anxiety
A look at anxiety in its many forms and manifestations; what is the nature of this specific pattern of extreme fear and worry?
Anxiety Is Tough, So Are You
Two steps forward, one step back. That has been the motto I’ve been living by as I navigate myself through my mental breakdown. I spend my days with my “emergency anxiety kit” on me. It consists of emergency medicine, a stress ball and lavender oil. This isn’t my first mental breakdown, it is my third. Usually they are rooted in anxiety, but this one is different because it is rooted in depression.
By Juliana Fetherman7 years ago in Psyche
Trapped Inside Myself
I can't breathe. The air is grabbing my throat and I am gasping for air. All my life I have been the quiet girl. The sweet, innocent one that doesn't have a lot to say. Maybe I am a little shy, maybe I am a little socially awkward. However, I have a lot to say. I want to say it, but I can't. I didn't realize it was bad until my sophomore year of high school. I stayed home for two weeks with what I thought was a stomach ache. No. It was my anxiety. For the two weeks, I went to doctor after doctor trying to find the cause. Finally, a doctor told me I was anxious. Seriously? There has to be an ACTUAL cause to this. I found out later, no. That was it. Anxiety has its way of doing that. It can become so severe that it leaves you feeling physically ill. The last two years of high school, I just learned to "deal with it." It was hard. Every time I ate I felt like I was going to get sick. I was scared to go out with friends, scared to go on trips, scared to get into someone's car because every time I felt sick. That made it even worse. Could you image me actually getting sick? I could never show my face again. I spent the whole two years missing out on fun things because my anxiety held me back. Even when I actually went on things, I was so scared of getting sick and dealing with the embarrassment that I couldn't enjoy anything. You know what? I NEVER got sick. It's embarrassing thinking about it now. I missed out on so much.
By Jasmine Mitchell7 years ago in Psyche
The Silent Monster
There comes a time where I have to stop and ask: "is this my anxiety talking?” Day to day, I watch as the world continues to go around me while I sit and ask myself this question. Everyday, I have struggled in every aspect of my life because I never know if this is in fact my anxiety talking. It wasn’t until recently that I realized it was the one guiding my mind for years.
By Kyrsten Wagoner7 years ago in Psyche
I’m Still Embarrassed by My Mental Illness
I went to the local shop today to put on my gas & electric. As I was paying, I reached tentatively towards a display box of Malteaser Reindeer and subsequently knocked the whole display into the floor. Chocolate deer splayed out across the tiled floor like a delicious festive massacre. I could immediately feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
By Victoria K7 years ago in Psyche
Living with a Monster
It creeps up on your thoughts. Out of nowhere you're in a panic of fear. You're hands begin to sweat, you're feeling light-headed and nauseous, you're legs weaken and you begin to shake, you're body is so hot, like a fire that was lit from the inside. You feel like you're dying. In your mind, you are dying. If you're near other people you try to hide so no one can see you fight the monster. The embarrassment alone is enough for your anxiety attack not to leave you. You to talk to the monster and negotiate on why you don't need to go into this attack. Your mind is consumed with hundreds of thoughts you have no control over. Trying to convince that part of you that everything is okay, you are not dying. This is just another attack that you will live through. You're heart is pounding through your chest. So fast and so hard, you can't breathe. You feel like you're about to pass out. You desperately search for your safety. A person that you trust, a pill, a glass of wine, peeing out the poison of the monster, breathing cold air from the freezer, taking a hot bath, curling into a ball in a secluded area. Any routine that has worked before, you try again. You cry in fear. Fear of what though? Do you have an exact reason for the fear?
By Jennifer Veal7 years ago in Psyche
Do More of What Makes Your Soul Happy
Happy HallowThankMas. If you remotely know me, you would understand that when the calendar hits October first, I am in full holiday swing. With my spooky decorations in the dorm, Thanksgiving drawings planned out, and half of my Christmas shopping done, I am in the spirit.
By Michaela Switzer7 years ago in Psyche
Searching for Hope
“What brought you in today?” There it is. The question I wasn’t sure how to answer but I knew was going to be asked. “I’m having anxiety attacks that lead to me thinking about killing myself.” Those where the worlds I chose to say even though it went deeper than that and the therapist who sits across from me would find out soon enough. Today is March 3rd, 2018, and my life is about to explode without my knowledge. But first, “what are some things that cause your anxiety attacks?”
By Janice Page7 years ago in Psyche
When Your Chest Feels Like It’s Going to Explode from Anxiety. Top Story - October 2018.
On days like this it’s a battle to get anything done, make decisions, focus and not lose your temper. Your body is taking you on a ride that you didn’t ask to go on, all because your faulty alarm system has been triggered; and you never have the code to turn it off.
By Alicia Brunskill7 years ago in Psyche
Living with Anxiety
Hi, my name is Jaime-Leigh & I have been suffering with anxiety for four years now. First Experience of a Panic Attack Now when I first experienced a panic attack, I was under the influence of drugs and alcohol mixed... safe to say I ‘popped.’ I had this feeling of pure panic all of a sudden, my hands went red hot, heart pounding like it was coming out of my chest, a tingly sensation in the back of my neck and arms... I genuinely thought I was going to die. I looked at my girlfriend and told her I loved her thinking this was it so I best tell her quick. I explained to her what was happening as well as my friends who were sitting there laughing about it at the time.
By Jaime-Leigh Arcaini7 years ago in Psyche
The Beginning of My Anxiety
I was lost and scared out of my mind. I had no idea what was going on at that time. All the worries I had deep within me just stood there in my head. They stood glued to my mind. My chest was in pain, a pain that is hard to describe, but if I had to I'd say it was as if my chest was being crushed by a thousand trees. That's when I started not to breathe properly. It was hard not to think about something else and get myself out of that horrible moment I was in.
By Bettsy Ramos7 years ago in Psyche
