View Full Version : Can some excplain something to me
this may sound as if im abit thick but i have had anxiety for a few years now and try to learn all i can about it to help me but i donty know what people mean when they say dont fight the anxiety just exept it and let the thoughts and feelings go and im not sure how or what it means can any explain it to me xx thks
this may sound as if im abit thick but i have had anxiety for a few years now and try to learn all i can about it to help me but i donty know what people mean when they say dont fight the anxiety just exept it and let the thoughts and feelings go and im not sure how or what it means can any explain it to me xx thks
I know what you mean, i think its case of don't stress yourself getting angry with it but just go ''hay whatever anxiety you are here i am so not bothered about you'' ha ha. That is what I've been told anyway, unfortunately i don't say that in the grip of anxiety i tend get angry or taken over by it. It is hard to accept:shrug:
When you are having an anxiety attack don't "feed it" with your usual thought processes. If your brain normally kicks in and says "Oh my God I'm dying!"... try to block that voice. I think we allow ourselves to get into a vicious circle of negative thinking, which just keeps us in the same rut :( Do you know about the vitamins that your body needs to build up the nervous system? Do you exercise for at least 30 minutes a day? I think the only way to learn to live with this anxiety thing is to eat right, stop anything damaging like cigs or alcohol, and get plenty of exercise... I know that might sound really boring, but it really is the only thing that we can get some kind of control back, and be strong enough to "fight back"... :)
Acceptance means just that, accepting without questioning. Just let the symptoms be there without stressing and that does not mean putting up with or moaning about them. It means getting on with life with the symptoms present and paying them no heed. Just allowing them to excist.
Hi,
I know what you mean as I have had trouble with this too. Dr Claire Weekes talked about 'floating' but I have never been able to do that either. What makes sense to me is what she says in one of her books about symptoms.
She said to 'examine, analyse and describe the symptom, don't flinch from it and don't be scared of it. Is it really so terrible? If you had arthritis in your wrist you would be prepared to work with the pain without getting too upset by it, why regard this as something so different then ordinary pain that it can scare you. Stop regarding it as some kind of monster that can possess you. Understand that it is just over sensitized nerves.
While you examine and analyse your symptoms you may find your attention wandering from yourself. The thing that seemed so terrible while you stayed tense and flinched from it may fail to hold your attention when you see it for what it is - no more than a strange physical feeling of no medical significance and causing no real harm.'
Sorry if this doesn't make sense, but reading that helped me understand acceptance a bit better.
Anna
Hi tricia56,
I know what you mean, and it is hard to get a grip of.
It basically means that instead of saying things to yourself mentally like 'oh God what is this?' ' I don't like the way I am feeling' ' I'm going to get worse and die', etc. etc. you instead say to yourself 'ok, so this is anxiety, I KNOW this is just anxiety, this is something that will pass, I can accept this and then it will go soon'.....that kind of thing.
I think the thinking is that the more negative thoughts go through your head during an anxiety/panic attack, the more you actually feed the anxiety, and all the physical and mental symptoms, whereas if you just accept it mentally as an anxious moment that will pass, it helps calm you down, so helps the symptoms lessen.
It's just a technique really to help get through an attack......and it REALLY, REALLY does work, but the hard part is getting the knack of rewiring your thinking to do that in the middle of an attack, and that is hard, but it honestly can be done....with time and a lot of practice.
Acceptance isn't the only way that helps, as distraction is another very good way of getting past it all. Just diverting your attention elsewhere. When I feel panicked when shopping, (which I get a lot) or standing in a queue and I think I am going to faint which is how my panic attacks exhibit themselves, I do stuff like look around the shop for 10 pink items, or count the different magazines on the rack by the till, or sing a song in my head. That helps a lot as while you are focusing on those things you can't focus on the anxiety too so it lessens. Again, this just takes practice.
Hope this helps.xxxx:)
I want to try this.
Now this doesn't mean I accept the anxiety so it will hang around like a welcome guest, right???
What do I do when my mind screams......this may not be just anxiety, you really could be dieing. How do I push through that?
so when your mind screams that at you, remember the last time that your mind told you that? The previous anxiety attack passed as they always do eventually you didn't die the thoughts were inaccurate?
It is not accepting a welcome guest, it is changing how you react and not feeding the anxiety, and like most things that are not fed they wither away eventually?
Lynnann:flowers:
I think that is SO hard, when you are convinced it may actually be that you are dying and again, it is just a case of overruling your anxiety and TELLING yourself you are not dying.
I think it is really hard to do if the anxiety is quite new, and you don't have previous episodes to compare it to, so it is easier to tell yourself 'hey, I felt like this before and I didn't die, so I know I will be ok again.' It is a sad fact that you have to kind of had a few bad anxious moments to convince your mind that you can get through it again like you did before.
It DEFINITELY doesn't mean you have to accept the anxiety in terms of 'I'm NEVER gonna get rid of it, I'm anxious forever and I can't fight it' kind of thing. It is if anything FIGHTING the anxiety away and squashing it down so it isn't always ruling your life.
For me personally I have ACCEPTED that I am basically always going to have some degree of depression/anxiety and be a big worrier, but I refuse to let it dominate me now and fight it all the way, and have (more or less) found ways of doing it that work for me. I will never be free totally of it I think, but you honestly do get used to squaring up to it and tackling it.xxx
Thank you for your insight.
Anxiety has been with me on and off for 50 years. yes, 50.
I am with a counselor this time around.
My husband tells me I have been dieing for 26 years of our marriage and I'm still here.
I know there are stressors in life, and like you said, not letting it dominate and run me down is where I want to get to.
You are very welcome daybyday.
It is so hard dealing with anxiety for years and years, I know....and tiring too, and I have only had mine for around 8 years.
I do think though that every day we get through it is a victory. I know that sounds cheesy but it really is true. xxx:hugs:
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