Anxiety. A Personal Experience. 

Hello! 

My name is Nika, I am the head of Mindspa. And today I want to share my personal experience. 

I am an anxious person. More precisely, I’ve been “blessed” with anxiety disorder. 

Up until the moment I got into the wonderful world of psychotherapy, they diagnosed me with dysautonomia and many other things because my level of anxiety was so high that it hit my actual health. 

I’m still sorting out some physiological consequences of neglected anxiety to this day. 

Years of therapy, independent work and professional study of all aspects of working with anxiety have certainly yielded results. 

I can say without false modesty that I cope well with stress, I can quickly track the unraveling anxiety spiral, I manage to nip anxiety in the bud.

But the most important thing is that anxiety no longer controls my life. It does not dictate what to do and what not to do, does not affect my relationships, my eating behavior, my freedom of movement or fulfillment of my desires. 

I personally distinguish two aspects of dealing with anxiety: 

– situational (a set of emergency techniques for self-help at the moment); 

– continuous (a certain lifestyle that allows me to maintain a stable condition). 

Today I will share my situational life hacks with you.

First and foremost: 

I DON’T FIGHT ANXIETY.

Since I switched my strategy from fighting to supporting the anxious part of myself, things have been going faster and much better. 

Anxiety is not the enemy.

It’s a symptom, a signal, a cry for help. 

My usual plan of actions in case of an anxiety attack looks like this: 

Step #1

All attention to breathing. 

Belly breathing works best for me (inflate your stomach like a balloon on the inhale, deflate it on the exhale), as well as breathing for 6 counts (1-2 inhale, 3 hold your breath, 4-5-6 long exhale).

Step #2 

If the situation allows, I tap over my body. 

If not, I scan my body, identify areas of tension, direct my attention there and try to consciously relax them. 

It also helps to rub your neck (the back and the side surfaces). 

Step #3 

If there are any strong manifestations in the body (trembling, coldness, numbness, tachycardia, fever, lump in the throat) I focus my attention on them and calm the body. 

As you can see, all the first steps are aimed at stabilizing the body. 

But at the same time I repeat to myself: 

“It’s just an anxiety attack. Everything’s fine. I know what to do, it’ll get better in a minute.”

Step #4 

When the body calms down, I turn to the cognitive field. 

This is what helps me: 

– puzzles; 

– tongue twisters; 

– simple tasks; 

If you have nothing at all at hand, then do a simple come back to reality:

what day it is, where I am, what my name is, how old I am, what surrounds me. 

Another great practice to reduce anxiety intensity is:

– Name 5 things that you can see; 

– Name 4 things you can touch; 

– Name 3 sounds you can hear; 

– Name 2 smells that you can smell;

– Name 1 thing you can taste;

After my body and my mind have diverted from anxiety, I can move on to rationalization: 

– What triggered my anxiety?

– What facts am I basing on? 

– What does the situation look like in reality, and what’s it like in my imagination?

– What am I actually afraid of? 

– How else can I help myself? 

And, of course, I continue to monitor my breathing, my body and thoughts (I don’t allow my disturbing fantasies to unfold). 

It sounds like a lot at first (it did take a lot of time to write this as well, by the way) ☺

But in fact, the worked-out process only takes a couple of minutes, let’s say from 3 to 10, depending on the intensity of your condition. 

I know how difficult it is to be a person with increased anxiety. A person who gets overwhelmed every now and then. 

But I also know that there is more to me than my anxiety. And as soon as I took responsibility for my condition, started taking care of it, it (my condition) began noticeably and rapidly improving. 

And that’s what I wish for you.