Ongoing self doubt/fear

I was taking 5-htp for a while for mood/anxiety. ended up having Basically the opposite effect for me, awful bouts of anxiety. Luckily my Dr. was able to tell me about its paradoxical effects on some people.

Just echoing above advice, try stuff out but pay attention for several weeks when changing your chemistry
 
JontreeHI said:
Lots of great stuff here, cutting caffeine, working with people better than you etc, all really great. Another tactic for me at various stages in my career is to break the tasks down into individual tasks
Example:
Big scary tree—full removal seems overwhelming.
Can I ascend into the tree? Yes I can. Ok now I’m up, where is the first cut? Can I safely travel and make that first cut? Yes I can. Ok, where is the next cut? Can I make that cut confidently. Yes I can.
I’ve watched other climbers , @RyanCafferky included, do that entire process on the ground, silently in his head, before ascending, and that has given me a lot of confidence.
“A meal is made up of several small bites”. I think Abraham Lincoln said that.
Anyone who says they are never scared at work is a liar. But fear isn’t the be all end all
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I’m a huge fan of “incrementalism”. The steeper the hill the more you have to focus on every step.

For the level of fear/anxiety described in the OP, if it was me I’d get a good referral for a “talk therapist” from someone I trusted. The tree work situation is triggering stuff from other parts of the past and life in general. Worth looking into what’s going on there.
-AJ
 
Not sure if it’s been mentioned already, but one thing that may help is exercise. Exercise can be a great tool for coping / dealing with a variety of things like anxiety, stress, etc. (but doesn’t necessarily replace professional help).

If you’re not working out already, it could be whatever you enjoy. Go for a run, lift weights, do some yoga, swim, or a mix of multiple things.

Personally I workout first thing in the morning before work because it helps me get into the right mindset to go tackle the day, so what time of day you actually workout could play a role as well.

Just a thought. Ultimately though it’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself. Anxiety can be a highly individual experience and the causes can vary for each individual.

Stay strong
 
Stumpsprouts said:
I think it’s sort of like treating a tree for a pest or fungus that may be a secondary stress and not taking care of the primary stress. It may be a good option to have when outside herbs / drugs are called for, but not a substitute for actually dealing with deep personal issues, or environmental factors like this terrible work culture the OP is describing.
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Entirely possible that it may not be a help because of other issues, I was just throwing out what has worked for me to see what everyone else thought of it and as a potential help. My whole experiment with CBD was to see if/how effective it could be at helping me since there is terribly little information on it.
 
rico said:
The problem with hemp and/or marijuana products is that they can trigger a big histamine/ mast-cell response in some people, which can cause serious anxiety issues... Tread lightly until you know that it agrees with you.

An herb that can works wonders for some with anxiety issues is holy basil.
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Yeah, I’ve come to learn that what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another. The first hemp/CBD that I found that helped my hip was a strain called Cherry Blossom. Worked incredibly well for relaxing/anti-inflammatory for me, I could literally feel my entire body relax. My GF, however, got zero benefit from it that she could tell. Sour Apple worked for her (listed as nerve pain/anti-inflammatory) and that one works for me too. Some other ones I tried had little to no effect for me and some had different effects (Lifter worked like a triple shot of espresso for me, anything haze seems to hit my head, etc). So I definitely agree with treading lightly and experimenting.
 
treegongfu said:
I find these threads are good for helping me deal with fear anxiety issues. I think it is just the acknowledgement from other climbers that they experience the same thing. Helps one to soldier on.
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I've pretty much always worked for myself, I worked with a couple other good climbers for a few days a year and a half ago and talking with them about this was a huge help to me.
 
I’ve looked into cbd and similar alternatives in the past. I did used to enjoy smoking but my current situation does not allow it.

Today I did a massive maple take down almost completely solo. Had some help from the homeowners truck to inspire some lean for the last stem. No fear, no doubt. Just enjoyed being in the tree and stayed at a steady pace. My ground saw gave me tons of problems starting and didn’t even really get me aggravated. Just a mellow day. I really feel having a boss hounding me to speed things up makes my anxiety just rocket to extremes. one of the owners of the company I do work for rushes and has crazy expectations and hasn’t even done tree work ever, he bids way to low and expects us to turn a profit still.

