To be honest with you I feel like I'm going to die suddenly sometimes. I'm not ashamed of this fact, it's just the way it is. Interestingly, I have developed a rather deep sense of acceptance when it comes to feeling fear and anxiety symptoms. I accept the feelings and thoughts without much commotion, but I still think that instant death is likely at least every other Thursday or so. That's the amazing thing about anxiety that I still have trouble understanding. It's particularly hard to understand because I have a rather clear notion
Did Your Parents Make You An Anxious Person?
This question is not as random as it seems. I posted a link to an article today that talks about the possible causes of anxiety and one of them was childhood upbringing. So, did our parents cause this mess? Did our parent's behavior, demeanor, or other character trait somehow create little anxious monsters? Let me just say up front that I'm rather skeptical about this particular claim. Mainly because the parenting-anxiety link is believed to be related to either "over protective parents or uncaring parents". This seems a little
What Do You Want To Know About Anxiety?
The vast majority of my stint as an anxiety sufferer has been spent in utter confusion about what the hell was wrong with me. It took me years of searching, reading, asking, and probing before I got a clue. Going to my primary doctor wasn't always the best information session because the doctor's reaction was to give me a drug and call it a day. The therapist I've seen never really saw me look or act nervous so they figured I was fine. Therapist: "So you don't want to hurt yourself or others?" Me: No. Therapist: "So you get nervous, have
Anxiety And The Fear Of Happiness
For a long time I was afraid to be happy. I was afraid to laugh too strongly, I was afraid to get carried away with any overly positive feeling because it would make me nervous. It sounds strange to say but I was holding on to myself tightly (emotionally speaking) so I wouldn't lose control, or at least that was the thought process. Anxiety has a way of doing all kinds of things to you and destroying your sense of joy is a major one. It took me years before I realized that laughing hard wasn't fatal and that smiling and talking to others
Here’s An Effective Way To Lower Your Anxiety
Over the life of this blog I have talked a lot about how changing your thinking can lead to less anxiety. But what does 'change your thinking' even mean? Today I want to talk about a specific thing you can do (or think) to achieve the goal of less anxiety. Have you ever heard people say that we should all try and live in the present? Of course you have but who cares right? Well not really, because this simple old school saying (like most sayings) is true and effective. It's just that people hear sayings like this so much that they tend to
Are You Stopping Yourself From Being Anxiety Free?
The idea for this post came to me today while I was surfing the web. I suddenly asked myself if I was keeping myself from being anxiety free. After I posed this question to myself I concluded that I was, partially. I don't think that anyone keeps themselves anxious because quite frankly this would be pure lunacy. However I wondered if my long suffering with anxiety had conditioned my body and mind so much toward anxiety that I not only expect to be anxious most of the time but also find that being anxious is my normal state of being (low
Back From Internet Disconnectedness
In case anyone was wondering why I haven't written much in the past 10 days let me fill you in. Some of you may have thought "well it's the holidays" but in fact my internet connection crashed about a week ago. The bad news is that I wasn't able to write anything, the good news is that since I couldn't write I decided to read, a lot. And I wasn't reading the hottest new novel either, I of course was in the psychology stakes looking for more good information and I found tons. In the past week I came across three books in particular
Does Having Anxiety Mean That The Party Is Over?
So there you are - its Saturday night and your ready for the night life, a movie or something that smacks of sociability when you remember, "oh yea I have anxiety so I can't go anywhere". Well to be honest that's me talking to myself but you may have done this yourself a few times. You just assume that you will either not have a good time, freak out, or want to leave early so what's the point. This, I think, is such a sad mindset. I admit I can't drink alcohol anymore because it brings out the nerves but I still enjoy the company of others
The Fear Of New Beginnings
Have you just moved to a new town or city? Have you recently gotten married or started a new job? Chances are that if you have had to start something new your anxiety levels have gone up. However despite your unease you should realize that such a reaction to any serious change in your life's routine can and most likely will cause angst, among other things. This is a very normal reaction to anything that upsets the balance we have set for ourselves. This is especially true when you have an anxiety disorder. As anxiety sufferers we like