u/Cha0sWyvern

Hi, I've just had an odd experience and I found this place in hopes that someone can help me understand the logic behind this exercise.

I've recently contacted my insurance with a request for therapy as lately I have started feeling very 'end of the line' regarding the amount of stress at my job. For context, I have worked here for 5 years and we average 2 rounds of mass layoffs as well as 2 re-orgs (this time we had 3 in 6 months yay!) a year. I have started feeling like I am genuinely losing my mind and that my body is literally shutting down ('I am dying').

So I get an appointment with this therapist and in the second session he wants to do this 're-framing' sort of exercise where we try to find 'alternative thoughts' for 'negative thoughts', but I genuinely couldn't think of anything positive about the situation. I am in danger of losing my job constantly, I haven't been able to find a new one despite looking for so long etc...

I was asked for example 'ok, if your friends who cared about you, heard you talk about this situation, what would they say?' "well, they would say it sucks, probably say that the people running this company have no idea what they're doing, and that would be that'. Unfortunately this was not considered a 'positive thought'.

'you have unemployment insurance so if you get fired you will have support then, correct?', 'yeah, but I won't have a job...'

'ok, you say that you can survive off your savings for 2 years if you're fired, that must be positive correct?', 'no, that's probably the worst case scenario, it doesn't get more negative than that'. (literally my worst fear right now, it implies that I wouldn't be able to find a job for 3 years).

So in the end the entire session was spent trying to find 'a positive thought' related to unstable job situation.

I genuinely cannot see any positives in this situation (the current job market, the constant change and threats at work, the isolation at the job, etc..), should there be? At this point I'm thinking I am the problem, I genuinely have no idea what he was asking for from me?

If you've done this before, what was I supposed to say? Do you guys have any examples?

(it doesn't really matter anymore as he's going on vacation and I was advised to find a new therapist who works through summer but now I am extremely curious).

Hi, for the past couple of months I have started experiencing a feeling that can only describe as random "dread"... I could be doing anything and this overwhelming feeling that "I'm going to die" hits me out of nowhere. I also get the feeling that "if I lay down right now I might not be able to get back up".

I found it described as "impending doom" but everyone else online says it comes with panic and anxiety but I don't feel anything particular in those moments but that overwhelming feeling. No fear, no nothing. It's not a desire but it feels almost like a certainty in those moments.

So, I was wondering if anyone else here experiences this... kind of wondering if it's a sign that something is wrong with me.

The only thing that I can maybe relate to this is that I have been under a lot of stress the past few years but it's nothing new.