I have suffered with anxiety all my life, until recently it finally arose more powerful and consuming as ever. I am trying to overcome this and get back to being healthy and strong. I think that apart of my problem is my mentality. I need to start working on training my thoughts, as others would say, \” replacing positive thoughts for negative ones.\” I am not so sure if my panic attacks or anxiety start with my thoughts or start with a signal in my body. I need to do some more research but I know that as much as I have tried, I just cant ignore it. It is also not healthy to ignore mental or physical occurences that happen withing your body/mind. Below are some of my goals to try and reduce or handle my anxiety or panic attacks.
Goals:
Research anxiety and P.A. so that way I can understand more of what is happening to my body and mind
- Identify what is starting my panic attacks
- How I can help to manage my anxiety/ P.A.
These are only some of my goals. If anyone would like to come along for this journey of mine please post or comment. Maybe together or with some help we can overcome this and things will only get better if you try.
Also I am a Cristian and besides the physical and mental aspect, I do believe that I do need some work spiritually as well. I believe that there is more than what meets the eye. As some may call it .. this could also have to do with a spiritual battle within ourselves. We have to think about what are fears are and what we can do to overcome those fears. I know that when I am having anxiety I feel like I am out of control. Maybe it is my negative thinking that gets me into that flight or fight mode. These are some of the thoughts that I would like to evaluate of mine that could possibly get me somewhere. Personally I don’t think it will hurt to try and get to the bottom of this. For some people their anxiety has gotten so out control that they can not even leave the house. I know I do not what to have to be that person. Does anxiety get worse?I am wondering if people that are like that started off just like me. If you know what I mean. Could this have a snowball effect where we start off having thoughts and then we entertain them and then so on and so fourth?
Hello there! From what I have learned through my own research (as well as undergrad psychology classes and personal experience), there are many forms of anxiety disorder and their severity and symptoms depend on the person’s genetic predisposition, the coping mechanisms learned in childhood/young adulthood, the person’s support system, how soon help is sought, and whether or not there are co-existing issues that complicate the efficacy of treatment. Having said that, though, I don’t recall seeing any scholarly research indicating that a person with social anxiety can “snowball” (for lack of a better term) into an agoraphobe (the clinical term for someone afraid to leave their home) without some sort of co-existing traumas or conditions. It’s kind of like the difference between a cold and influenza. It may feel like a cold is “turning into” the flu, but in reality, they are two different viruses. The reason you get the latter is because your immunity was weakened with the former when you were exposed. Make sense?
I also suffer from anxiety – and depression – along with a plethora of negative thought patterns that I battle on a daily basis. I would be happy to keep you company on your recovery journey, if you’d like. Sometimes just knowing you’re not alone on the journey can keep you going when you feel too tired to continue.