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How it Feels to Have Anxiety and Depression

Written by enlightened solutions on . Posted in Anxiety Disorder, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Having to deal with two mental health disorders at the same time can be draining and challenging. You not only feel anxious during your daily routine, but you also feel sad on a daily basis as well. Huffington Post asked those struggling with anxiety and depression what it is like to gain a better understanding and know how serious it is to look for treatment for both disorders.

Constant Fight with Yourself

Having anxiety and depression can mean that one minute, you are experiencing racing thoughts and emotions only to experience nothingness the next minute. You may feel like two people are talking to you. Your anxious self is telling you that there is something wrong with you and to get help, but your depressed self is telling you not to make an effort to get help since you feel too numb to worry about it. With these two selves fighting with each other, no one is winning if you are constantly battling yourself on a daily basis.

Caring About Everything and Nothing

When you are trying to control your anxious self and your depressive self, you feel like you cannot get any peace within yourself. It feels hopeless to win. You are struggling with the battle to get yourself out of bed when your depression kicks in, but you are also battling with all of the worries that you have waiting for you that is keeping you up while in bed. While your depression is yelling at you that you are worthless and nothing matters, your anxiety is telling you that you are not keeping up with your responsibilities or that something bad will happen to you.

Physical Symptoms

Anxiety and depression both come with their own physical symptoms. Sleep works differently with both mental disorders in that depression makes you feel more tired than normal, but your anxiety may cause you to always think, making it difficult to get any sleep. Anxiety can also lead you to experience chest tightness and stomach aches. The pains you are experiencing can also heighten your depression so it feels like these symptoms are never-ending.

Stuck in a Loop

Anxiety and depression together can also mean that the mental symptoms you experience are ongoing and you cannot shut them off. Anxiety is the constant feeling that everything has to go right. Depression is constantly feeling like you are always stuck. You know about everything that can go wrong and trying to make everything right, but you also feel like there is nothing that can be done so you have no choice but to feel stuck like this. With all of these constant thoughts, it is hard to tell if your anxiety came first or your depression. The point is that if you are battling both of these disorders, both of them need treatment.

Isolation

Being both depressed and anxious can lead you to isolate yourself from the ones you love. For example, having social anxiety can cause you to avoid any events that lead to social interaction like clubs, parties, meetings, mixers, etc. They are too busy overthinking what to say or worrying what others will think of them if they say something wrong. By doing that, you are increasing your depression by feeling more lonely. People who are depressed also withdraw from others thinking that they are not good enough for them or better off without them. By knowing your worth and carrying yourself with more confidence, making new friends will decrease your anxiety and depression symptoms.

Unpredictability

You spend your days feeling conflicted because you do not know if it is anxiety’s turn to make an appearance or depression. You want to spend hours sleeping in bed, but you also want to get up because you know you have important things that cannot afford to miss the deadline. There is a part of you that cares too much about what others think and another part of you that feels numb to the feelings of others. At parties, you may experience panic attacks when you are surrounded by a bunch of people you do not know, but also have no energy to attempt to socialize. This leaves you to deal with battling with two thoughts and you do not know which one to listen to.

Challenge of Accomplishment

It can be hard to get things done when you have two conflicting thoughts telling you how to go about it. Your anxious side is telling you that you have to get things done right now or something bad can happen. This can be something like a project, answering an email, getting together with someone, etc. Your depressive side, on the other hand, is telling you that you are a failure, a fraud, and that you will not get anything done. This can make it hard for you to get anything done when you cannot make up your mind of what to do.

Loss of Hope

You feel like not giving yourself the self-care that you know you should give yourself because your thoughts are telling you to do the exact opposite. You need to tell yourself first that it is okay to not feel okay. Acknowledge that you need to get yourself help so that you can feel good about yourself and your life. Treatment will teach you how much you matter and to be in control of your depression and anxiety symptoms.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center that uses evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress-reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please call us at 833-801-LIVE as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Home Items That Trigger Anxiety

Written by enlightened solutions on . Posted in Anxiety Disorder, Self Treatment. Leave a Comment

Having anxiety means there will be triggers around you that cause you to feel intense worry that interferes with daily activities. These triggers may exist in your own home. By recognizing the triggers that are in your home, you will know if there is anything that you need to work on to improve your anxiety and be able to live in your house in peace.

