Anxiety

Anxiety is an emotion that affects us all in some way. For example, agoraphobia – the Anxiety of wide places – claustrophobia, acrophobia – Anxiety of heights or emetophobia – Anxiety of having to throw up.

Through our social environment – that is, how we grow up – we already get certain anxieties drummed in as a young person. These anxieties can continue to evolve over the course of life. Even to the extent that you cannot do certain things anymore, cannot leave the house, or just try to go through life as risk-free and carefully as possible. It can happen that we no longer exhaust our lives, but just wait and see. Why do I devote myself to Anxiety? Because Anxiety is a big part of my current life. Due to my accident a few years ago, I suffered a trauma many years later in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). But let’s start at the beginning. November 2016 I suddenly had from one day to the other severe pain in the lower back. I could barely sit, drive, do sports. Everything hurt terribly. My trauma at the time showed me that suddenly, from one day to the next, everything can be different. And through these thought patterns, an idea developed in my head, which finally manifested through a recurring thought: “I have cancer.”

Der Doktor orderte ein Röntgen und CT und siehe da, die Bandscheiben waren das Problem. Doch trotz all der Beweise und den vielen Doktorbesuchen, konnte ich den Gedanken nicht abschütteln, dass es nicht doch mehr sein könnte. Über viele Wochen hinweg lebte ich mit der Angst, eine tödliche Krankheit zu haben und bald sterben zu müssen. Erst nach einigen Monaten, als die Schmerzen nachließen, wurde auch die Angst kleiner. Dennoch war dieses Denkmuster, die ständige Sorge um die Gesundheit und diese bereits krankhafte Aufmerksamkeit von körperlichen Symptomen immer noch da. Mittels Therapie, Kognitive Verhaltenstherapie, Yoga und Stressreduktion konnte ich langsam diese Angst abschütteln.
Und erneut wurde mein Körper einer stressreichen Situation ausgesetzt und dieses Mal war es mein Magen, der schon immer sehr sensibel auf Stress reagierte. Ständige Bauchschmerzen, Blähbauch, Verstopfungen und Durchfall waren an der Tagesordnung. Und erneut war mein Kopf der Meinung die Antwort zu kennen: Krebs. Tests, Untersuchungen und viele Doktorbesuche später war die Diagnose zwar Reizdarm, aber ich musste meinen Kopf erst selbst davon überzeugen. Die Problematik dabei war folgende:

It can be seen that anxiety and the associated release of cortisol, adrenalin and other substances intensify physical symptoms and activate the so-called fight-or-flight response. This tries to avoid certain situations and completely bypass triggers. This provides a temporary relief of the symptoms, but in the long term, this behavior produces exactly the opposite effect. Just the realization that I myself was in this circle, took some time. But from that point on, I was able to begin to gain first tools for my fight against Anxiety. Certain methods, techniques, reducing stress and much more helped me immensely.

The Anxiety is part of me. And instead of letting Anxiety control me, I grow in Anxiety. She is my motivation to keep going and to get the most out of my motivation every day. Anxiety has not only shown me to be stronger than I thought, but also to question certain processes, things in life. Things that seem natural.

If you too are struggling with Anxietys, feel free to write or comment. And most of all, it is normal for the body to start reacting at some point. Chemical processes in the brain are responsible for this and if you recognize them, you can already mitigate certain reactions in advance.

Thanks for the time to read and I would appreciate feedback, especially since I have no idea how good or bad, I am doing.

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