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I had a breakthrough in thinking about anxiety last night and maybe this will be helpful for someone else?
TL;DR: physical and mental anxiety are two separate things and it& #39;s possible to experience one without the other. And realizing that has been a HUGE help.
TL;DR: physical and mental anxiety are two separate things and it& #39;s possible to experience one without the other. And realizing that has been a HUGE help.
For me, anxiety is very physical: tight chest, can& #39;t breathe in fully, jittery.
Just talking about/reading about anxiety triggers those feelings on a small scale.
Sometimes I can shake it off/breathe through it, whatever.
Sometimes it just liiiiiiiingers. Uhg.
Just talking about/reading about anxiety triggers those feelings on a small scale.
Sometimes I can shake it off/breathe through it, whatever.
Sometimes it just liiiiiiiingers. Uhg.
Especially if I& #39;m actually mentally anxious about something.
Like yesterday, my husband and I had a really intense conversation about my novel-in-progress. Those conversations are always fruitful, and a necessary part of my process at this point.
But they& #39;re stressful as hell.
Like yesterday, my husband and I had a really intense conversation about my novel-in-progress. Those conversations are always fruitful, and a necessary part of my process at this point.
But they& #39;re stressful as hell.
All that day (having the convo) and the day before (anticipating the convo) I was anxious, mentally.
Yesterday night? Conversation& #39;s over, but my body is still wrecked. Chest tight. Can& #39;t breathe. Jittery.
Mentally, I& #39;m no longer stressed, but physically? A wreck.
Yesterday night? Conversation& #39;s over, but my body is still wrecked. Chest tight. Can& #39;t breathe. Jittery.
Mentally, I& #39;m no longer stressed, but physically? A wreck.
My husband asked why I was still anxious, and normally I would have tried to come up with a rational reason. A mental reason.
A reason that, if I thought harder about it â if I was a stronger person â I& #39;d be able to Just Get Over.
A reason that, if I thought harder about it â if I was a stronger person â I& #39;d be able to Just Get Over.
Instead, last night I answered that I was still anxious because my chest was tight and I couldn& #39;t breathe.
And it was such a revelation to me.
Because *that* was why. Not because of some mental thing I could Just Get Over if I was a better person.
My body was anxious.
And it was such a revelation to me.
Because *that* was why. Not because of some mental thing I could Just Get Over if I was a better person.
My body was anxious.
My body was still anxious after a stressful day, and I didn& #39;t have to justify that to him â or myself â any more than I would have to justify why my legs are still sore because I worked out that morning.
All that to say, I& #39;ve lost a lot of days to letting my inability to calm my physical anxiety symptoms drive me into a mental frenzy.
It& #39;s a cycle, and it& #39;s tough to break.
CBD oil has helped me break that cycle. Breathing exercises. Distracting myself with friends/going out.
It& #39;s a cycle, and it& #39;s tough to break.
CBD oil has helped me break that cycle. Breathing exercises. Distracting myself with friends/going out.
