I was talking a client down from a panic attack on the phone last week and he was telling me what was freaking him out the most.
"I have to live with these thoughts. I will never be OK again."
This has got to be one of the scariest things that Anxiety does. It makes you look in the future and only see it staring you down. You mourn every event you might have in your future–that it will be fraught with this horrible feeling. Frankly, it makes you not want to have a future.
Anxiety-Schmanxiety
My son owns a tee shirt that says,
"When life hands you lemons, keep them. Because, you know, free lemons!"
I like to keep life light. But sometimes crises happen and they can set our anxiety on overdrive. Once panic sets it, it takes all of our energy. Energy that we need to handle the situation!
On the other hand, if we used that energy to handle the situation. It would make our anxiety go down! Really! Read on for Five Things To Do When You are In A Crisis:
We should keep a fear journal because, well, life happens. Some things are good and, let's face it, some things are down right horrible. All the while we are trying to make meaning around what we experience. As we try to make sense of it, we weave a story of it in our heads. These stories shape how we perceive life, and the stories we tell ourselves can cause a lot of unnecessary fear. As we create our stories, it is hard not to weave these biases in. The best way to get around this is to keep a fear journal. Keeping a fear journal helps you change fearsome thoughts to more realistic ones.
Let's talk about he blame game, forgiveness and guilt. Did you ever wonder why people feel guilt even though they have done nothing wrong? Humans have the psychological need for order. If something they experience is chaotic; blame is the easiest way to make order of it. Sometimes we blame ourselves and sometimes we blame others. But most of us go back and forth between the two.
Are you afraid to be needy? Why is that?
Many people have neediness anxiety: aka “worry about being too needy.” Being “too needy” is generally frowned upon in our individualistic culture. And when we--the appropriate, regular human beings we are--desire some help or company, we mistakenly think something is way wrong with us.
We make all kinds of excuses why the other person can't handle our problem on top of theirs; they are too busy or too important to care about us. These are all made up in our mind.
Truth by definition is absolute. It is definitive. It is what it is and that is it. However, I have come to believe that not much is true in the literal sense. What we believe is perception, not the truth.
Anxiety is worse than wasted time. Wasted time is just lost time, but anxiety is suffering time. Much worse.
There are seven elements necessary to write targeted affirmations to cure anxiety. Some of those elements are clearing your limiting beliefs and reconstructing the story you tell yourself. Discover what the elements are and how to craft affirmations to cure your anxiety.
Kids and Their Psychiatric "Disorders"
This morning, I read a disturbing headline: 1 in 5 Kids May Have Psych Disorder.
Say what? It makes me wonder: What are we doing to our children?
As someone who has been in the field for 20 years, I have seen diagnosing children with a psych disorder do more harm than good. Children fulfill the prophesies of these mental health diagnostic labels and it is very hard to recover from these identities supported by years of mental health practitioners, with albiet good intentions, telling them what is wrong with them and that they have to "cope" with it.
Yesterday I was talking to a four year old about her worries. Four year old worries are very interesting if you know what I mean.
Her worries just began a month ago. And while many children who grow up in unsafe situations often get worries; her worries were introduced to her in a way worries are often introduced to safe little girls–purely by accident.