After workout anxiety

I used to have bad, horrible social anxiety. But one thing my humanities professor taught me has stuck, exposure and repetition. He refused to let me sit out of a project that I had to present, and I carried what I learned for life. I used to be a server, now a sous chef, but I was not a people person. You simply adapt, you do. I just learned that I don't like people for a million reasons, but my internal narrative is now that I view their behaviors and perceived thoughts as less important than my own now. What you do is important.

I might

The thing is it's not caused by being around others. The gym I go to is small, and there is never more than 3 people in there at a time. I feel like I have plenty of room. It's the sensation of my heart rate being so high that it feels as if I'm about to experience a attack

on any antidepressants?

i suffered depression and anxiety at the beginning of the year. doctor prescribed me some citalopram to help with the anxiety and group therapy for the depression. both helped. i do get pangs of anxiety for some reason when i'm out with people and i get very quiet and lost in my own thoughts and wish i was somewhere else.

but never had it just happen after going to the gym

Your freaking out about the fear of it happening is going to make it happen.

It's called a self fulfilling prophecy. Go for a walk or turn the tv on or something. I have anxiety too and I know it can be hard, but you just have to redirect your thoughts my man. Distract yourself.

Are you one of those losers who are afraid of birds? Look at this bird, it's called a Major Mitchell Cockatoo. Did you even know these existed? Do you know how many different types of cockatoos there are?

>Look at this bird,
what did he mean by this?

if nothing else works you should consider working out at home, just buy a squat rack, somewhere you can bench press, barbell/weights

how much is that gonna cost a regular person?

How about you start light? star with cardio outside and then later inside? and when that goes well lift a little bit.
Used to be for me that I had to go to the bathroom 3 times during a workout to isolate myself from the rest of the gym. And yeah sometimes the "high" after can be a bad trip instead but eventually you will overcome.
Like all the other anons say, expose yourself to it. Your fears will only get worse if you ignore them. Also I find that getting Veeky Forums is one of the best ways to battle anxiety.

no, I've never taken those. I won't either.

It has nothing to do with the gym environment.

It's because exercises induces a release of neurotransmitters, including adrenaline and norepinephrine which acts on your fight flight response, thus causing anxiety.

I had the same thing happen to me after I developed mild PTSD after a life threatening/traumatizing event. I was fucked for at least a year, maybe longer, but exposure therapy kept me going.

My fight or flight response was out of whack, so every time I exercised - even walked briskly for 45 minutes - I would enter an anxiety mode and that would sometimes last the entire night, but mostly just the first hour after exercise.

As others suggest, exposure therapy should lessen the anxiety over time, but you should realize that what you're feeling is somewhat of a normal response to exercise, it's just the neurotransmitters in your brain being released.

If you really want to quell your concerns, see a doctor, but don't stop exercising, because I believe if you stop, that'll fuel your anxiety more.

Thank you. That post actually makes a lot of sense. I'll try to push through. One thing that's a factor that bothers me in addition is that im a really skinny guy. I'm not trying to get "big" per say. But I would like to gain strength and at least some mass. I know it's important to eat after the gym. But that's incredibly difficult for me. Because this feeling I have when I leave the gym. The flight or fight as you said, shuts my stomach off. So it's very hard for me to eat any food for hours

Did you expect some sort of actual help/advice from some chinese boys discussing anime on a anonymous website?

the way I see it you have 3 options:

kys
stop going to the gym
keep going to the gym

choice is yours, gl

He's giving an example of distraction, but your comment made me kek anyway

>eternal asshole gets off on treating others like shit online to mask the miserable pain of his ephemeral and vapid existence

Don't listen to this fuck.

Try a whey protein shake right after, you just mix it in with water it'll give you protein for your muscles to grow.

>treating others like shit online to mask the miserable pain of his ephemeral and vapid existence

ok

actually my point was that no one here is actually able to help OP and he should go see some professional.
then again you are probably unable to read or comprehend properly so why am i even wasting my time

You're stifling discussion, not helping it. Say what you mean and you won't be misunderstood. Sharing experiences online can help others, there are other people experiencing similar situations, and it can help point someone in the right direction.

Chill the fuck out and stop being a dick, it's Christmas.

>try whey protein shake

I'll throw up if I do that. My stomach won't allow it

I used to think that high heart rate meant heart attack risk too.

Before that though I suffered severe anxiety and was house bound for weeks due to panic attacks triggered from drug abuse.

What you need to do is attack your thoughts with some logic.

Has your heart raced this fast before? Yes.
And did you die? No

Had this happened many times before? Yea
Are you all alive? Yes

Is it common for relatively healthy people to drop dead at a young age? Fuck no it isn't

Stiff like that. You can overcome the negative thoughts, or just takes time.

Rule of thumb: You should feel BETTER after lifting, not worse.

If you feel worse, you are doing something wrong. Change your workout.

These two are the only two posts worth reading, everything else is bro science or just pure ignorance

cant tell you exactly because i live in another country, but its cheaper than gym memberships on the long run

You are pretty bad ad giving advice.