Hello all, this was my answer to a recent post and someone kindly suggested I post it for others to see. Hope someone finds this helpful.
I found medication helped some but did not resolve my anxiety issues. What really made the difference for me was learning everything I could about anxiety and understanding why and how I had developed it. Anxiety can stem from worries, fears, repressed emotions, shame etc... from our past, our present and thinking of the future. I also learned that anxiety/panic is a paradox and the more we resist it the more it persists so the solution is to surrender to it and let it flow through us and desensitize ourself over time. Anxiety is our bodies built in warning system that is malfunctioning so we need to accept it instead of rejecting it and learn how to reset it. Also understand and know that the anxious thoughts are lies and to not believe them, their intent was to protect you but it's most likely you don't need that kind of protection. As humans our natural state is one of calm and not of anxiety. My suggestion is to check out the DARE Anxiety book and youtube videos, or the youtube videos/website of Paige Pradko. I also found the book "At last a life and beyond" by Paul David helpful as well as the youtubes of Dr. Claire Weekes. There is also a lot of other good information on youtube about it. It takes commitment, determination and time to desensitize and retrain yourself but you can do it.
One of the things I found that also really helped my anxiety is getting my hormones (testosterone), thyroid and adrenals all functioning properly and balanced. It really made a big difference in reducing my anxiety and how I felt so I definitely recommend doing it. Another thing that contributes to anxiety is our diet, you might eliminate caffeine and reduce the amount of sugar and alcohol you eat and eat easily digestible foods and see if helps your anxiety. Also know that anxiety is a trickster and will try to make you believe things that aren't true including feelings/sensations as well as thoughts.
Learning and practicing a simple mindfulness meditation can be very helpful for learning to observe your thoughts and not attach to them so you are less triggered by them. It also helps with sitting with the anxious feelings and allowing them instead of resisting them.
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designguy
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Per usual, your advice and insight is spot on!! I will definitely be looking up your YouTube recommendations. Reaching the point where anxiety is understandable and relatable to yourself is monumental in overcoming the control it has over us. But that's the trick and it is so hard to rewire our habituation.
I always love the anxiety guy, Dennis Simsek.
I like Andrew Huberman of the Huberman Lab podcast for scientific research and info into MANY mental health subjects. Currently watching his cannabis podcast and really enjoyed his Psilocybin episode.
Hi agora! Nice to see you today. Learning how anxiety and depression tag team and take turns upending my 🧠 brain and life was, and still is, an ongoing investigation and learning curve. Taking the time to delve into the clinical, psychological, scientific and biological processes that contributed to my particular conditioning, habits and avoidance patterns was crucial to start healing myself.
Once the diseases made sense to me in ways I could understand, they became less of a burden and more of a personal challenge for me to overcome. Less of a mystery and more like a really crappy friend that you just can't shake but still keep around because of such a LOOONG relationship, even though you know they're no good for you. I know I'll never be totally free from their symptoms, but my life doesn't have to revolve around them. I certainly don't have this mastered in any sense of the word...but at least I know what I'm striving for 😁 that's worth it's weight in gold🥇
Pitts, I love your analogies, you are one creative lady. I totally agree that determining our story and how it was created helps us in healing and insight for how we further navigate life.
Thanks, man. I appreciate that more than you know 🙏 😊 I'm very blessed to have a group of like minded individuals here, like yourself, that understand the path we're forging. It's rocky terrain, no paved highway for this gal. But I found that following anyone else's path to self discovery was wasting my time. I had to start my own journey. That was a hard lesson to learn.
I’ve found DARE to be quite helpful to me. As the saying goes Knowledge is Power. The more you understand anxiety the more you find yourself being less afraid of it. It starts to sink in that you will not die. You will be okay. Those awful sensations are just that, sensations. They will go away. And you will be okay 👍🏽
Good work designguy 😎 I’m sure this will help a lot of people!
Thank you very much for this post. I’m still working on all of this. I’m glad you found some relief. Thanks again for sharing. I plant to definitely check out the videos and book you suggest. I’m building a “tool box”. Enjoy the sun!
You're welcome, and you're on the right track by sitting with it. I even started trying to make it increase and be really intense and laughing at the weird anxious thoughts and trying to provoke it with weirder anxious thoughts all of which help take the power and fear out of it.
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xx
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