If you suffer from anxiety, you probably do without realising it. I know, strange isn't it.
Well...as an example.....you could be going to work every day over a long period of time when suddenly you find a lion sitting next to you. His stare is really frightening. You feel at any moment he's going to pounce on you and eat you. You feel breathless and so full of fear you want to run away from him as fast as possible. However, despite your best efforts and racing to get home, there he still is...sitting on the sofa right beside you, still staring at you with his frightening big teeth, still scaring you, still making you feel you want to escape, so you try running to your bedroom but there he is again, sat right beside you.
Day in, day out he follws you everywhere. You get so fed up with him that you decide to go to the doctors and ask the doctor if they can give you some medication to make this frightening lion go away. The doctor duly obliges and after a few days time, that frightening lion is Still sat in front of you staring at you with his frightening gaze...or maybe this time, that frightening gaze doesn't appear so frightening. Ah yes, its those meds. They haven't mae him go away but at least he's not frightening you so much. You find yourself able to cope much better. Your mood is lifted, you feel happier inside, even if that annoying lion is still in he background following you everywhere.
Have you also noticed something else about this lion? Why hasn't he pounced on you and eaten you, even before the doctor gave you the meds? The lion appears to have sharp teeth, long claws and that gaze was oh so frightening...but he didn't eat you, did he. So then why did you want him to go away so much? Ah yes, it was because he appeared so frightening that you just couldn't stand those feelings he was giving you all the time.
So then, the meds eased things by not making you feel so afraid but you would still like your lion to go away and find someone else annoy but how? That takes time. You know he has no bite and he can't harm you otherwise he would have by now but you still see those sharp claws fearing one day he still might.
Therefore, the way to make the lion go away is to remind yourself this lion can't harm you. It just feels that he can through the fear he creates in you.
So, who is the lion who follows you every day?
He has various names but he's generally known as Stress.
Stress in the workplace, stress at home, intrusive thoughts, phobias, worries, what if's....you name it really. In one form or another whether you like it or not you own a lion without realising it and then the rest is up to you with help if needed from therapists and perhaps some meds to make the lion feel less frightening.
Hope that makes sense.
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