If i was to list all the possible symptoms of anxiety, i would be here all week. There are many common symptoms such as feelings of dread, intrusive thoughts, elephant on the chest, blurred vision, lump in throat, bowel issues etc etc. There are also many other symptoms that may be unique to each sufferer. However, the important thing is (caveat..your doctor has told you, maybe on more than one occasion that you are fit and well), whatever your symptoms might be, they should all be put under the umbrella of anxiety. And because of this, the treatment to remove your inappropriate anxiety is also the same, regardless of the symptoms you might be experiencing. The way to recover is by truly accepting all those symptoms and having an attitude of being ok about not feeling ok. Acceptance also means not constantly self checking for symptoms or constantly seeking reassurance about one new symptom or another. It's just anxiety! Like i said, it is about being comfortable about feeling very uncomfortable and carrying on with your day in the same way you would do if you didnt have anxiety. No hiding, no supressing, no avoiding or doing anything to not feel anxious.
Acceptance takes away the fear you are adding to your anxiety and the sole reason sufferers continue to suffer, breaking the vicious cycle. It creates a space and time for your mind and body to repair itself and for peace of mind and body to follow. This process wont happen overnight. It takes time to shift your attitude to one of acceptance instead of fearing and a bit more time for the mind and body to heal. The beauty is, all this happens naturally in the same way a person recovers from a physical inury or common virus. You dont have to do anything whatsoever other than to look at the symptoms differently. You can also stop doing things to try and rid yourself of anxiety because this has the opposite effect to what you are hoping to achieve. I tried all sorts of things to stop feeling anxious 24/7 which I've covered previously but none provided permanent relief. The only thing that worked for me was learning to accept. I ditched all my coping techniques and let my anxiety do its worst without resisting any of it. Over time, all those symptoms just melted away, some without me even realising they had gone. The only thing i changed was my attitude towards the symptoms. I just stopped caring so much about them and any new ones because I understood that it was just anxiety trying to trick me into thinking something was wrong. Once you lose your respect of the symptoms that bother you so much, you are well on the road to recovery.
Are these symptoms of anxiety???