Clocks

Clocks in your house can be an anxiety trigger since we are used to looking at clocks to remind us when something we planned is coming up or if we are running late. When someone with anxiety runs late, they do not see it as a simple accident but as a shameful act that they cannot forgive themselves for. Instead of having to stare at the clock until it is time for your appointments or engagements, you can put an alarm on your phone to remind you when to get ready to leave. Instead of putting on a blaring alarm sound that will do nothing but make your anxiety worse, make the alarm silent but put your phone on vibrate. You will not need to keep staring at the clocks in your house to remind you when it is time to leave the house. Just look at those clocks casually if you are wondering about the time.

Shower

Showering is supposed to feel relaxing and soothing. For someone with anxiety, however, it can be stressful as taking a shower leads to getting ready for something important whether it is getting clean for work, an interview, or meeting a group of people. They may be rushing their shower in fear that taking too long will keep them late, making them not be able to enjoy it. It is important to look forward to taking a shower. Not only are you cleansing yourself, but you are being showered with a stream of hot water flowing down your body. When your shower is over, you will be relieved of the stress and feel good about yourself. Wash your body and your hair with your favorite scent to feel good about yourself or try out a new scent.

Bills and Forms

You may have a whole table filled with forms and bills that need to be paid. It can make you feel financially overwhelming by all of the bills that are due. Instead of letting this pile get bigger and bigger, organize them. Prioritize these forms by what needs to be due by the end of the week and another pile that can wait until next week. This will help you feel less overwhelming and a better chance that the pile will get smaller in a short amount of time. By letting the bills pile up, you are only letting your anxiety get worse.

Doorbell

While doorbells are not built into your house to cause panic in you, people with anxiety will experience it anyway. You may be scared when you hear the doorbell because you were not expecting visitors to come today and you do not know what to expect. You already assume that it can mean you are in trouble or someone bad is on the other side of the door instead of thinking it could be a friend or a relative popping by for a friendly visit. The panic can also be increased if you have a dog as dogs will automatically bark at the door as soon as the hear the doorbell. Ask yourself if the doorbell you have is too loud or you do not like the sound of the chime. Use the app Ring Doorbell which will give you an alert through your phone when someone is at the door compared to hearing a door chime.

Messy Room

Whenever someone with anxiety has a messy room, it can make you feel like your mind has become disorganized if you can no longer find where anything is. It can make you feel uneasy and even more so if you let the mess get bigger. In order to feel more calm and not lost in your own room, clean a little bit at a time such as a shelf, a drawer, the closet, under the bed, etc. Do not feel like you need to do too much at once. You can even ask a friend to help you go through your stuff to help you decide what holds enough sentimental value to keep. You will feel much lighter and more relaxed the more stuff you are able to throw away and organize.

Phone Notifications

Notifications, especially frequent, have a tendency to bring you panic. You could think that there is something important that you need to do urgently when it could be a notification about a junk mail message or an update on an app. If you feel like you are on edge whenever you hear a notification, you can try to change its sound so that it is more pleasant and optimistic. You can also organize on your phone’s settings what apps are important enough to have notifications for. For example, emails are important to have notifications for in case work is trying to contact you. You do not need to have notifications, however, if a game app keeps notifying you of sales for new upgrades. By recognizing your household triggers, you will know what improvements to make to better treat your anxiety.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center that uses evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will be ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please call us at 833-801-LIVE as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How Anxiety Can Work To Your Advantage

Written by enlightened solutions on . Posted in Anxiety Disorder, Uncategorized. Leave a Comment

Anxiety can be an exhausting mental disorder to have as your worries tend to take over your everyday life. The truth is that once you understand your anxiety more, you will realize that this mental disorder can work to your advantage. Anxiety has a way to make you more cautious and more protective of danger compared to typical people which can come in handy in daily situations.

Being Smarter

Having anxiety can make you very analytical. This skill can be useful if you apply for careers that involve researching, critical thinking, or analyzing. You also become smarter the more you learn and understand about anxiety. You can educate others on what triggers anxiety symptoms as well as the best way to handle them. You will be able to learn about different problem solving strategies and techniques that will help you calm your nerves. Impart your wisdom on others who are struggling with their anxiety who need a guiding hand.

Protecting Yourself

Anxiety has a way of making you constantly on edge. You may tend to think the worst about everything such as thinking the people in your life who tell you they like you are lying or that nothing will work out for you. While your worst fears may not be as bad as what happens to you in real life, it still sets in your self-preservation. Your body goes into a fight or flight response where you tense up when you feel like danger is coming because your body is preparing to defend itself. While it may seem very inconvenient to be scared all the time, that fear is existing under good intentions to protect yourself. By being aware of how quick your fear sets in, you can better control your anxiety by asking yourself whether your thoughts are accurate in the moment depending on what you see and hear. You will have a better sense of the danger surrounding and what to do.

