Author: MyAnxietyandYours

Post #12: The Benefits of Regular Exercise in Anxiety

It is extremely difficult to convince someone who is suffering from anxiety and panic attacks to exercise. Hell, the word exercise itself can trigger a panic attack. This was me! I got tensed up and panic just by thinking about going to the gym.

Millions of what-if questions popped in my head; “what if my blood pressure rises too high, what if my heart can’t handle it, what if I get dizzy and pass out, what if people see me having a panic attack? These questions act as a wall which blocks me from ever going to the gym or even engaging in any heavy physical activities. I basically lost faith in my own physical ability.

Even when I gathered enough drive and determination to start exercising, I was tip toeing into it. I would watch my breathing and count my pulse. I would check my face in the mirror to see if I still look “normal”. I constantly “self-check” every part of my body to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary during every exercise.

This body scanning behavior added more stress and tension into my already stressed and tensed body so every twitch or soreness from exercising would send me running back to my safe space. I failed to realized that it’s only natural for my heart rate to rise and my breathing to be labored during working out.

I remember stepping off the treadmill and my walking seems weird, I felt as I was walking on a boat. This feeling is normal for everyone but to me I thought I was having a neurological issue. I panicked and rushed out to my car. I didn’t return to the gym for almost 2 years after that incident.

I work out 3 times a week now and I am in the best shape of my life. What helped me was the combination of the ACER Method and the 1-Minute Method. I gave up the fear of what could happen to me from exercising. I was willing to accept and embrace whatever sensation and symptom I would feel when exercising. But of course, I didn’t go in blasting. I didn’t run full speed on the treadmill and lift the heaviest weight I could find. I eased myself in very slowly.

Even though the 1-Minute Method was designed to overcome panic attacks, I utilize its approach and ideas to overcome my fear of exercising. Minute by minute, I extended my time at the gym and eventually was able to stay for hours.

Every time my body felt a sensation or a scary thought popped up, I set a timer and stay where I was and continued doing what I was doing for 1 minute. After one minute, I decided to either go home or push myself for another 60 seconds. One minute became two, two became three and before I know it, I was comfortable staying around as long as I would before my anxiety.

This is when my recovery from anxiety excels. Exercising strengthened my physical and mental health. It burned off the excess adrenaline in my system; therefore, I had less and less symptoms. I slept better, I ate better. I became stronger and more active. My focus was shifted away from constantly monitoring my body. My confidence soared because I was able to convinced myself that I’m healthy and there was nothing wrong with my heart or my health as my anxiety had bluffed me into believing.

As hard as it might seem, exercising is a great way to help you recover from your anxiety and panic attacks. It increases your metabolism, confidence and strength. Don’t go into aggressively and don’t expect immediate results. Be patient and use the correct approach. Look at it as a recovery journey, not a quick fix band aid.  

Post #11: Give your anxiety time and patience

When it comes to anxiety and its symptoms, we all want them to go away as fast as possible. We would pay any money to be free of them. We ask everyone and anyone who had anxiety in the past to seek for a magic advice that we can use to feel better right away. We search the internet for that one pill or one program that would help us to function normally again, quickly. We would hunt for the reassurance from people or the internet for that quick relief. The one thing nearly all of us DO NOT want to do is to WAIT.

But in reality, all we have to do is NOTHING and be PATIENT. Unfortunately, as human, we naturally do the complete opposite. We try to do EVERYTHING we can, and we want the result RIGHT NOW. We would follow advice that people give us to the T, but what we do wrong is that right after implementing the advice, we start scanning our body to see if the symptom has gotten better or if it’s gone yet. And by scanning and checking, with the symptom being present still, we expose ourselves to disappointment and dissatisfaction. Not finding immediate results adds more stress and tension. Anxiety consumes additional stress and becomes stronger. Stronger anxiety produces stronger and more frequent symptoms. We then declare that the advice you were given is not working.

I want you to compare your symptom to a broken bone.

Imagine you are walking into your doctor office and ask him to heal your bone right away. You ask your doctor to give you a “trick”, a “tip” or an “advice” that you can implement so that your broken bone can heal tomorrow. He would look at you like you’re crazy, wouldn’t he? But you would never ask him those kinds of questions because you know it takes time for the broken to heal. You would put up with all the pain and discomfort that the broken bone gives you. You would accept the limitations that it puts on your life. You put up absolutely no fight and no pressure with your broken bone. You patiently wait for it to heal with full acceptance.

