WHAT IF *THIS* MAKES MY ANXIETY WORSE! (Recovery Monday #76)
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- Опубліковано 17 вер 2023
- WHAT IF THIS MAKES MY ANXIETY WORSE!?
This is a common theme that expresses itself across many specific situations.
* What if allowing my anxiety makes it worse?
* What if talking about anxiety makes it worse?
* What if staying in therapy makes it worse?
* What if this medication makes it worse?
* What if going back to work makes this worse?
* What if being anxious or having thoughts for too long makes it worse?
What does "worse" mean? In the context of recovery - building a new more productive relationship with anxiety and fear - are we trying to make it go away or keep it from getting "worse"? Is there a "worse" or are you afraid that you can't handle this thing that you have always handled?
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Took a big step today and decided to drive around downtown Milwaukee, for no real reason. My son wanted to go there and so we did. I feel some anxiety at the moment, but I made it without any issues.👍
Excellent! I would say you DID it, not that you made it. "I did a thing that was really scary" is better than "I made it through" because the first statement acknowledges that you ALWAYS "make it" even when that feels bad. Great job!
@@TheAnxiousTruth Thanks Drew, amd thank you for what you do.
I’m 4 years and 8 months off. I’ve suffered from anxiety since about age 5. I have agoraphobia and food phobia. About a month or so ago I decided to go outside. I am taking baby steps. I put one foot on my door mat, then a few days later the other foot, then both feet. I felt fine. Kept going more and more. I have made it to the 4th step on the stairs. I felt just fine. The benzo made the anxiety way worse, but it got better. I’m going to keep going to the bottom step. Angie peacock said that once you conquer one phobia you’ve conquered them all. She said that Drew said that.
Excellent work! Everyone one of those steps matters. They all add up. And for the most part, all of these "different" fears often come down to one fear - the fear of how we feel and what we think. Keep going. You can do this!
Good news both of you
Just moving from my living room to any other room in my house jacks up my anxiety 100%. This sucks so bad 😢😢😢
You are not alone in that. Many many people in this community wind up there and start their recovery journey stuck in one room or even on one piece of furniture. That is a very difficult place to be for sure but nobody is beyond hope. 💜
Just take baby steps. Just inch your way to another room. I thought I would be consumed with fear but surprisingly I wasn’t. I’m always thinking about you. I hurt for you.♥️♥️♥️♥️
I’ve Been getting out a bit more. Only took two years and two therapists. Lol. I’m working on driving next ! Slow and steady.
Slow and steady still counts. I'm so happy to hear that you're making some progress Stacy. Keep at it! xx
Hi Drew, thanks for the episode and all your work, i would still be at square one without your guidance. I was wondering if there was such a thing as too much exposure? Last week i went on a streak where i was going out for 5-7 hours everyday and i feel like my exposure battery is done. I was constantly trying my best to accept all the feelings and i really did well but since a couple of days, i feel on the edge and things that were easy to do make me feel panicky. I know i did not lose all the work i did but i was wondering if you could go too hard on exposure and actually drain yourself to the point where you need a day or two to recover form it or should you just keep pushing regardless of how you feel since there is really no danger that can come from a panic attack? Is there an episode on this subject?
I'll parrot what I've heard him say before on this: rest is important no matter what you're doing. There's nothing bad per se about it, but you will probably see more progress, and maybe feel better, with a break inbetween. Anxiety is tricky cause it's all about the perception, as you know. Nothing actually happens if you "over expose" to anxiety ofcourse, but breaks still feel good and also won't hurt :)
"Too much" in the context of driving yourself into the ground fatigue-wise can be a thing. Do not forget that this work is demanding from a physical, mental, and emotional standpoint so you have to build in rest and time to regenerate. You cannot be actively recovering during every waking moment. Some people worry about "too much exposure" being bad for recovery and making anxiety worse, but that's not really a thing as long as the intention and and the targets are proper (we do exposure to practice being triggered, not to learn how to not be triggered).
What if I don't have any problem going anywhere I can drive I could take a walk and go to the store with no problem but I have anxiety 24/7 what does that mean? I have other things I avoid though like some foods, taking prescriptions, and supplements
I'll feel horrible before the task, (new job, meeting people, tests ) once I am in the process I feel so much better. I would project the worst and then all would be ok
Not perfect but ok.
❤
Anyway I can reach out to u ? I'm dealing with 100% of the symptoms you explain for almost a decade now. I'm working on dropping the fight "second fear " I'm tired lol. It's been almost half my life with this I'm ready to move past this
I can do anything and go anywhere with my anxiety. She can't make me not to do something, ride a motorcycle 300km/h and not afraid. But just feel anxious all the time.
Should you do exposures during hyperstimulation recovery?
I'm not sure I understand "hyperstimulation recovery". Can you clarify that a bit?
@@TheAnxiousTruthI think it's like the hangover feeling you have and intense anxiety after panic that for some of us lasts a few days sometimes
Is floating the same or similar to derealisation?
"Floating" is a term coined by Dr. Claire Weekes to describe being more non-reactive to anxious sensations and thoughts. She would say that rather than fight them or try to fix them or make it all go away or prevent them, you should work on "floating" through them. I use the term surrender as a way to describe dropping resistance. Others might use terms like tolerance. Its a thing we do (when we learn to not do resistance things). Derealization can feel like floating at times for sure, but floating in this context is something different.
Super jealous you saw Peter Gabriel
Right at the height of the Sledgehammer craze too! He was really good. :-)
Anyone facing issue with getting convinced that is anxiety and not any physical illness. How long since first panic attack and having no adverse event one should get reassurance that its just anxiety
Almost everyone starts by seeing a medical doctor. That's totally OK to do, and really, any good therapist would almost require that you get medically evaluated too. There's no timeframe for that. Go get checked out when you feel you want to do that. Its the right thing to do early on for sure.
Yeah I did get evaluated by multiple doctors but they were quick to jump to anxiety as a diagnosis given my history . Health checks were normal but I have seen stories where normal health checks dont rule out physical illness till its too late@@TheAnxiousTruth
You can’t hope to make progress in areas where you have taken no action. Epictetus.
Epictetus knew a few things about a few things, didn't he?