More Attentive

It can be hard to ignore certain thoughts or situations you experience when you have anxiety. When something in particular is triggering your anxiety symptoms such as when your teacher hands you your test or when you are at party, your thoughts are telling you that something needs to be addressed. This can help you discover what kind of future endeavors you want to pursue and want to take action on since you cannot help but pay attention to what you are seeing. Another way anxiety can help you be attentive is paying attention to details that catch your eye more than anyone else’s that you cannot ignore. By going to therapy, a therapist can teach you that not every situation has to be one that triggers anxiety. You can use being attentive to draw attention to something that others should notice whether it is a good cause or if you see someone doing something wrong.

Knowing Right and Wrong

You might be feeling anxiety when you see someone getting hurt or you see that someone might be lying to you. While it is not good to always think the worst of something without knowing for sure if your thoughts are accurate, the good that can come of it is knowing what is right and wrong for you. You have an idea of what is hard for you to handle and what you expect from others. This part of this anxiety shows that you are aware of your surroundings as well as the people in your social circle.

Being an Overachiever

Having anxiety will make you feel like you have to be a perfectionist. This could have negative consequences in that you feel like you are never good enough and need to constantly push yourself. Being an anxious overachiever can mean that you have trouble turning down tasks in fear of disappointing anyone, trouble prioritizing, and have trouble working with others. If this is what you can do when faced with negative anxiety, you can use these skills towards positivity. Once you are focused and calm, you can use your motivation to get the job done without putting so much pressure on yourself. By seeing a therapist, you can learn to let go of the negativity that is pulling you back from getting the job done and learning about the strengths that you have.

Taking Action

People with anxiety let their worries stop them from taking action. It can make you feel like you cannot move when you feel in danger. This stress can actually be used to your advantage by taking action instead of remaining stuck. By not doing anything, you are letting all of that energy you have be bottled up inside of you, leaving you to continue in your panic. Use your stress response as an energy to complete small courses of action. For example, if there is someone that you are nervous to talk to, do not continue standing there frozen in fear, but use that energy instead to talk to that person.

Achieving Balance

Think of where your anxiety plays in your career, social time, rest time, etc. Think of how these elements of your life are off balanced. Instead of letting your anxiety control you, you can take the symptoms of anxiety and turn them into life skills. By finding the good in your anxiety, you are accepting of your anxiety and will be confident going forward.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center that uses evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will be ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please call us at 833-801-LIVE as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

How to Treat Your Anxiety During Motherhood

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Being a mother can be very stressful as you have all of these responsibilities that follow taking care of your children as well as the house. It can be overwhelming when tackling the problems your children may be facing as well as juggling that with a career. It is important to acknowledge your anxiety and take care of yourself so that you can be strong for your children and yourself.

Fit Exercise Into Your Schedule

You may seem like you are too busy to fit exercise into your life. If you do not exercise, you can experience fatigue and be out of shape which can lead to health problems down the road. Exercising tends to release the feel-good hormone dopamine which will help you relieve your stress. If you feel that you do not have the time to go to the gym, feel free to work out at home. You can take laps to each room of your house, do some jumping jacks, jog in place, or pick up some chores around the house while listening to upbeat music to get you moving. Find these little moments where you have spare time to lower your stress and have bouts of happiness.

Take a Break From the Internet

The internet has a tendency to drain your energy. You may find it as a great break from your motherly duties by seeing what your friends are doing on social media or checking the news. Too much social media can lower your confidence if you feel like your friends are being more successful than you are or having a better day today. You should also see if the friends that you have on your social media are worth devoting your time to. If these friends are adding more to your anxiety by offering unwelcomed criticisms or hardly listening to what you have to say, see less of these people or do not give them the time of day.

Be Creative

Everyone needs a creative outlet to help their mind grow. Instead of being so focused on your worrisome thoughts, find something to do that will be a good distracting and help you grow as a person outside of being a mother. This can mean putting your energy into baking a new recipe that you can share with your family. You can also channel your worries into writing them into a story whether it is in first person or third person. Once you read your own story, you might be able to see for yourself the triggers of your worries and how to deal with them next time you are forced to confront them. Keep trying out different hobbies until you find one that works well with you.