Why can’t you give your anxiety the same understanding and acceptance? Your nerves need as much time to desensitize as a broken bone needs to heal. The process of burning off adrenaline and nerves desensitizing take time and it can never happen if you keep adding stress and extra adrenaline on to it.

I often get asked by the people who I’ve coached these questions:

“I have accepted my anxiety; how come I still have symptoms”

Answer: Symptoms will be around for a while as your body burns off adrenaline and your nerves desensitize. So, eventually your symptoms will get less intense and less frequent, WITH ONE CONDITION that you don’t add more stress into it by stressing and being impatient.

Live with your symptoms as how you would live with a broken bone. Be gentle and patient with it. Trust that pain and discomfort are part of the healing process. Accept that everyone heals differently so if you have symptoms that others didn’t have or if you have a symptom that you didn’t have before, just blend in with them and do not fight them. Your anxiety is like a raging fire, but all fires eventually burn out. Wanting to feel great right away, seeking for reassurance, expecting results and struggling with symptoms will only add more fuel into that burning fire.

You can’t walk normal with a cast on your leg. You can’t participate in life fully with a broken leg. You will though once it’s healed. Same with anxiety and its symptoms. Let them be there, live with them and accept that your life could be temporary limited a little bit. But once your mind and nerves are healed, sky will be the limit.

Post #10: How to overcome Agoraphobia-fear of the outside

This condition affects millions of people around the world. It is especially common among anxiety and panic attacks sufferers. This post will break down the cause of agoraphobia, what are the common symptoms and how to overcome it to gain your freedom back.

Since anxiety and panic attacks can produce so many intense and scary symptoms and sensations, people will find ways to avoid situations and triggers that bring on those symptoms. Have a panic attack at a restaurant – stop going to the that restaurant. Have panic attacks at work – searching for jobs that you can work from home. Can’t concentrate at school and hyperventilate in class – drop out of school. Got dizzy at a movie theater – stop going to the movie. Heart palpitation at a supermarket – no more supermarket. Chest tightness and muscle shaking at the stores – online shopping from then on. Difficult breathing while gardening – quit gardening. Vision went blur at the front porch – no longer going out to the front porch.

Your world gets smaller and smaller until it is as big as your house. You cut off contact with the outside world and see it as a dangerous and hostile place. I myself suffered this condition for almost 2 years. I remember sitting in my bedroom and watch my nephew playing in the backyard and wish I could just step out and play with him for a little bit. I turned down invitation to visit my sister’s house for Christmas and ended up being the only one left behind while my entire family went to celebrate one of my favorite holidays without me. I hated my life; I hated the way I feel.

Now that I’m fully recovered and have been travelled anywhere and everywhere my heart desires to, I understand that it wasn’t the outside that I was afraid of, it wasn’t the stores, the classrooms or the jobs, it was in fact the physical sensations and symptoms in those settings that I was trying to avoid.

I wasn’t afraid that the building might collapse over me, or the earth would open up and swallow me. I was just afraid of the intense and overwhelming sensation anxiety can produce while I’m outside of my house. I avoided causing a scene or losing control of myself.

I did try to concur my fear and overcome this condition, but I was not strong enough to overcome my what-if thinking. My own thoughts were stronger than my will. Until the day I read Dr. Claire Weekes book “Hope and help for your nerves” . And “The Anxious Truth” by Drew Linsalata. I learned to expose myself to my fear and gain trust to my own self.

But it wasn’t easy at all. My body was still in fighting mode, and I was not seeing any result. That’s when I decided to combine all the knowledge I learn and create the A.C.E.R. Method. This method put you in a different perspective about anxiety. It teaches you how to run toward your issues instead of away from them. It helps you to realize that nothing is wrong with you physically and mentally. You are just sensitized, and your body is just doing what it’s supposed to do in a sensitized mode.

But how do you take the actual steps to concur your agoraphobia? This is when the One-Minute Method shines. This method is easy to follow as it uses the “baby steps” approach. It doesn’t give you confidence, it helps you grow it. Minute by minute, you start to retrain your subconscious mind to a different set of behavior. You can read these methods at your own time for better understanding.

Now, let’s get you out of the house!

Now that you have read the One-Minute and A.C.E.R. Method, let’s take your first step outside of the house. Don’t overthink it. Don’t start scanning your body for symptoms and sensations. If you recognize your what-if thoughts start to appear, let them be, let them come, watch them fly right pass you as Autumm leaves drifting in the wind. Don’t believe those thoughts. You are going out regardless of how you feel.

