05-12-2017, 10:55 PM
I know that Anxiety is something that a lot of us deal with. One of the reasons that I like avatar sites, for example is because I have social anxiety that keeps me from really meeting and conversing with people that I meet at work or at school and the partial anonymity makes me feel safer. I assume that people in the real world probably think I'm either weird or rude and have come to accept this as part of my life. (My Resting Jerk Face probably doesn't help either)
I've noticed that general anxiety feels a lot different to me than when I'm having an actual anxiety attack. If I'm just feeling anxious, I might talk faster, apologize more, or move about in a hurry like I have so much to do, even if I don't. I usually end up cleaning like a maniac!
An attack is more like drowning. Sometimes it's so hard to catch my breath that it feels like an invisible hand is covering my mouth. My heart beats faster, and I can feel my abdominal muscles twitching, like my body is trying to make me curl into the fetal position to "protect me" or something.
I usually deal with this through meditation or intense focus on a task that I'm interested in (I've recently gotten into bookbinding, and sewing signatures together is actually quite relaxing). I have to talk myself down if there isn't anyone around that knows what my anxiety looks like, and it usually involves me repeating 'you're fine, you're fine' over and over in my head.
I know I'm not alone, so what does anxiety feel like to you? Do you take medication for it, or do you try to control it like I (probably shouldn't) do?
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