Learning how to accept your anxiety disorder is actually very difficult.
This is because our natural instinct is to fight our anxiety symptoms and do all you can to push your anxious thoughts and feelings out of our mind.
But in fact, really accepting your anxiety disorder is perhaps the best way to manage and ultimately eliminate anxiety from your life.
Sometimes when people ask you to accept something you really don’t fully accept it. What a lot of us do instead is just put up with whatever the issue is. However, in order to really get a handle on your anxious thoughts and feelings you will have to learn how to accept your anxiety disorder 100%.
This does not only involve telling yourself “o.k. I accept” it is much more than that. It’s also physical acceptance that is required. In other words, when you get palpitations, headaches, dizziness or insomnia you don’t just say to yourself that you accept this, you have to “go limp” as it were and really, truly accept what is going on in your mind and body.
This is actually very hard, but with practice it can be done. Acceptance is important because it allows you time to rest and it also offers a real understanding of what anxiety symptoms can and cannot do to you. By accepting fully all the things that anxiety can produce you will come to learn (and accept) that although it can make you feel and think strangely it will not actually hurt you.
One of the biggest worries that I always had was my concern about the possibility of my anxiety growing into something worse, but it didn’t and it won’t for you, either.
I remember sitting in a chair and getting a flash of panic which would always cause me to stand up real fast and grab my head – almost like I was trying to stop my head and thoughts from running out of control.
Now when I get those flashes I am uneasy but I don’t add to it. I don’t reinforce it with secondary fear. I just sit or stand there and let the anxiety symptoms flash, pulsate and run right through me.
Will you still be somewhat uneasy when this first burst of anxiety comes over you? Sure you will, but understand that if you just wait a few minutes and remain as calm as you can possibly be it will subside much faster. It’s when you jump out of your seat and start pacing around that you stir up the adrenaline in your body and almost surely guarantee yourself a tough night.
I understand that this is very hard for you because your anxiety symptoms are so frightening – however believe me when I tell you that accepting all aspects of your anxiety disorder will change your life.
It is hard having an anxiety disorder because it can dominate your life but that is precisely why you have to do something about it. I wouldn’t expect you to be able to accept your anxiety fully within a week. But with everyday that you try to accept you will see a huge difference in the frequency and severity of your anxiety attacks.
And so it all starts with baby steps. I am sure that you are frustrated but you have to start somewhere and acceptance is a good place to start.
So the next time you get a disturbing thought or strange symptom let it pass.You have to accept before you can get better, but luckily this part of your recovery is well within your control.
i have anxiety due to hormonal changes possibly perimenopause i have constant buzzing all test have been negative. I have only recently accepting this condition will i overcome this in time . The only meds im on at this point are thyroxine for overactive thyroid which has been stable for a year but was the cause of my anxiety which still remain ive only just started taking atenolol for pals which have been going on for about three years also iron folic acid and vitamin d what else can i do to help myself i do not think about these symptoms but their always there. Im tired of going to the docs who want to put me on prozac just fed up really. Thankyou.
Dear all
I am an emetophobe am just about to start ‘accepting’. Initially, I am frightened but I know this is really the only way.
A lady named Dr. Clare Weeks wrote a very good book on the subject of nerves / anxiety and accepting. The book is called ‘Self Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes’. You can purchase it quite cheaply these days. I think it’s worth buying. I borrowed it from a friend about a year ago but was skeptical. I think I may purchase it myself and give it another go.
Just want to say thanks for the “biggest fear it’s going to get worse but it won’t” because that is my biggest fear. I just started suffering a month ago and started meds and they havent kicked in yet. I say I have anxiety over anxiety and that line just made me smile someone else feels the way I do
Does this mean I should know how to accept my diarrhea? Because that is a common symptom of my anxiety, and a potentially embarrassing problem as well.
Ha… that’s almost funny Miss Spelt. The answer is no. When you cease experiencing abnormal anxiety – high levels of stress – then symptoms like diarrhea stop. That is if your problem is actually anxiety related. Acceptance can be a significant part of the healing process. There are different ways to heal abnormal anxiety. Acceptance is only one part of one way. There are other options. I encourage you to find what works for you so that your symptoms improve.
So hard to accept. The hardest part is trying to explain to family why I can’t work. I have never been the same since my first attack 15 years ago. I went from having everything. After my attack the only thing that seems important is avoiding Places, events ,TV ,shows ,crowds or anything else that I used to. I’m so different. I really lost all interest in material things. My attack took my natural drive and forced me to slow down. I feel like my emotions sad happy excitement so on.. were taken.
Iv, e suffered anxiety for 4 yrs now & struggling to even accept it, s anxiety I suffer I have ssayings words images & constant analyzing how I feel & panic when intrusives hit.
I am trying to help my son (22) accept his anxiety disorder. He feels lightheaded all the time. He fainted twice in his teens and lives in fear of fainting again. He is convinced there is something physically wrong with him but doctors, so far, can’t find anything. We started going to a very good Cognitive Behavioral Therapist but my son is not doing the work because he doesn’t think its anxiety.
Paul, can you tell me what to do if the anxiety attack starts during excercises or physical activity (even walking). I guess that while my heart starts beating faster (because of the effort) and I start to sweat etc. my brain recognise it as a symptom of panic attack and causes the real panic attack. So in such a situation the right thing to do is to stop the effort and calm the body and mind down by accepting this situation or should I try to accept it without taking a break (which is so hard, because it’s hard not to fear that I’ll get hyperventilated or even faint).
Thanks for all your work that you’ve made here. I suffer from anxiety for 11 years (now I’m 30) and you’ve really opened my mind for important things that I didn’t try. Sorry for my not so perfect english but I’m from Poland:)
And one more thing – I’m so grateful that I understand english and I found your blog – I was hopeless and now I feel like I’m able to fight it (by accepting the situation:D)
I’m 27 and I’ve been lightheaded for almost a constant year. I just had a severe panic attack about a month ago and went to the doctor where they prescribed me with Zoloft and zanex. I am 100% against drugs but decided to try it anyways. 4 days later I felt even worst. I started doing research and stopped the pills that were given to me started eating all organic and non GMO foods along with meditation and reading books which helped 10x more than the pills. I’m still lightheaded and it gets better and worse but I feel like I’m actually on my way to feeling better but it won’t happen overnight just like I didn’t get this stressed out/ anxiety over night either. By the way I feel as my anxiety is due to high levels of stress at work, relationship, and other few things that happened to me during the past couple years.
I’ve been struggling with an anxiety disorder for two years. Went to the ER several times, thinking I was dying. Zoloft helped (but made me sleepy) so I tried Prozac. Prozac gave me nasty side effects so I’m going to try the Zoloft again. Therapy helped but I stopped going due to transportation issues. Now I can go somewhere closer, in walking distance.
So hard to accept the physical symptoms.
I have a rare vision issue caused by neurological disease that has no cure or treatment. Went 2 plus years to 16 doctors and two unneeded eye operations trying to find out what was going on. This caused aniexty which I still have dispite now knowing what is going on. I am trying to accept my vision loss and my aniexty which is very hard but I feel better and think I see the end of this black hole I have been stuck in for two years.