Getting close to the front door and your heart starts to race isn’t it. It’s fine, let it race. Be numb, be senseless for a moment. Take your first step out. Have a timer or a phone and set a timer for 60 seconds as soon as you feel panic is approaching. Take a deep breath and let those sensations consume you as you press start on your timer. One minute, just one minute, you will continue with your walk and your activity, doesn’t matter how much your mind tries to convince you to turn around, keep going just for one minute! The road might seem like it’s moving, your body is freezing up, your breathing speeds up, your vision is discombobulated, but you will hang on and push though, just for one minute.

Now what?

Beside feeling overwhelmed with fear and tension, you’re still safe after 1 minute, aren’t you? If you haven’t been out for a very long time and this seems to be a little too much for you, it’s alright you can return home. But do return home knowing that you were 1 minute stronger than you were yesterday, knowing that you made your first effort in gaining back your life. You spent 1 minute longer outside than you did yesterday.

But if after one minute you decide to take another step and go on for another minute, please do so. But don’t push yourself too hard, don’t let this approach be something that you are afraid of doing. Maybe 3 minutes today and 5 minutes tomorrow. Minutes added on top of minutes, one day you’ll realize you have been out for hours. But do me a favor, switch up the sceneries as often as you can. Take a different route every time, go to a different store every time; let your brain learns that you can tackle any situation and in any setting.

I once practiced this in a movie theater. I loved going to the movies before my anxiety days. So not being able to catch a hot new coming movie killed me. As soon as I decided to face my agoraphobia head on, going to the theater was my first attempt.

I chose the slowest time and day of the week where there aren’t many people at the theater. I sat down in the auditorium; the loud noise and bright screen triggered my attack. But instead of walking out and rushing home like I would normally do, I set my timer for one minute and hang on in my seat until the timer went off. I tried again and again until it didn’t feel too bad anymore. I looked down to my phone and I reset the timer for 22 times. I sat through almost 1/8th of a movie!

Things got much easier after that and shortly after I was able to watch the entire movie. My body was still tense and full of symptoms and sensations, but I was able to finish what I set out to finish. My confidence spread over my fear. I started taking on other aspects of like, not just entertainment. I overcame the fear of shopping, going to school, getting a job, hanging out with friends and being involved more with my families. All were done by the same approach, One minute at a time.

Post #9: The After Effect of a Panic Attack

The feeling after having a panic attack

We often hear people talk about panic attacks, their causes and their symptoms. There are many methods and discussion about how to manage and cure panic attacks. But today, we will talk about a new topic that many of us suffer from and that is the after effect of a panic attack.

I had more panics than I can remember. During my 10 years dealing with anxiety, I’m confident to say that it’s not an exaggeration to say the number of panic attacks that I had is in the thousands. I had all kind of panic attacks, long ones, short ones, ones that came out of nowhere, simultaneous ones and ones that sent me to the ER.

Though each attack came with different symptoms, sensations and intensity but they all had one thing in common which is leaving me drown in fear and exhaustion. I remember just wanting to go back to my bed and lay there for hours after a panic attack. Unfortunately, many of my attacks happened during the day so I had to continue carry on with my daily tasks, tired and beat.

I know it has passed but I still can’t resume back to normal

There were times when I knew it was a panic attack, I could tell that it has passed, but I was still struggling to resume back to my normal state. My head was heavy, my mind was cloudy, my body was exhausted. My eyes would be so dry and heavy I just wanted to crash into sleep. Each attack left me with a feeling as I just fought a tiger and ran a marathon at the same time. The lingering sensations and tension would stick with me for hours and sometime days.

I didn’t have enough knowledge about anxiety and panic attacks back then, so I put up more and more fights with my body to hopefully put it back in its normal state. Little did I know, by doing so, I added more stress on my already beat up mind and body and prolong the aftereffects of anxiety and panic attacks.

I’m fully recovered now and have not had any panic attack for almost 5 years. One valuable thing I learned is that nothing can be done about your feeling after a panic attack. You just have to accept it and let it be, regardless of how horrible they are. By doing so you might not make yourself feel better right at that moment, but the benefit will be harvested for you in the future.

Reducing the amount of tension and stress from trying to get better or trying to return to normal after a panic attack actually will assist your mind and body to return to normal quicker. I know it might not make sense to you at this moment but if you give it a shot and stay consistent with it, this approach will work as it has worked for so many people.

Each time you train your mind and body not to react, struggle and worry about the aftereffects of a panic attack, their intensity and duration will lessen and one day you will notice how quickly you can bounce back from them. I remember having a panic attack and within 5 minutes I was back to doing what I was doing and not having to deal with the lingering sensations.

