Jun 7, 2024
To begin, whether you are reading this for yourself, for someone you care about or for general information we emphasise that whatever the mountain of anxiety you are facing, there is a path beyond it. However difficult and however long it takes, there is a way to a place of confidence, trust in yourself and freedom from your worries.
Anyone who experiences the debilitating effects of anxiety knows how everyday life can be seriously disrupted and it can stop us from doing the things we enjoy or need to do. It’s useful to know that anxiety serves it’s purpose well in protecting us from dangerous situations, fear is a normal response and feeling. The problem comes when it overtakes us.
A busy mind, one that is hyperaware of every sense and action can be exhausting. Throughout your journey, being kind to yourself is very important – you are doing your best with the resources and reserves which you have at the time.
What does anxiety look like? We might not even realise we are doing it, those regular times we scroll on our phone, sink a drink, tap our foot and so on could all be indicators our brain is trying to distract us from sitting with those thoughts and feelings we don’t like. At other times our brain and body unleash almighty signals they are unhappy, it could be shortness of breath, pain, racing thoughts, desire to self harm and so on.
The need to protect ourselves can then result in the need to escape the uncomfortable feelings, in turn this teaches our brain to fear everyday situations and narrows our whole world. The good news is that we can reverse this and free ourselves.
By recognising our fear cues and our coping behaviours we can begin to challenge them and change how we respond. We get to choose how we respond and not rush into behaviours which generally exacerbate the problem and become our go-to response.
Of course, because our brain is on auto-pilot fear mode at this stage it doesn’t easily know the difference between a real threat and an untrue one, the information has come from previous experience and behaviours. It’s our job to retrain it and teach it a new way of responding.
Ultimately, we need to allow the anxiety to happen and not fight it. So far the anxiety is winning this war with ourselves. Overtime, the brain will learn that on the other side of the anxiety it is not actually under threat of survival at every turn and so doesn’t need to escape from the situation or thoughts. Eventually the extreme anxiety will lessen and go.
Between this transformation is probably a lot of worry and challenge which can be daunting. Â Perhaps not the easiest to do but live your life regardless of how you are feeling, in time your life will not be ruled by your anxious self anymore.
There are lots of strategies you can develop to overcome these difficult times: Talking, Journalling, Consider your environment, Grow nourishing activities, are some pointers.
Grounding techniques are invaluable tools for managing anxiety, they refocus your awareness on the present moment which slows the busy mind and reconnects you if you are feeling disconnected. This may look like deep breathing, sensory experiences; really see all the objects or hear the sounds individually around you near and far away. Try it now for 10 seconds.
Therapy can give you a space to build self-awareness with a trained professional, building your self-worth and bank of positive coping strategies which work for your life. Cultivating resilience and strengthening your acceptance of yourself, beginning to be the best version of yourself who can set boundaries, face challenges and feel at peace with your day. That is enormously empowering.