarship, and can't get a scholarship unless you get straight A's all four years of high school, etc. In an all or nothing, black or white world, anxiety is the inevitable result.

Fourthly, you may think that worrying about what other people think is vain. In actuality, it can be a lot worse than that. Truth be told, other people can often be very wrong, and if you use them as your compass you can get in a great deal of trouble. Most people in a building fire try to leave through the door they entered by, ignoring much closer and safer fire exits that are clearly marked, choosing to die instead. I probably don't even need to mention substance abuse and peer pressure issues. Now, perhaps this point doesn't apply because perhaps these people whose opinions you are so concerned about are very good people whom your respect a great deal, but I felt I had to mention this caution just in case.

Finally, I am not denying your anxiety. You're right, if it is interfering with your life then it is something that anyone who loves you would care about, including (of course) Jesus. When Elijah was afraid for his life God understood, and sent angels to feed him. Later, when Elijah was hiding in a cave God asked him to talk out his problems. God cares deeply and is always there.

Feel free to PM me if you wish to talk more.

God bless.

I just want to through this in. Anxiety and Depression are very real. They will rob from you what you never intended to give up, then beat you and leave you for dead. If let untreated they will eventually take your life. Whether by suicide or slowly detoriating you physically. People who have never suffered from either of these are truly blessed.

__________________
"These Things I Have Spoken Unto You
That In Me Ye Might Have Peace. In the World Ye Shall
Have Tribulation, But Be Of Good Cheer; I Have Overcome
The World" -- John 16:33

"Also, try to maintain your physical fitness if possible (dancing or skating or jogging at least). Excessive use of the brain while allowing the body to be dormant can cause problems". - WeakButHopeful


I suspect, Endearing lil Influenza, that one of the points made by WeakButHopeful (you women really love to try and wear us out with these names, don't you...), i.e the point quoted above, may be one of the more central issues affecting your peace of mind.

I get the feeling that you are quite a cerebral young lady, and that you probably need to worry about your studies less than most. But you should understand that it is not by any means always the most cerebral people who succeed the best in the world, when they leave school. Many top scholars in their high-school years, fall by the wayside, because they take the wrong things too seriously, and fail to develop a more rounded personality, inter-personal skills, etc.

When St Phlip Neri heard the confession of one his penitents who was afflicted with scruples - a similar sort of irrational fear due to a misdirected intraversion - he instructed him to go and have a good run around the block, for his penance. A healthy mind in a healthy body. But my passion for sport (armchair variety, alas) has only developed years later. I'll never enjoy exercise for its own sake, so I can't very well advise you on that one.

All Christians should make it their primary vocation to be, not a hot-shot, but a professional human being, whether as a scholar, a sportsman or a statesman or whatever. If you look at the real "greats", you will find that that was precisely what they were, first and foremost. Churchill was actually a lousy politician; Einstein came fourth in Physics out of the six students in his final Polytechnic year, and is said to have been told by one of his teachers that he would never amount to anything. He wasn't that good at math, so got a friend of his to do the math for his formulas and theorems.

Sure they and the countless other examples there are, were academically gifted to begin with (don't believe that nonsense about Churchill), but their primary interest was in truth and understanding it, not passing exams. They managed though, even before they hit the big-time.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with studying hard to pass exams, but don't let it get in the way of your being a "rounded" human being. I started from the opposite position. I was brought up to believe that I already owned the sun the moon and the stars, so I was baffled and infuriated that such high status was given to academic achievements and worldly status. Christ and St Joseph were carpenters, so why, even in the Christian Church do people want to be rocket scientists! Why isn't the affective, Romantic side of our nature given priority, or at least parity of esteem. (I realise that I was brought up in the Golden Age of the welfare-state in the UK, and as is the case here in the UK today, in the US, today, it is the quick and the dead. Devil take the hindmost. "I am not my brother's keeper", is the watchword. So, I can understand the urgency felt by some youngsters worrying about their studies).

I believe I achieved some sort of balance in terms of the classical mindset later, but have never changed my opinion concerning the relatively lowly status of the worldly intelligence. Indeed, if it is not, at least to some extent, underpinned and informed by spiritual wisdom, it is actually a curse. Arguably the two most intellectually distinguished races in the last century were the Germans and the Japanese, and yet between them, within the space of a decade, let's say they didn't exactly enhance the status of mankind. (Not that I am having a shot at either people. As a matter of fact, for a number of reasons I greatly admire them now).

So, question your priorities; what it is you really want, and are they worthy goals? Who are the people who you fear will look down on you if you don't excel in your studies? Is it wise to view them as paragons of wisdom, as arbiters of what constitutes success?

Them's my thoughts for what they're worth, lovable Flu.