This approach takes time to work. Don’t expect an immediate result as some medications can provide you. I’m not a doctor so I can’t really comment on medications. But my personal point of view is that they are just band aids for your issues. I myself got results from medications but the side effects were too much for me, plus I personally didn’t want to depend on anything externally. I wanted a natural and permanent approach.

This approach is coached and taught by Dr. Claire Weekes. She has helped millions of people got their life back from anxiety and panic attacks and I’m grateful to be one of them. All you need is some determination, courage and the will to win back what anxiety and panic attacks have taken away from you.

Next time you have a panic attack, try to accept every symptom and sensation that comes after it. Embrace them, don’t fight them, don’t try to feel better. Just let it be and carry on. It’s not easy but it can be done. And you can do it!

Post #8: How to deal with Anxiety Symptoms

As we all know, anxiety can cause a lot of mental, physical and emotional symptoms. You can find the most common symptoms here.

But the question is how do we deal with the symptoms? What do we need to do to feel better? The answer is -nothing- I know it’s easy to say and it might not make any sense at this moment to you, but with 10 years of experience dealing with anxiety and seeing many people recovered, I can assure you that it’s the best approach to combat anxiety symptoms. Let me explain.

Assuming that you have been given a clean bill of health from your doctors and are told that you have anxiety. Then whatever the symptom that you are experiencing is caused by sensitized nerves. Your headache is not a brain tumor, it’s the upper back, neck and scalp muscles tension that lead to pain and discomfort. Your heart palpitations, chest pain and discomfort are not a result of a heart disease, it comes from excessive adrenaline and tight muscles around your chest area. No, you don’t have MS, your muscles are trembling from excessive adrenaline. I can go on until the cows come home with all the possible symptoms sensitized nerves can cause.

Most of us with anxiety are afraid of the way we feel. And no other system in our body holds more responsibility for feeling than our nervous system. Unfortunately, this system is the one getting hit the hardest with anxiety. Adrenaline activates and sensitizes our nervous system to prepare us for battles. Our nervous system then responses by tensing up our muscles, redirect our blood to our vital organs and pull it away from the non-vital ones. Our heart rate and breathing speed up, digestion slows down, pupils are dilated and a whole lot of other changes in our body during the sensitized mode.

In normal circumstances when the dangers are handled or avoided, we return to safety, our nerves start to desensitize, our body then returns to the calm state. But with anxiety disorder, there’s a “leakage” of adrenaline. A constant present of adrenaline continue to heighten and sensitize our nerves all day long. Days after days, weeks after weeks, our overly sensitized nervous system will find a way to burn off this excess adrenaline. Paul David in his book calls this a “release of anxious energy”. And this releasing mechanism is felt in every part of our body and mind, hence our symptoms.

Symptoms caused by anxiety don’t come from specific health issues, they only mimic those issues. That’s why they are endless! You go from fighting one symptom to the next. Feeling excited to be free of one symptom and 5 others are lining up waiting for their turn. Weeks, months and even years go by and you’re still fighting with symptoms.

So, what do we need to do?

We need to allow our nerves to desensitize. I have good news for you, our body can do it all by itself – all I’m asking is for you to allow it to happen. Anxiety sufferers often don’t believe that the “things” they’re experiencing are caused by anxiety. They make great effort to find answers by Googling their symptoms, asking for reassurance, relying on WebMD and other medical websites. The more they look, the more scared they become. They scan their body to see if the symptom is still there and will do everything possible to get rid of it. They believe that “if I can get over this one symptom and I will be free of anxiety”, or “I just need to go get tested to make sure this symptom is nothing serious and I will be happy again”, only to find themselves drown in other symptoms later.

By struggling with an illness that is not there, by fighting to get better, anxiety sufferers continue to add stress onto their already tired and sensitized nerves, keep them more and more sensitized. They don’t understand that they are pouring fuel into the fire which they’re trying to put out. Your fire (symptoms) will eventually burn out by itself with time, but you have to stop adding fuel (stress) into it.

Apply A.C.E.R. Method to fully accept and give up the fight with your symptoms. Do nothing to get better. Accept them, feel every bit of them, fall right into them, surrender to them and do absolutely nothing to get rid of them. This will not help with your symptoms; they will still be there for some time to come. But by cutting off the fuel line, your symptoms will subside like a fire is burning out.

