Leaving It Until The Last Minute

Many people suffer from anxiety problems and one of the effects of anxiety is to leave things until the last minute because the person unconsciously knows that if they are out of time to do what they have to do then they will force themself to do the chore what ever it is.

These people are very nervous about doing certain things. Many of these people stay at home most of the time and when a job needs doing they will put it off until ‘it has to be done’. Once they realise that they have no choice but to do the chore then they rush off and do it. Of course if something should go wrong while they are doing the chore (which could be a reality simply because this person is “rushing” off to do the chore) they will reinforce in their mind that the chore was something that they should try to avoid in the future.

Often these chores are the chores that just keep coming back. They are the types of chores that may have to be done one or twice a week, like putting gas in the car or going out and getting groceries. To a person who suffers anxiety attacks a simple chore can be very scary thing to do and obviously if something is very scary you to would attempt to avoid it as well. The last I read about this subject stated that the world has millions of people who suffer this way and many go through life without realising that they have this problem. In fact I was one of them. I often put off chores and left them to the last minute all the while making excuses as to why I couldn’t do the chore. These people often take other people with them wherever they go to help reassure themselves and to keep them company. The trouble with this is that the companion can also ‘pick up’ the fears and problems of the person.

I suggest to these people that they may need special help like going to a professional who is qualified in the field of Agoraphobia. But these symptoms can be cured from pure common sense and hard work. People like this have suffered in some way in the past. Maybe these people are harbouring fears or sorrows that have disguised themselves into other actions in their everyday life. Once a person gains more control over themselves mentally and physically then that person will be more tuned to what they are really feeling and doing physically.

An example of how a person can feel anxiety is how I used to feel about standing and talking to an audience of people. The mere thought of doing this gave me fear. In fact as I went through my life there were a few occasions when I had to face people and I would react physically in many ways – all negative. I would sweat, my hands would shake and my knees would often shake or even on a few occasions actually knock together. I was always a shy child but I knew that this behaviour was not normal and it frustrated me often. Of course the frustration only make things worse and whenever I knew of an event coming up I would slowly work up a great fear of the event and all that “might” happen should something go wrong.

My main fears were making a fool of myself or looking foolish and people laughing at me for some reason or another. How these fears came about I don’t completely know. I have learnt a great deal about my childhood that has shocked me as I have recollected them, some events were ‘blocked out” but have come back as memories over recent years. As a child I was never one to volunteer for anything at school or after I left school. I knew that I had to survive so that meant that I had to find work. My Mother had left my Father and at this stage was on the welfare system for support. I had to mentally force myself to step forward and find work.

But even after many years of struggling to adapt to the ways of this modern world I still had many fears and worries. Negativeness seemed to creep up on me and by the time I had reached my 40’s I was dismayed to find that life was not at all what I had hoped that it would be. Many of my fears and worries had survived through my thirties and were still as real as they were in the past. Girlfriend’s of the past commented on my “being a loner” which of course is because I didn’t like getting out much. I always attributed my anxieties and worries to somehow being connected to my shyness as a child.

My fear of talking in front of people was finally challenged when I was asked to speak in front of our church congregation. I readily accepted the challenge, but when I got home that night from church I started ‘wondering’ if I should really do what I was asked. Old fears started to resurface, I started feeling nerves about the whole affair and over the next few weeks I started thinking of ways to pull out. I even panicked about walking out in front of everyone with my pants zipper undone. You may think that is a strange thing to worry about but I once read that professional comedians Morecombe and Wise used to panic about the same thing before each show.

James M Sandbrook.
‎Monday, ‎6 ‎September ‎2004, ‏‎8:25:32 pm