Finding out that you have an anxiety disorder can’t possibly be easy to accept for anyone. You don’t know how to open up about it to friends and family. You have no idea how you’ll deal with the symptoms once they flare up when you are in the middle of an important discussion. It is a mental condition that may never go away. After all, it isn’t like a cough or fever that your body can overcome once you take antibiotics.
Alicia H. Clark, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist said, “We don’t always know causation in psychology — especially without being able to measure something for a long time — but there are a lot of correlational studies that are pointing to social media and digital phone use.” Because of that, during the first few months post-diagnosis, your relationship with yourself may not be in tiptop shape. Every time panic attacks, you have to rely on others to get you out. You may take the prescriptions that the doctor gave you, but the drugs still don’t seem to do much for you. The frustrations simply keep on building up, to the point that you already hate yourself for having this disorder.
Nevertheless, our goal for writing this blog is not to push you to accept your anxiety immediately. Take all the time you need to feel comfortable living with it – that’s okay. What we want you to know are the things that you’ll be able to do once acceptance takes place in your life.
- Sensing Real Danger
Let’s face it: having anxiety typically means that you are often more alert than others. “When anxiety is at it’s worst and reaches the level of panic it can be debilitating and feel paralyzing. Your mind gets a little too suspicious. Suspicious of what might happen, what could happen, suspicious of other people.” Robert Allison, MA, LPC said. Before you sit down in a room full of people, your eyes have already roamed the place and taken every person into account. When you are on the road, you can’t help but observe your surroundings, primarily when all cars are not moving.
Instead of berating yourself for being overly watchful, you may see it as a method of avoiding real dangers. After all, no offender can catch you by surprise since you notice everything. You merely have to manage the fear to make your observations useful.
- Doing What Needs To Be Done
If only everyone’s a mind reader, it will no longer be a secret that folks with anxiety usually think that they cannot do this or that. It may be because they lack confidence, but the disorder has undoubtedly played a part in that as well. Hence, the patient may always be at crossroads, unable to decide about what he or she should do.
“People who suffer from ambient anxiety have not developed an internal psychological and emotional barrier. Things they see and hear penetrate them to their core,” says Fran Walfish, PsyD. To resolve the matter, you ought to do the opposite of what your mind says. In case it tells you not to accept the promotion at work, go for it. If your friends invite you to a hiking adventure, you should come with them. Forget your fears for once – you know so well that the anxiety can twist everything and make you lose opportunities, so try not to listen to it too much.
- Becoming Self-Aware
Does it bother you when grown-ups use their social media platform to talk about a controversial topic, and then say sorry later once they receive backlash because of it? Then, when another hot issue comes out and they comment about it again – and get negative feedback once more – they apologize, claiming that their mind was not in the right place at the time.
The truth is that people keep on committing the same mistakes as they lack self-awareness. They speak before their brain can process the words coming out of their mouth. For sure, these individuals do not even ponder about their statement and post them online, assuming that others think the way they do.
Your edge over such folks is that you question every single thing you want to say or do. It signifies how self-conscious you are, which can undeniably keep you from making the wrong decisions all the time.
Accepting your disorder means that you’ll be able to protect yourself from harm, become a more actionable individual, and commit fewer mistakes than any average person. So, why should you fight anxiety over and over when you can get something amazing out of it?