This is only my personal opinion since I’m not a doctor. Medications can act like a fire distinguisher and quickly put out your fire but if the fuel line is still leaking, your fire will ignite again at a much higher intensity. This is why many anxiety sufferers experience relapse with stronger and much worse symptoms when stopping their medications. Medications might be helpful for some people, but not for me. I tried them and couldn’t handle the side effects, so I decided to approach it the natural way with A.C.E.R. and I’m glad I did. I’m symptoms free and am living the best life. You can too.

Post #7: Dealing with anxiety in the morning

Morning seems to be the time when anxiety is at the highest level for most anxiety sufferers. Waking up with a stomach full of knots and heavy sensations was a daily thing for me. The palpitation, the tingling and hot sensation could be so strong that I sometime felt nauseous upon waking. It’s the same feeling as if you are about to step out and give a speech in front of 10 thousand people. But you’re just waking up and lying in your bed.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, our cortisol level is at its peak in the morning. Our sensitized nerves, when flooded with cortisol, will produce symptoms and sensations throughout our body. To make matter worse, as anxiety sufferers, we focus on every single sensation and emphasize it.

You might ask, then how come “normal” people don’t feel those symptoms? Well, there are two answers for that. First, their nerves are not at the sensitized state like our nerves are. Second, they don’t have the body scanning habit like we do.

I remember waking up in the morning, and the first thing I do is to scan my entire body to see if the existing symptom is still there or if there is any new symptom that just come up. I would lean my body from left to right to see if I was dizzy, or I would stand in front of the mirror checking to see if there is any new rash or mole that I didn’t know of.

If the symptom was there, I would feel so discouraged and carry on my day with a heavy heart. My spirit would tumble, and my energy level would drop to a lowest level and stay there for the rest of the day. I would go through the day like a zombie, stressed, tensed and an overall feeling of dread. I would zone into my chest area and listen in to my heart rhythm all day long. If palpitation didn’t come upon waking in the morning, it will come during the day because of how much attention and stress I put on it.

According to Dr. Claire Weekes in her book Hope and Help for Your Nerves, the best way to deal with morning anxiety is to get up and out of bed right away upon waking, regardless of how you might feel. This helps burning away as much of the initial cortisol as possible.

Take a shower, go for a walk, make a cup of coffee, let the dog out, involve into as many activities as you can. Activate all 5 of your senses and pull them away from symptom searching and scanning. If symptoms persist, use A.C.E.R. to combat them. But never lay back down and give in to your anxiety symptoms. Do it even if your anxiety is screaming “you can’t” to you.

Your mornings might not feel good for some time to come as your mind and body are getting used to your new routine. Your subconscious mind will need some time to be retrained. Stick with these methods and the suffering from morning anxiety will subside. You will feel energetic, refreshed and ready to take on the day again.

Post #6: Panic Attacks at Night – During Sleep

During my anxiety days, I remember getting jolted up in the middle of the night with my heart jumping out of my chest, my hands and feet trembling and ice cold. Tingling sensation flows through my body like waves of electricity. Alarmed and confused, I would wake my family up or call my girlfriend to find rescue. There were times I asked to be taken to the ER because I was certain that something was wrong with me medically.

Tests after tests, they couldn’t find anything wrong with me. They would send me home with some medications to calm me down. The reassurance from the hospitals gave me a short-lived comfort which help me sleep once I got home. But the following nights, the palpitation would happen again. I realized that I can’t just keep going to the ER every night as the mean to find comfort. They would refuse seeing me and I won’t be able to afford the medical bills anyway.

Disheartened and lost, I tried to monitor my body every night to prepare for the attacks. And by anticipation and apprehension, I added more tension and stress on my already tired mind and body. This added stress prevented me to sleep and when my body was so exhausted, I would drift into sleep for a little bit until another attack strikes. It was like my panic attacks tried to ambush me and wait for the perfect moment to pop its head up.

I wanted to sleep but then was afraid to do so. It was a vicious cycle that tormented me for a couple years during my anxiety days. Until the day I realized that the fight I put up was the reason why my nightly attacks kept on happening.

Practice something long enough and you will do it subconsciously

Once we practice something often enough, it will be saved in our subconscious mind. For example, we practice driving consciously until we drive often enough that driving becomes a subconscious behavior. Another example is typing, walking…etc. These are learned subconscious behaviors. Our body also possesses many innate subconscious actions such as breathing, swallowing saliva, blinking…etc.

One thing about the subconscious mind is that it does not sleep. That’s why our heart continues to beat, our lungs continue to breathe while we’re sleeping. Unfortunately for anxiety and panic attack sufferers, our subconscious mind learned the false danger for so long, it sends out wrong signal to our organs to fight the danger at the wrong time including during our sleep. And by being afraid of it and trying to fight it, we falsely confirm with our subconscious mind that nighttime is when the “danger” happens. Our mind will of course continue to perceive nighttime as a time to fight.

