INTJMom
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2007
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- MBTI Type
- INTJ
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- 5w4
I need some help understanding my son so I can help him.
He's 22 years old, just got a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, going back for his Masters, but he's living at home with me for the summer.
He says he suffers from "flare ups" of "anxiety" but he can't define what he is anxious about, or worried about, or afraid of.
To deal with this anxiety, he stays awake until 4 AM and he's "dead tired" so he won't "think" when he's going to sleep. He also "stress eats".
He's highly functioning because he finished college with a 3.8 gpa.
He says he's been like this for about 6 years - his dad passed away 7 years ago.
I have become concerned because a few days ago, he was all ready to go hiking for a couple of days and sleep out in the woods overnight, but when I got home from work, he was still here. He said his anxiety had flared up and he spent the last 8 hours in the living room chair.
I would like to understand this better so I could be more helpful when it happens again.
Do any of you suffer from this? Can you explain it to me? Do you have any advice that I could offer my son if he's open to listening?
Thanks in advance!
EDITED TO ADD: Do any of you have any "trick" that works for you as far as going to sleep without your mind going a million miles an hour and stressing you out?
I personally have a trick for keeping *my* mind turned off... I listen to an innocuous British sitcom on dvd in my room; thankfully I sleep alone, so I can do that. I practically have all 67 episodes memorized now (it's As Time Goes By, for the curious), but it helps keep my thoughts light so that I don't start obsessing. But my son didn't like that idea.
When he was young he used to read and I think I might suggest that, if I get a chance.
He's 22 years old, just got a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, going back for his Masters, but he's living at home with me for the summer.
He says he suffers from "flare ups" of "anxiety" but he can't define what he is anxious about, or worried about, or afraid of.
To deal with this anxiety, he stays awake until 4 AM and he's "dead tired" so he won't "think" when he's going to sleep. He also "stress eats".
He's highly functioning because he finished college with a 3.8 gpa.
He says he's been like this for about 6 years - his dad passed away 7 years ago.
I have become concerned because a few days ago, he was all ready to go hiking for a couple of days and sleep out in the woods overnight, but when I got home from work, he was still here. He said his anxiety had flared up and he spent the last 8 hours in the living room chair.
I would like to understand this better so I could be more helpful when it happens again.
Do any of you suffer from this? Can you explain it to me? Do you have any advice that I could offer my son if he's open to listening?
Thanks in advance!
EDITED TO ADD: Do any of you have any "trick" that works for you as far as going to sleep without your mind going a million miles an hour and stressing you out?
I personally have a trick for keeping *my* mind turned off... I listen to an innocuous British sitcom on dvd in my room; thankfully I sleep alone, so I can do that. I practically have all 67 episodes memorized now (it's As Time Goes By, for the curious), but it helps keep my thoughts light so that I don't start obsessing. But my son didn't like that idea.
When he was young he used to read and I think I might suggest that, if I get a chance.
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