How do you float when feeling anxious? I have to drive to Lindenhurst this Saturday for a brunch/ wedding and I've been working on myself A LOT. I'm still trying to just float. I immediately want to run home. Do I pull over? Count? Breathe? or just sit there and let it go. I fear I'm going to pass out while driving, [explicit] my pants, throw up, stop breathing or feel the impending doom of depersonalization. I am working on getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. I understand the concept. I understand nothing is going to happen to me but in that moment I am one thought away from losing it. Once I'm at my destination, I'm fine and driving home I'm fine. My problem is getting to the destination outside my comfort zone.
I thought I was the only one who treated myself like I just had a major heart attack. I used to run marathons but after the anxiety attack and panic my brain convinced me that if I were to run again I might fall over, stop breathing, or my heart couldn’t take it or that I needed to protect my brain and running would somehow jiggle it. Even saying this out loud makes me laugh..back then these thoughts would send me into a scanning my body for any weird sensation, checking my heart rate and oxygen level on my home oximeter to make sure I was in normal range (which I always was). I am almost done with The Anxious Truth handbook as I am using it to slowly pull myself out of these anxiety shackles. I am running on the treadmill again and it feels so good. I plan on doing some outdoor runs when it cools down. Thank you for creating this platform!
Hear you loud and clear. We all do belong to a "special" club, don't we? Maybe thinking about it that way could be helpful.
Especially tuned into the part about anxiety=weak. We see ourselves that way and so do others. Something I abhor, because being this way really can make you feel like a giant snowflake and I hate it. Good impetus to move forward.
Thank you for opening yourself to us. It's so helpful. After all, we're all in the same "special" boat, trying to paddle a different way.
Yes to the “treating myself like glass”! My mom used to always warn against things being “too much.” I don’t think she even meant it in an anxiety-disordered way, but I picked it up and internalized it. Like, “We can go to the beach, but we shouldn’t go directly to supper after that. It would be too much.” So when I had really disordered anxiety, I had elaborate structures around making sure nothing was “too much.” I think I thought that if I made the wrong decision, or scheduled too much into one day, I was going to spontaneously combust!
Gosh, I so relate to this. My mom was similar. So similar. When I was a young adult living alone, I'd tell her about some of the things I was doing and it wasn't all that much. Working, working out, dinner with a friend. Instead of applauding my efforts to live a good life, she'd often say, "Why are you out so much? Why don't you stay home? Always running around! Sigh.
Hugely helpful distinctions here Drew (both yesterday’s episode and today) - really helps to cement in my brain the difference between ‘normal’ anxiety (of which at times I have plenty) and disordered anxiety (of which at times I have plenty). Can be super easy to muddle them all up together. I’ve just re-listened to yesterday’s episode to remind myself of the ‘do’s’, combined with today’s ‘dont’s’ - now just to apply in daily life and be watchful for any auto-pilot notable deviations…
Oh boy! All the above!
More examples on "I don't do that anymore." What a fitting phrase!
How do you float when feeling anxious? I have to drive to Lindenhurst this Saturday for a brunch/ wedding and I've been working on myself A LOT. I'm still trying to just float. I immediately want to run home. Do I pull over? Count? Breathe? or just sit there and let it go. I fear I'm going to pass out while driving, [explicit] my pants, throw up, stop breathing or feel the impending doom of depersonalization. I am working on getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. I understand the concept. I understand nothing is going to happen to me but in that moment I am one thought away from losing it. Once I'm at my destination, I'm fine and driving home I'm fine. My problem is getting to the destination outside my comfort zone.
Well spoken Drew! Love you Bug Guy
I thought I was the only one who treated myself like I just had a major heart attack. I used to run marathons but after the anxiety attack and panic my brain convinced me that if I were to run again I might fall over, stop breathing, or my heart couldn’t take it or that I needed to protect my brain and running would somehow jiggle it. Even saying this out loud makes me laugh..back then these thoughts would send me into a scanning my body for any weird sensation, checking my heart rate and oxygen level on my home oximeter to make sure I was in normal range (which I always was). I am almost done with The Anxious Truth handbook as I am using it to slowly pull myself out of these anxiety shackles. I am running on the treadmill again and it feels so good. I plan on doing some outdoor runs when it cools down. Thank you for creating this platform!
Hear you loud and clear. We all do belong to a "special" club, don't we? Maybe thinking about it that way could be helpful.
Especially tuned into the part about anxiety=weak. We see ourselves that way and so do others. Something I abhor, because being this way really can make you feel like a giant snowflake and I hate it. Good impetus to move forward.
Thank you for opening yourself to us. It's so helpful. After all, we're all in the same "special" boat, trying to paddle a different way.
I can relate to it all! Thank you, as always.
Yes Yes Yes!
Yes to the “treating myself like glass”! My mom used to always warn against things being “too much.” I don’t think she even meant it in an anxiety-disordered way, but I picked it up and internalized it. Like, “We can go to the beach, but we shouldn’t go directly to supper after that. It would be too much.” So when I had really disordered anxiety, I had elaborate structures around making sure nothing was “too much.” I think I thought that if I made the wrong decision, or scheduled too much into one day, I was going to spontaneously combust!
Gosh, I so relate to this. My mom was similar. So similar. When I was a young adult living alone, I'd tell her about some of the things I was doing and it wasn't all that much. Working, working out, dinner with a friend. Instead of applauding my efforts to live a good life, she'd often say, "Why are you out so much? Why don't you stay home? Always running around! Sigh.
Hear you!
Great episode
Thanks Drew. I think I left my dare devil when I was about 12.
Hugely helpful distinctions here Drew (both yesterday’s episode and today) - really helps to cement in my brain the difference between ‘normal’ anxiety (of which at times I have plenty) and disordered anxiety (of which at times I have plenty). Can be super easy to muddle them all up together. I’ve just re-listened to yesterday’s episode to remind myself of the ‘do’s’, combined with today’s ‘dont’s’ - now just to apply in daily life and be watchful for any auto-pilot notable deviations…
I think you have just described me to a T.