Nighttime panic attacks are especially terrifying because they happen when the world is asleep, no one is around or awake to accompany us. Nighttime is the most silent and the darkest time of the day. The lack of movement and noise at nighttime makes our heartbeat seem stronger and louder. This is why most anxiety and panic attacks sufferers perceive nighttime panic attacks to be stronger than the daytime ones.

The one effective way to stop having panic attacks during nighttime is to retrain your subconscious mind. This doesn’t mean erasing what it already has learned, that’s nearly impossible to do. This means training it to learn a new pathway, a new way to response to false signals. This is where A.C.E.R. shines. It teaches you not to react to your panic attacks. I know this is extremely difficult, but it works. Panic attacks will happen less often and with much less intensity. It’s like watching a fire burns out on its own.

Accept, Challenge, Embrace and Repeat

If you wake up in the middle of the night with a panic attack:

Accept that it’s normal and it’s a false signal from your fear center in the brain. Your subconscious mind is reacting to false danger. Your heart will beat like a drum, you might feel shortness of breath and many more sensations. But you have to trust that you are safe, and you have to wait this game out. Adrenaline will burn off and your body will slowly return to the normal state. And most importantly, don’t use acceptance as the mean to feel better. Trust me, you won’t. You will still feel the full impact of a panic attack. The difference this time is that you accept whatever is being thrown at you.

Challenge your panic attacks to speed up the adrenaline burning process. Ask it to get worse. Push your anxiety to its limit. I used to look at my chest and tell me heart: “come on, faster! beat harder!”. If my hands started to get crampy, I would lay still on my bed and tell me hands: “do it! whatever you are trying to do, do it!” If you are checked out by your doctor then trust me, it won’t get any worse. It will actually lose its steam and slow down.

Embrace your panic attacks. I know it sounds silly but once you are able to sit with your panic attacks and embrace it, I guarantee you your attacks will never return. Panic attacks are triggered by fear. And by embracing them, you diffuse the only thing they feed on.

Repeat all these steps night after night, as many nights as you have to. One day you will go through a whole night waiting for panic attacks to arrive and none will show up. Your patience, your determination and courage will pay off. I assure you.

Post #5: The what-if thinking in anxiety.

How to Deal with Anxiety and what if thinking

As human, we naturally seek for answers about our issues so we can correct them. Once corrected, the issues will either become better or go away. We return to normal life, until another issue arises.

But when it comes to anxiety, there’s no answer. Well, there is, just not the one we’re satisfied with. And this is when what-if thinking is born.

Your heart pounds like a drum and your cardiologist insists that it’s a healthy heart. Your throat tightens up like there is something growing in there, but your doctor ensures you it’s perfectly clear and normal. You feel unstable, dizzy and off balance all the time, but your bloodwork came back perfect, so your doctors tell you just to relax.

You can’t eat; every time you eat, you feel nauseous. Your heart palpitation gets worse after eating. You have stomach pain, pain under your ribs, around your back. You feel weak, cold and hot. But your gastrointestinal specialist doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with you. You feel like there’s something in your head that causes your headache, or maybe your brain is messed up that’s why you can’t focus or think straight sometime. But your neurologist doesn’t think so. I can go on forever with all the symptoms that you can’t find answer for.

So, what it is? What causes you to feel this way? Every medical professional you can find has already given up on you. So, WHAT-IF it’s something even the doctors don’t know. What if you have a disease that science hasn’t discovered yet, it happens all the time right? The answer is Anxiety. But at this stage, you refuse to believe it.

The what if thinking starts to grow beyond your body. It spreads into your daily life. What if people see me having a panic attack at the restaurant? I guess I just won’t eat out anymore. What if I faint in the store? I’ll just order stuff online. What if my co-workers argue with me and cause me to have a panic attack? I’ll just work from home. What if I have to answer a question in class while my heart palpitation is at its peak? I’ll just take online classes. What if people in church see me shaking? I’ll just pray at home.

What if, what if and what if. Your world becomes smaller and smaller until its horizon becomes your front door. At this point, alone in this fight, your depression sets in. Your what ifs are now about your life as a whole. What if I die? What if I leave my family behind? What if I end up in the mental institution? What if I never get better? The more you ask the deeper you sink into the invisible hole.

