You don't get enough sleep. You try to do the work of two people. You put up with toxic relationships. And then you wonder why you suffer from anxiety and depletion of your nervous energy also called depression.
Suddenly you experience health or social anxiety, derealisation, agoraphobia, depersonalisation, panic attacks or claustrophobia. You frighten yourself half to death worrying about it and then follow your instincts and start fighting it.
The only thing is, frightening yourself half to death releases more fear hormones whilst constantly fighting the symptoms creates more tension and stress. You constantly obsess about the symptoms, checking to see if they've gone every five minutes. You become convinced something's terribly wrong.
But why should the bad feelings go when you can't stop beating yourself up, can't help pumping more and more fear and stress hormones into your nervous system.
Beating yourself up and fighting anxiety never cured anybody. So why not try doing the opposite. Instead of fighting adopt an attitude of passive resistance or masterly inactivity.
Accept all the symptoms and carry on as normal. Agree to co-exist with it and get on with your life. Just accept everything that anxiety chucks your way. Let it engulf you and learn to do nothing. Don't try and lose yourself in diversions because that's not the same thing as accepting. Don't expect to recover some time later this week or expect instant results.
Passive resistance gives your nerves time to recover and when that happens your symptoms gradually fade. As I often say, you win not by the punches that you give but by the punches that you take.
