Dealing with anxiety

[Kes]

The only thing I've ever forgotten to take to a match that caused me any grief was my 2 x watches!!
Luckily, being quite fastidious about always getting there early, I noticed almost straight away and this gave me plenty of time to phone Mrs Kes, explain the situation, tell her where I'd left said items and dispatch her with all due haste to the venue in order to meet me and nullify the situation.

No harm done. If I'd not gotten there early enough to notice though, I'd have only just had time to drive at breakneck speed back to my house and return in time to make kick off

 

[Martiju]

I have problems with anxiety ( to my annoyance) . I did 2 games this weekend u16 and OA. The u16s game was quite intense and the OA was one sided but with the usual expected pressure from players aimed at influencing decisions rather than dissent. I was mentored for both games and got positive feedback which was good of course and I felt I performed well.

I've found the anxiety is triggered after the games when I'm in the car or at home. Do any of you guys find this too and how do you deal with it ?

I think that's related to reflecting on your performance. I used to struggle to let go of decisions I'd made or things I wish I'd done differently and go over and over them in my mind. To counter this, I started keeping a log of games and would add one thing I'd done well and one 'learning point' - this enabled me to be more considered and less hard on myself as it felt practical and useful, rather than just beating myself up.

 

[Russell Jones]

The only thing I've ever forgotten to take to a match that caused me any grief was my 2 x watches!!
Luckily, being quite fastidious about always getting there early, I noticed almost straight away and this gave me plenty of time to phone Mrs Kes, explain the situation, tell her where I'd left said items and dispatch her with all due haste to the venue in order to meet me and nullify the situation.

No harm done. If I'd not gotten there early enough to notice though, I'd have only just had time to drive at breakneck speed back to my house and return in time to make kick off

No harm done?!? Mrs Kes is obviously a very lovely woman .... not sure you deserve her

 

[Sheffields Finest]

I didn’t take the missus to my games towards the end, the language and gesticulating toward the match official was just beyond the pail!

 

[QuaverRef]

There's no easy answer for this, everybody deals with things differently. I recently went through some mental health things and actually found it easier to take myself out the firing line and have a few months off. I felt refreshed when coming back into it and actually missed the buzz of refereeing and when getting to games, found myself looking forward to kick off rather than nervous about it

 

[TSHudson]

The only thing I've ever forgotten to take to a match that caused me any grief was my 2 x watches!!

I've done that, but only once! Running around in a temperature of 1c with iPhone in my hand, as the battery died and my hand froze in position wasn't fun.

As for the OP, would being an AR for a period of time help? Do you suffer less anxiety if you're the AR? Could be an option if it helps during periods of flare up, but you want to stay involved and active. Plus a team around you, rather than being the sole person out there, could help.