The answer is simpler than we believe

Little did we know, anxiety can cause so many, terrifying but harmless, physical and mental symptoms. But there are so little time, effort and resources are being spent on mental health. Kids growing up knowing what a heart attack looks like. They know what cholesterol is. They are taught about safe sex and healthy diet. But no one teaches them about what anxiety can cause. They have no idea what a panic attack is. Depression is perceived as being crazy.

The lack of information and preparation is the main cause for what if thinking when it comes to anxiety. I was there, I lost 10 years of my life to anxiety and many of those years to what if thinking. Now whenever anxiety hits me, I know what to expect so it no longer has any grip on me.

You can never have all the answers for all the what if questions! Life is full of uncertainties. Don’t worry about what’s not there. I’m not saying your symptoms are not there, oh trust me they are, they are very scary too. But what’s not there is the catastrophic scenario your anxiety is tricking you into believing. Just think of your anxiety as a broken bone. Put up with it until it heals. A broken bone is like anxiety, it comes without warning, it hurts, it limits your life. But they both will heal with time, if we let it!

If you practice the A.C.E.R. Method and follow this site, you will be able to strengthen your trust about your recovery. What if thinking will no longer be the barricade between you and your happy life.

Post #4: The word “Feel” doesn’t matter in Anxiety Recovery

This post will help you stay on track on your recovery, assuming that you have read the A.C.E.R. Method and have been implementing it. Also, you should read through the symptoms section to have a necessary understanding about them.

The phrase “feel like” is the reason why you are stuck in fear and still are struggling with your recovery. I have talked and coached many people with anxiety and panic attacks, and I have heard 99% of them describing their issues with the phrase “feel like”.

What it feels like doesn’t matter

I feel like I’m going to pass out. (There might be some out there but I myself have never seen anyone pass out from anxiety)

I feel like I’m going to fall. (But did you fall?)

I feel like my head is going to explode. (Your head is still intact right?)

I feel like my legs are going to give out. (Your legs still work don’t they?)

I feel like I’m going to go crazy. (There’s a saying “if you think you’re going crazy, you are mostly likely not”)

I feel like I can’t breathe. (Trust me, your body will breathe)

I feel like I’m going have a seizure. (Seizure can be diagnosed by your doctors. It doesn’t happen just because your anxiety makes you feel that way)

I feel like I’m choking and can’t swallow (your throat muscle is tight from anxiety, but you aren’t going to choke and trust me you still can swallow)

Guys, I’m not saying what you feel aren’t scary. I’ve been there, I rushed myself to the ER many times because of what it “feels like”. Your symptoms are caused by anxiety and the “feel like” thoughts are caused by fear, and by what-if thinking. And the combination of symptoms and the feel-like interpretation is what keep you in the anxiety loop. Remember symptoms by themselves cannot cause panic attacks. The apprehension that comes with the symptoms is what causes us to panic. It what stops us from recovery.

Let’s say you have a weird feeling or a pain in your chest. Trust me “normal” people have that sensation here and there. So that feeling in your chest isn’t something unique or special to you. UNTIL your anxiety starts whispering in your ears: “hey, remember what you found on Google the other day? This feels like a heart attack, doesn’t it?”. Your response to your anxiety at this point will either keep you on your recovery path or throw you off track again.

I am the captain now

Use A.C.E.R. to have a proper response to your anxious mind

Accept: “No, this is anxiety. Anxiety can cause this. I’m not doing this again. I’m not being bluffed again.”

Challenge: “Oh, so you want me to believe that it’s a heart attack. Give me one then! Come on!”

Embrace: “I know you want to alarm me to protect me, but you’re actually making my condition worse. Thank you but I can take it from here.”

Repeat: If your anxiety persists and forces you into panic thinking, repeat the above 3 steps and you will win the battle. Time is the key element for this battle. If you can hold out long enough, your anxiety will subside as adrenaline burns off. Clarity and calm will return to you. You will feel amazing knowing that you finally take the driver seat, instead of being driven by the way you feel.

Post #3: Hypochondria/ Health Anxiety

Understanding and overcoming Hypochondria / Health Anxiety

Nothing is more important than our health. No amount of money can buy it. There are famous, powerful and ultra-wealthy people who have fallen to the grip of diseases and illnesses. And they would trade it all for a well and balance health again.

We are all alarmed and triggered when there’s something that has the potential of threatening our health. We recognize a sign of abnormality and search for answer so we can correct it. Once it is corrected, the symptoms subside, and we return to our normal life.

