Are you making your anxiety worse and you don't even realize it?

[Accidental_Anxiety]

Guys...

I can't stress this enough. If you are experiencing some awful anxiety times- SELF PITY and JUDGEMENT makes it worse! This was the hardest thing for me to understand as well. I felt so awful and would dwell on how awful I felt so in return I would feel even MORE awful. It's a cycle guys. You gotta let it go... let the doubt go. Let the fight go. It's OKAY if you let it be. Your anxiety runs off of your previous experiences.. so think of your next "episode" as an OPPORTUNITY! An opportunity to change the way you react! An opportunity to change your relationship with anxiety! An opportunity to get your life back. You can do it guys. Recovery is a marathon not a sprint & setbacks are inevitable...they are GOING to happen but you MUST not get discouraged. It's all part of recovery. It's all about learning. It's all about how you react.

Example:

*Something triggers your anxiety*

You: oh my gosh. It's happening..... why is this happening? I'm so scared. I just want to be normal.

*heart beats fast. Random numbness. Stomach feels sick*

You: this is AWFUL I'm never going to get better. Oh my gosh. What is wrong with me

*heart beats faster. Stomach feels even more sick, start feeling spacey*

GUYS DO YOU SEE????? It's all about how we react!

New example:

*something triggers anxiety*

You: okay... I feel anxiety coming. But it's okay. It will pass. This is just a step to recovery.

*stomach feels slightly sick, heart beats slightly fast*

You: it's okay. It'll get better with time. I'm not going to react no matter how anxious I feel. It'll pass.

*symptoms fade away*

This is an example of a great start!

UNDER-reacting is key.

Good luck guys! You got this!!!

[gogogirl]

Your post is helpful. How about depression ( which may be different)?

[Hidden in reply to gogogirl]

Same with depression. Just substitute anxiety with the word 'depression' and it works just the same.

[gogogirl in reply to Hidden]

Yes, but some situations do not change as in the past, and it takes time.

[tuffy33]

Thanks alot.

[Hidden]

Well said and very true.

[gogogirl]

How about guilt? I know we cannot "fix" the past or even the present, and try to move forward for the future- all of that- but it's hard. Still I hear ya.

[Accidental_Anxiety in reply to gogogirl]

Guilt is the same. You've gotta accept that you cannot change the past. Sounds like you've probably been beating yourself up, you have to accept it. Observe the way you feel about the guilt but don't react to it. Try and be compassionate with yourself, you've been through a lot and have been so hard on yourself. You've gotta get rid of the judgement & move on. Itll get better. Right now there's some certain thoughts that trigger negative emotions and you've gotta change that habit. When the guilt comes just observe.. like so

"Okay.... I don't need to judge myself for this. I don't need to beat myself up anymore. I accept what happened and I'm going to live life in the present and no longer in the past"

If you react this way... it should become your new habit & then the guilt will go away. Right now you have given it so much power so the guilt and anxiety is sticking around. It'll take time. But you'll get there!

Xo

[gogogirl in reply to Accidental_Anxiety]

Well thank you, but it is still hard because things from the past have and continue to affect the present. Perhaps we can do some in the "private" posts. Anyway, how're you doing?