pigsmightfly
11-07-17, 18:29
Hi. So I struggle with LOTS of symptoms. They all seem to be 'nervous system related'. All the tests came back normal, so "it's just anxiety". Some symptoms are mildly bothersome, others I find more debilitating and really get me down sometimes. The symptoms are there everyday, and as time has gone on I seem to keep adding more to the list. Even though "it's just anxiety" there are days when I can't help thinking that there must be more going on here. But mainly I soldier on. I don't panic. I don't freak out. I do my best to remain calm and rational and as 'normal' as I can be under the circumstances. After all, "it's just anxiety", right? Sure, I find it hard. Who wouldn't? Putting up with chronic fatigue, heart palpitations, IBS, insomnia, profuse sweating, aching muscles, swollen hands and feet etc. It really gets on your wick. But as my dad says, "there is nothing really wrong with you, it's just anxiety".
I resent the implication in the phrase "it's just anxiety" that (i) it's less debilitating than a 'real' illness; and (ii) I can simply and easily 'think my symptoms away'. In other words, it is all my fault that I am suffering like this, because it must be a product of my excessive worry and faulty thinking. When all I am doing each day is trying to be 'normal' and do normal everyday things.
What I really need from you guys, is a way of explaining to my dad (and others) that anxiety is more than just me worrying a lot about my health. To me it feels like a 'physical state', perhaps even a 'dysfunction of the nervous system', that is quite simply beyond my ability to control. It may not be pathological, there may not be any underlying disease as such, but it sure as hell seems out of my control. But I just can't find a way of explaining this to folk without being tripped up by the very name of the condition - Anxiety. In other people's minds this translates as worry, stress, anxiousness i.e. stop worrying, take a chill pill and cheer up Charlie. If it was that simple I would be better by now.
Has anybody found a way of communicating the concept of anxiety that really helps to convey the bio-physiological aspects and dispels the myth that all I need to do is stop worrying. After all, "it's just anxiety."
I resent the implication in the phrase "it's just anxiety" that (i) it's less debilitating than a 'real' illness; and (ii) I can simply and easily 'think my symptoms away'. In other words, it is all my fault that I am suffering like this, because it must be a product of my excessive worry and faulty thinking. When all I am doing each day is trying to be 'normal' and do normal everyday things.
What I really need from you guys, is a way of explaining to my dad (and others) that anxiety is more than just me worrying a lot about my health. To me it feels like a 'physical state', perhaps even a 'dysfunction of the nervous system', that is quite simply beyond my ability to control. It may not be pathological, there may not be any underlying disease as such, but it sure as hell seems out of my control. But I just can't find a way of explaining this to folk without being tripped up by the very name of the condition - Anxiety. In other people's minds this translates as worry, stress, anxiousness i.e. stop worrying, take a chill pill and cheer up Charlie. If it was that simple I would be better by now.
Has anybody found a way of communicating the concept of anxiety that really helps to convey the bio-physiological aspects and dispels the myth that all I need to do is stop worrying. After all, "it's just anxiety."