Just to let you all know and please trust this comes with the best faith, Sites like Healthunlocked, patient, webmd etc gave me short term reassurance.
But if you keep coming back here to hear you're going to be okay you're just igniting in yourself a new safety behaviour that yes I cannot tell you how great it feels in the short term that you're not alone, and that you're reassured you're going to be alright you're not actually fighting the devil within.
you may not feel strong enough mentally, physically or emotionally to fight this right now. and although what you're going through no matter how great or small feels uncomfortable IT'S HAPPENING. and unfortunately theres no quit fix to stop it immediately.
It will keep coming back as long as you seek reassurance.
The minute you face the reality that this is just anxiety and stop seeking for answers that it could be something life threatening or worse and start telling yourself that this is the predicament I am in and I can't do anything to change it. FIGHT IT YOURSELF and if not fight it just accept it (close you're eyes and imagine you're and log in the ocean and that the waves are everything you hate about anxiety washing over you)
No matter how much you long to wish for your former self or for when times were simpler, the honest answer is that you're never going to be that version of yourself again.
But one thing I can tell you you are going to be after you put yourself on the path of recovery ( because only you can put yourself there) is that you're a human being that has learnt from all this you have been through and you may feel/think/do things today that once made you anxious but they won't affect you in the same way.
But please understand that okay if you're new to anxiety then yes please come to this site because people here have experienced what you're going through and yeah once or twice that reassurance is okay. But don't continuously seek it.
If you can't afford therapy - buy a self help CBT book before you see a therapist try to understand CBT even if you take non of it in (especially if you're in a geography where healthcare and meds and therapist aren't readily available)
YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED FORM THE STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE OF YOUR MIND.
Plus if you were to read a book about anxiety CBT in moments of panic it will really bring you into the present moment, which helps massively
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Anxieteelondin
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I read this post moments after posting ‘always anxious’.
Yes I still feel anxious, my stomach feels empty (it’s not), the blood feels as if it’s stopped in my wrists (it hasn’t) , my legs surely will not carry me (they will).
This post has made me get up and take on the day.
I accept anxiety is me and I’m going to crack on with life and do you know what - I might even enjoy it.
Great post and couldn’t agree more either. It’s all to easy to get addicted to sites like this to constantly seek reassurance when things are tough but all they do is provide temporary relief and actually do the opposite in making the Anxiety stronger. It’s sending a message to the brain informing it that it ‘needs’ to come back here again and again for that ‘ah, I’m ok’ moment. Until that wears off the next day, the next week and you find yourself back here again, craving that extra bit more , what else can I read this time that will make me feel better, there must be something. ‘I know, I’ll read that post from before again, that will make me feel better’ I’m all too guilty of doing it myself and get frustrated with myself when I’ve come back to such a site to seek reassurance as I know I’m only reminding myself there’s a problem, when the reality is, there isn’t. Breaking the connection to these websites is a MUST if you truly wish to recover. Gain all understanding and knowledge about the subject, but you must must must then put it into practice and ideally never return for advice. All it’s going to do long term is banish you of anxiety. Surely that is worth the leap of faith. A leap of faith to say to yourself through the rough times , ‘this will pass’ keep on going and ride the waves no matter what.
I agree with everything you say here, but also don't punish yourself for coming to sites likes this. Be fair on yourself and be fair on your brain. It at the end of the day is only doing what it thinks is right.
Thats exactly why I am posting like this now because if i still enable myself access to sites like this but post positivity and support about recovery, you don't need to really leave them you can still sympathise with what everyone else is going through but rather than responding to it and collectively staying in the negativity of aniextey you remind yourself how far you've come. I'm not falling into the trap of posting about my worries, I want to shine some light on everyone that suffers with our condition no matter how different it may affect them, that theres more positivity rather than dwelling in sadness and fear.
I think its also about coming to terms with the fact that you will always live with anxiety, its part of your life past, present or future. IT WILL ALWAYS BE THERE and thats okay because you can learn from it.
Yes on reflection, I was maybe a little too harsh on the fact we should ‘never’ return here, it’s not that easy, especially as habits have formed and our brain reminds us it’s time to revisit the site for reassurance. I don’t come on here anymore for reassurance like before . Like you, I’ve accepted every ounce of my anxiety and only really visit here to give advice to those still suffering. My quality of life has returned and if I get the odd flashes of fear now and again, so what. I’ve learned to live with it and accept it every single day and by accepting you have it just may be enough to one day realise you don’t suffer anymore. The progress I’ve made is incredible and I am beyond proud of my achievements. Reactions to certain triggers used to fire so strongly in the pit of my stomach , now their barely there at all, and sometimes I get zero reaction at all! If that’s not progress, I don’t know what is.
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