Unfortunately for anxiety and panic attack sufferers, this becomes a cycle of hell that consumes and sometime ruin their life. Since anxiety can cause so many mental and physical symptoms. Their victims constantly experience one symptom after another, from one part of the body to the next.

Physical symptoms experienced by anxiety sufferers are REAL! It’s not “just in our head”. I myself experienced hundreds if not thousands of them. There was no one who could convince me at the time that it was because of sensitized nerves, that it was all because of anxiety. Until I found Dr. Claire Weekes book “Hope and Helps for your Nerves”.

That sounds like me!

I spent most of my days googling what a symptom that I had would indicate. And, of course, I found diseases that match with my symptom perfectly. Now, in my mind, I had that disease, and no one could tell me otherwise. I would go to my doctor and do whatever necessary to get a scan or test done to confirm my new-found problem.

The result came back, everything was normal. A big sigh of relief, I would laugh at myself for being so silly. A boost of energy rush through my body. Confidence returned to me, and I felt like a new person. The test confirmed that I’m healthy so I would go on and live a normal life now. Anxiety is no more. Right? NO!

A couple days later, I would feel a twitch, a pain, a numbness at a different part of my body. Or I would feel dizzy, nauseous, hot cold or both at the same time, and many more sensations that you can think of. Or even if I heard people discussing about an illness or disease that they or someone else had. I would freak out and back on the internet I go.

The previous one wasn’t correct; this is the real one!

And magically, whatever the description that Google has about that disease is what I started to feel exactly. My body somehow managed to produce the exact symptoms and sensations that Dr. Google would suggest. Now all my confidence is gone. Anxiety got a hold of me once again.

The more I stressed about my body, the more stress hormone was released into my system which further sensitized my nerves. Highly activated and sensitized nerves intensify every little feeling I had about this new “disease”. I didn’t know anything about anxiety at that time, so I had no choice but to call my doctor and beg for another test.

Another test, another medical bill, another normal result which game me another short-lived happiness. Until the vicious cycle starts again. This went on for years. It was exhausting and overwhelming. I did consider ending it all but didn’t have the strength to do it.

The breakthrough

At the point where everything seems so gloomy. When life was covered by a blanket of disappointment, exhaustion, hopelessness and an impending doom, I found hope. I realized that it wasn’t the symptoms that I was struggling with. It was my interpretation of the symptoms that keeps me in the living hell.

I realized that I had to switch my mindset about the way I feel. First, I have to truly accept my anxiety, and everything that comes with it. I had to break my habit of googling for answers. I had to stop asking people for reassurance. I had to quit my addiction of finding short-term comfort.

IT WAS SO HARD at first, but with commitment, discipline and a massive determination to gain my life back, I was able to break the cycle. I fell off the wagon a few times, I gave into my addiction and hop on my laptop looking for explanation and reassurance and got pulled back into the health anxiety hole.

Trust me, I understand how scary anxiety symptoms and sensations can be. It is easier said than done when you feel like your life is at risk. But if you read Dr. Weekes book, you’ll learn that anxiety is nervous condition. It has everything to do with your nerves. Our body has nerves endings connected to every part and organ. So, when nerves are sensitized due to months and years of excessive stress and tension, they will create symptoms to whichever part or organ they connect to.

And since our brain never really sleeps, some people experience symptoms even while they’re asleep. You don’t feel pain when you cut your hair and nails because there are no nerve endings there, that’s why we barely ever hear people complain about symptoms related to their hairs or nails. Most symptoms are around the head, heart, eyes, belly areas where nerves endings are found the most. Knowing this makes anxiety symptoms seem much less scary and easier to accept.

Think about this situation. You have a headache, and your doctor gives you 2 answers:

1- “It seems to be allergy related, nothing important” or

2- “It seems to be related to your brain function; we’ll keep an eye on it”

Same headache, but the second answer would send you into panic and misery right away. You would focus on the headache and feel it intensifying by the day. But if your doctor gives you the first answer, you wouldn’t pay much attention to it, and it probably goes away without you even knowing it.

You see, as hypochondriacs, we give ourselves the second answer all the time. It’s never been the symptoms that torment us; it’s the fear that we create about the symptoms.

So, to cure hypochondria, finding answers for every problem is not the way, even if you have your entire body scanned by the best medical equipment. Fear created by sensitized nerves will keep you in its prison. You have to practice shifting your interpretation about how you feel. Remove fear from the equation and your anxiety will starve and eventually dies. You will gain your life back. You will find yourself again.

Practice A.C.E.R. and read the post about reassurance seeking to strengthen your belief that anxiety will be defeated if you put in the work and the will.

Good luck to you