Declutter Your House

Cleaning your house is a great way to keep yourself moving. Another benefit of cleaning is that you will feel like a whole weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. If you are organizing your closet, your bookshelf, or your garage and you get rid of the clutter, you will feel comfortable knowing that you are living in a clean household with room for much more than before.

Say No

It could be very tempting to say yes to everything that your husband or children demand of you. You may be asked to pick up or drop your children off anywhere they ask or to volunteer at your children’s school. Only you know how much you can handle, but you also need to take your mental health into consideration as well. Do not be afraid to say no if the demands are piling up too high and see if someone else can take over that certain responsibility. You will still be a good parent even if you cannot do everything all at once as everyone needs help now and then.

Bring Humor Into Your Life

If you are feeling so stressed over your daily obligations, find something to laugh about. If your children are always able to find some way to smile every day, you can do the same thing. Find a joke book or daily humor websites to make you laugh. This can also mean watching comedian sets on video streaming sites or comedy movies. Being a mother does not have to be filled with only serious moments.

Savor the Small Moments

Instead of worrying so much about something bad happening today or all of the responsibilities awaiting you, cherish the small moments you have with your family. Whenever you hug your child, receive kisses from your partner, or seeing your child have fun should not be a fleeting moment. Appreciate anything good that comes into your life to show you how much love you have. Kids will grow up faster before your eyes. Do not live in regret that you missed out on the good moments your kids had because you were too focused on the bad. Because you may not have been taking good care of yourself, you were focussing more on your pain and worries instead of your children’s. Make time to be with your kids such as during the weekends or reading them a story every night before they go to bed. Go into treatment for your anxiety if you feel like it is interfering with your life. By being in control of your anxiety, you can be there for your kids and enjoy your life more.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center that uses evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will be ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please contact us today as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Serious Physical Effects Your Body Can Have From Anxiety

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When people cannot figure out how to manage their chronic anxiety symptoms over time, they experience intense physical side effects to their body. Because they are so stressed all the time, stress hormones are constantly being released. By getting treatment as soon as you realize that you cannot handle your anxiety symptoms alone, you are protecting not only your mental health but physical health as well.

Yawning

Those with anxiety may experience uncontrollable yawning before and after anxiety episodes or could happen randomly. This can be because of having a poor night’s sleep. Anxiety has a tendency to either make us wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back asleep or to hardly be able to fall asleep because of our racing thoughts. Another reason for yawning could be as a response to the stress we are feeling as a way to help us relax. Having a panic attack can make us hyperventilate where we are not getting a full breath. By yawning, you are expanding the rib cage and sending a signal to your brain that you got a full breath. You can prevent this constant yawning by breathing in for four seconds and breathing out for another four seconds.

Muscle Aches

You may also experience random muscle pain that seems to come out of nowhere like muscle tension, soreness, back pain, and headaches. When a person’s fight or flight response is activated, the muscles will naturally contract. The longer you are constantly in that fight or flight response, the longer your muscles will contract as well. How we feel mentally will make us hurt even more physically. We constantly dwell on the pain that we are in that we do not do enough to make it better. We may feel that if our back hurts or we are getting headaches, it is best not to exercise or do any high intensity movement, which will make our muscles hurt more if we do not move them. You can treat this by taking a hot shower to provide instant relief to muscle tension as well as a massage for someone to push out those tense muscles.

Pins and Needles

The feeling of pins and needles is like when your foot falls asleep when you leave it in the same position for a long period of time. The same can happen to you if you experience chronic anxiety. The nerve stops sending signals when we feel stress which causes us to feel numb. Shock waves are sent to the nerves to wake them up. Our body tenses up so much that our body feels like it is in constant terror. You can stop this from happening by breathing in slowly for five to seven seconds and breathing out for the same length of time. Try clenching your fists when you feel this tingling or walk around the room to get the blood flowing in these areas and remind your body to wake up.

Losing Your Voice

You may find that feeling so tense all the time can make you feel like you are losing your voice. This can be because anxiety tends to make acid reflux symptoms worse which can give us a sore throat or loss of voice. When your fight or flight response is activated, we are also produced less saliva in our mouth. It may help for you to try speaking more loudly and more confidently when you enter a room so that you do not have to be so quick to mutter when you speak. It is also more important for you to drink more water to keep your throat hydrated. This will help you from adding further stress to yourself by using water as a source of treatment.

