Do you get anxiety from executive functioning issues?

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League_Girl
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16 Jan 2018, 2:09 pm

I have no idea if it's anxiety that gives me this problem or the other way around.

Does anyone else get anxiety from executive functioning issues because it's more than just one thing?

Today my son has an ear infection so I tried taking him to the doctor but they couldn't see him today so they booked him for tomorrow. My mom didn't agree with it and said I needed to take him to urgent care and I told her I didn't know where that is so she told me to call them to ask where one is. I didn't know who to call and she told me it's only a phone call. But to me it's more than a phone call because what steps do I take to make the call? To her it was just a phone call and that was it while for me it's more than just a phone call because you have to take all these steps. Because of the fact I had to do it now was demanding so it made me anxious and stressed out so my mom ended up doing it all for me. I never liked demands or things being pushed on me the last second or else I shut down. Does anyone else ever feel overwhelmed from simple things because of all these steps you gotta take to do it?


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Piobaire
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16 Jan 2018, 2:17 pm

For me, the severity of my symptoms comes and goes, but stress pretty much always makes everything worse. For me, this can cascade; the more stress is put on performance of a skill I might suck at, the more I f**k it up, which causes more stress, which causes me to f**k it up even worse, on and on.
I'm quite sure that your concern for your sick child added an additional burden which you really did not need at the time. I hope that your boy's feeling better (you, too).



AntisocialButterfly
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18 Jan 2018, 7:02 am

My executive function can be terrible, so yer I certainly have this issue.

When I am in a high stress situation I can normally shut off my brain and just focus on what is next, which is useful and tbh a product of my upbringing. However that is often a very narrow course of action and if it goes wrong or meets an issue I often melt. I can't think of any other solutions and it's like my brain freezes and goes blank. It's why I often find myself what I will do to the letter in xyz different situations incase I get stuck in one and can't deal with it. Often planning multiple routes.

In day to day life I get very stressed because of my executive functioning. I lose things near constantly can't keep track of more than one thing at a time and simple things like cleaning and cooking stress me out to the point of wanting to go to bed, bigger tasks have me calling my parents in a panic to have them help me break it down.

I use lists for everything, and if I get confused by thinking further ahead than a few steps I only write down the first few steps and maybe check with someone else they are right.



AspieAlphys28
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19 Jan 2018, 12:47 pm

Yes!! I get this all the time! I often fail classes at school just from not doing assignments. Some people say it's just an assignment and that the solution is to just do it, but there are steps to doing each assignment along with the stress of not doing an assignment correctly or with enough quality. Executive functioning issues suckkkk, it'd be nice to do things like that easily. Also I hope your son's ear feels better, I had ear infections as a kid as well! I also hope you are well too of course :P


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Trogluddite
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19 Jan 2018, 3:43 pm

League_Girl wrote:
I have no idea if it's anxiety that gives me this problem or the other way around.

For me, it seems to be a bit of both, so it can be a kind of "vicious circle". I've found that beta-blocking medicine (propranolol) can help me with this. It blocks the physical symptoms of anxiety (that horrible "adrenaline rush" feeling), but without fogging my mind like anti-depressants would. They're quite fast acting, about half an hour usually, and last for a couple of hours. It can be taken as and when needed, and doesn't need to be taken when not needed. This seems to help break the "vicious circle" by stopping the anxiety from making my EF/dissociation worse. The only problem is remembering to take one when my EF is already a bit wonky! Of course, check with your GP first if you intend to try this, as there are several medical conditions and treatments that it shouldn't be mixed with.

Hope your son's infection is getting better, and that you feel more settled now.


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League_Girl
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19 Jan 2018, 5:39 pm

It wasn't about my son's infection, it was about a phone call and trying to find out how to find their urgent care all because my mom didn't think I should wait till the following day to take him in. For her it was just a simple phone call, for me it's more than a phone call. There are steps you gotta take.

But yet my son is feeling better.


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SplendidSnail
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19 Jan 2018, 8:20 pm

League_Girl wrote:
But to me it's more than a phone call because what steps do I take to make the call? To her it was just a phone call and that was it while for me it's more than just a phone call because you have to take all these steps. Because of the fact I had to do it now was demanding so it made me anxious and stressed out so my mom ended up doing it all for me. I never liked demands or things being pushed on me the last second or else I shut down. Does anyone else ever feel overwhelmed from simple things because of all these steps you gotta take to do it?

Wow, this does sound like me in many ways. Maybe not quite identical, but pretty similar.

If I'm sitting there being bored, things like this won't be a problem for me. But if I'm busy with lots of things that I have to do and someone comes to me with something last minute, I will instantly panic and stress out, and probably be very angry with the person who tried to put something else on my plate to deal with, even if it's a simple thing that shouldn't take too long.

Beyond that, if someone asks me to do something and I can't instantly see a clear set of steps to get it done, it will also tend to cause me to panic and stress out until I have mapped out exactly how I'm going to do it.


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