Normality

[Jonathan123]

I often wonder why it is so difficult to understand the normality of anxiety. Now to anyone not familiar with this awful problem it may seem difficult to understand what happens. We first of all have to understand that anxiety is always fear based. It has to be. If we were not fearful there would be no anxiety. Obvious? Of course it is. What is fear? It is a reaction to some event that tells us we are in danger and that appropriate action is needed to remove the danger. Now we have a choice, as did our ancient ancestors, either to run or fight. In modern society neither is possible, so we internalize the fear. Fear is not something to be feared. It is a friend that prevents us from getting into dangerous situations.. Anxiety is an outward manifestation of fear within. The conflict in the mind. 'The conflict is caused by our mind tugging both ways. We know it's all an illusion, that's one side of the mind, but the other side, the 'What if' side, tugs the other way.
Bodily sensations in anxiety are perfectly normal in the circumstances. The body has a built in reaction to danger. Immediately we have fear certain responses come into play. The fight or flight mechanism begins. Our ancient ancestors, when confronted by a big hairy Mammoth, would have been fools to try and fight so they ran. Now to run the body needs energy, and that energy can be obtained in various ways. We go to the toilet to lighten the load, we begin to pant to give us more oxygen to run faster, we panic, look around for ways out that will make us safe. We may become confused and agitated wondering what might happen. Familiar? Those are all anxiety symptoms but normal in the presence of fear. Once the danger was passed our caveman ancestors would go about their business normally. They may well remember the incident, but don't hang on to the memory of fear as anxiety sufferers do. Fear can be frightening. Mankind has never been able to cope with the unknown. Apprehension, anticipation all add to the problem. But they are still the symptoms of fear.
It may be that most are fed up with hearing some of us who keep pushing acceptance as a good therapy. But it can't be emphasised enough that to accept is to realise that what we have is always fear based. Logic and reason get lost in an anxious mind. Like running away from danger we tend not to face our problem head on and to realise the normality of what is happening. By facing and accepting 'IT' as something that can be overcome, reason may begin to enter the picture. No fighting, battling or struggling with something that is perfectly normal in the circumstances we make for it to flourish. We do you know, we are our own worst enemy. Do nothing other than accept. Now this may sound a tall order and it can be. But it does depend on the will and how much we really want to be rid of anxiety. Allow time to pass with as much patience as you can muster. Try not to be impatient with time. Age, gender have little to do with recovery
I have seen many with chronic anxiety for many years recover by acceptance. 'Action in no action' as Buddhists say. By doing nothing other than acceptance, you are doing everything possible. Medication can help in the short term. but it can never 'cure' anxiety, only relieve symptoms. It does however give us a respite so that reason can come into the picture.

 

[Missy]

I often wonder why it is so difficult to understand the normality of anxiety. Now to anyone not familiar with this awful problem it may seem difficult to understand what happens. We first of all have to understand that anxiety is always fear based. It has to be. If we were not fearful there would be no anxiety. Obvious? Of course it is. What is fear? It is a reaction to some event that tells us we are in danger and that appropriate action is needed to remove the danger. Now we have a choice, as did our ancient ancestors, either to run or fight. In modern society neither is possible, so we internalize the fear. Fear is not something to be feared. It is a friend that prevents us from getting into dangerous sanitations. Anxiety is an outward manifestation of fear within. The conflict in the mind. 'The conflict is caused by our mind tugging both ways. We know it's all an illusion, that's one side of the mind, but the other side, the 'What if' side, tugs the other way.
Bodily sensations in anxiety are perfectly normal in the circumstances. The body has a built in reaction to danger. Immediately we have fear certain responses come into play. The fight or flight mechanism begins. Our ancient ancestors, when confronted by a big hairy Mammoth, would have been fools to try and fight so they ran. Now to run the body needs energy, and that energy can be obtained in various ways. We go to the toilet to lighten the load, we begin to pant to give us more oxygen to run faster, we panic, look around for ways out that will make us safe. We may become confused and agitated wondering what might happen. Familiar? Those are all anxiety symptoms but normal in the presence of fear. Once the danger was passed our caveman ancestors would go about their business normally. They may well remember the incident, but don't hang on to the memory of fear as anxiety sufferers do. Fear can be frightening. Mankind has never been able to cope with the unknown. Apprehension, anticipation all add to the problem. But they are still the symptoms of fear.
It may be that most are fed up with hearing some of us who keep pushing acceptance as a good therapy. But it can't be emphasised enough that to accept is to realise that what we have is always fear based. Logic and reason get lost in an anxious mind. Like running away from danger we tend not to face our problem head on and to realise the normality of what is happening. By facing and accepting 'IT' as something that can be overcome, reason may begin to enter the picture. No fighting, battling or struggling with something that is perfectly normal in the circumstances we make for it to flourish. We do you know, we are our own worst enemy. Do nothing other than accept. Now this may sound a tall order and it can be. But it does depend on the will and how much we really want to be rid of anxiety. Allow time to pass with as much patience as you can muster. Try not to be impatient with time. Age, gender have little to do with recovery
I have seen many with chronic anxiety for many years recover by acceptance. 'Action in no action' as Buddhists say. By doing nothing other than acceptance, you are doing everything possible.

Very well stated. Anxiety is always about the future! The "what ifs". Acceptance and staying in the present moment are the keys.

 

[bigjetplane23]

I feel like the longer you go without getting anxiety treated, the worse it gets. And you fall into a hole that you can’t come out of.

 

[Jonathan123]

I feel like the longer you go without getting anxiety treated, the worse it gets. And you fall into a hole that you can’t come out of.

That is so true. The old saying comes to mind. 'When in a hole stop digging'! But we don't do we? We add fear to fear and so the hole gets deeper.
Now remarks like 'snap out of it' or 'pull yourself together' are just what we would like to do but can't. Anyone who makes such remarks are just plain ignorant about what anxiety can do. It is so often difficult for a family member however close to understand what GAD is like, and it has often caused partnership breakups or worse. If we have an understanding partner or parents or siblings' we are very lucky. Another of our mistakes is to talk to anyone about how we feel. I used to do that and I noted the look of astonishment that came over the faces of some people. They had no idea what I was on about. Be sure to only talk to those who will understand or have been there.