This makes me really consider starting up for myself if the search for a new company to work for doesn’t turn up any good leads.


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Nkymatt said:
I’ve looked into cbd and similar alternatives in the past. I did used to enjoy smoking but my current situation does not allow it.

Today I did a massive maple take down almost completely solo. Had some help from the homeowners truck to inspire some lean for the last stem. No fear, no doubt. Just enjoyed being in the tree and stayed at a steady pace. My ground saw gave me tons of problems starting and didn’t even really get me aggravated. Just a mellow day. I really feel having a boss hounding me to speed things up makes my anxiety just rocket to extremes. one of the owners of the company I do work for rushes and has crazy expectations and hasn’t even done tree work ever, he bids way to low and expects us to turn a profit still.

This makes me really consider starting up for myself if the search for a new company to work for doesn’t turn up any good leads.


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There is a certain luxury to jobs like that, working solo. But when the business builds the pressure comes back, doubly so when it’s your own show.. I’m booked solid nearly into 2023, got two other guys, tried raising my rates, and the work load is only increasing. If we get storms this fall shit is going nuts.
 
Hello, @evo. Could you explain to me why you say "When the business builds the pressure comes back"?
Is it just all of the headaches associated with managing a schedule with a lot of work that needs to be completed? This is different from the kind of anxiety the original poster was talking about, which centered around the climbing & cutting itself, correct? I would think that if you are freely able to raise prices, that might take some pressure off with regard to feeling time pressure on each job. Easier to turn a profit with a super high price, so take as long as you need to in order to feel comfortable about safety. I get that having people waiting for service creates a time pressure of its own, just because you want to keep customers happy. I guess the issue is still resisting the pressure to be pushed for speed beyond a level that feels comfortable in your guts. Thanks for your time. Tim
 
Nkymatt said:
I’ve looked into cbd and similar alternatives in the past. I did used to enjoy smoking but my current situation does not allow it.

Today I did a massive maple take down almost completely solo. Had some help from the homeowners truck to inspire some lean for the last stem. No fear, no doubt. Just enjoyed being in the tree and stayed at a steady pace. My ground saw gave me tons of problems starting and didn’t even really get me aggravated. Just a mellow day. I really feel having a boss hounding me to speed things up makes my anxiety just rocket to extremes. one of the owners of the company I do work for rushes and has crazy expectations and hasn’t even done tree work ever, he bids way to low and expects us to turn a profit still.

This makes me really consider starting up for myself if the search for a new company to work for doesn’t turn up any good leads.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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How the heck does a guy who has never done tree work end up owning a tree work company?

I would think that watching him screwing up the bids and still being able to keep the business alive somehow would inspire the thought in your own head "Hell, I can do better than that guy!" I think one of the things Sean, aka @southsoundtree tree used to do was to park a piece of equipment he owned at a busy traffic spot in town, with his big fat phone number on the side of it. I think it generated a lot of work for him.

It would be nice if you could find a good company to work for that knows how to bid, but it might be even better for you in the long run if you were forced to start your own business. It takes time to grow a business, and you would be forced to experience a lot of personal growth as an individual in order to learn all that it takes to make a business succeed and grow.

You'd probably benefit a lot from taking courses in business, just to understand how it's all supposed to work. It could be a really exciting experience. I wish you luck with it all, however things turn out. Tim
 
Nkymatt said:
I’ve looked into cbd and similar alternatives in the past. I did used to enjoy smoking but my current situation does not allow it.

Today I did a massive maple take down almost completely solo. Had some help from the homeowners truck to inspire some lean for the last stem. No fear, no doubt. Just enjoyed being in the tree and stayed at a steady pace. My ground saw gave me tons of problems starting and didn’t even really get me aggravated. Just a mellow day. I really feel having a boss hounding me to speed things up makes my anxiety just rocket to extremes. one of the owners of the company I do work for rushes and has crazy expectations and hasn’t even done tree work ever, he bids way to low and expects us to turn a profit still.

This makes me really consider starting up for myself if the search for a new company to work for doesn’t turn up any good leads.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Great post!
-AJ
 
This is something I'm going through right now which I find to be just the hardest thing to get past right now. It's comforting to read other people who deal with fear/tension as well. Lots of doubts in my mind about this path in my life due to it but is good to see your guys posts.
 
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