Rashes

Anxiety can also lead to us developing rashes in which we are put in a state of tension, releasing a lot of cortisol and adrenaline into the bloodstream. This can lead to your skin being more sensitive and developing reactions much more easily like acne, psoriasis, herpes, eczema, etc. It is best to try to control your anxiety through medications, deep breathing, cognitive behavioral therapy, etc. If the rash is not too bad, you are wait it out as it should last a few days to a week. You can take medications for rashes like Benadryl or rash reducing medications like hydrocortisone cream. Make sure not to scratch your rash or wear clothes that can irritate your rash worse.

Vertigo

Anxiety has a tendency to make you feel dizzy because of hyperventilation. Our breathing starts to occur unevenly where we eliminate too much carbon dioxide while making you feel like you are not getting enough oxygen. Your blood vessels begin to tighten, develop a rapid heartbeat, and blood flow is reduced towards your brain which leads to dizziness as well as being lightheaded or having trouble thinking. To avoid feeling like you are on a rollercoaster, you should try your best to breathe slowly at all times to avoid hyperventilating.

Having a Cold

When stress hormones are released, your immune system starts to weaken as a result. This can lead to constantly developing the common cold or high blood pressure problems in the long-term. By listening to what a therapist tells you and being in control of your anxiety, you will be able to control your physical health as well.

Located on the shore of Southern New Jersey, Enlightened Solutions is a recovery center that uses evidence-based therapies and holistic healing to treat addiction and mental illness. With the opportunity to learn about therapies that are keyed in to healing the human spirit and learning about new stress reducing techniques centered around a 12 step network, you will be ensure a lasting recovery. For more information, please call us at 833-801-LIVE as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

All or Nothing Anxiety

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Having all or nothing anxiety means that your thinking is very black and white. This can affect the choices that you make going forward which can hold you back. It is very important to overcome these negative distortions to avoid missing out on new experiences that you have the chance to enjoy.

Seeing everything in an all or nothing viewpoint makes you think that something either is or is not something. This can mean using absolute terms like “never” or “ever.” If you continue to think this way, this will not leave room for an alternative solutions. You may only see the downside of every situation which will make you not want to try things. You can only be one thing instead of two and can only do something one way instead of trying another. This kind of anxiety can leave you withdrawn from your friends if they feel you are too stubborn to every try things their way.

Having symptoms of anxiety like having a panic attack can make you think you are unworthy and nothing else. This type of thinking will stop you from noticing all of the positive qualities about yourself. Examples of all or nothing anxiety can mean that you gave your resume out to all of these companies that you could picture yourself working for only to never hear from them. Because of this bad experience, you tell yourself that you will never be hired anywhere. You do not mean that you will not be hired at that particular company but anywhere for as long as you live. If you kept up with this thinking, this could prevent you from ever getting a job if you do not put yourself out there.

Another example could be that you are afraid of riding roller coasters. In your mind, you tell yourself and your friends that you will never go on a roller coaster. You probably think about the freak accidents you hear on the news of roller coasters or you watch people go on them first and feel it will be the death of you. There is no changing your mind about giving it a try. While you should trust your instincts and not do anything out of pressure or what you are not comfortable with, you should not look at everything with a negative mindset and be open to stepping outside of your comfort zone.

The best way to overcome all or nothing anxiety is by changing your thought patterns. Since you are used to thinking in the extremes, find some middle ground. For example, if you have not heard back from that companies that you applied to, you can say to yourself that maybe they have not gotten to your application yet, you may get a phone call from them today, they could be reading your application right now, or there are other job opportunities out there waiting for you. The other example could apply as well in thinking that there may be a possibility that you will have fun on this roller coaster enough to go on again. You will not know if you do not give it a try.

Instead of using words like “never,” “ever”, and “or,” change your word choices. Do not use extreme or final word choices. Instead of thinking that I will never have my dreams come true, think of the possibility that you will. Instead of feeling like you are either a good or bad person, be honest with yourself about your positive qualities. Think that you can be both a good person and a bad person as we all have strengths and weaknesses. No one is all good or all bad. Instead of feeling like today was a good day or a bad day, just be honest and admit that while bad things happened today, good things happened too. By using the word “and,” it feels like there is room for more than one choice and more open to other options of your feelings.

You should also think about expanding your options. All or nothing thinking can make you feel like you have to choose one way or only stick with one option or your world will crumble if you had to settle on another choice. For example, you may belong to a Republican party but your friends are talking about liberal issues. You do not want to keep an open mind because you believe that you need to believe in anything your political party is for or against. Actually listen to what your friends are saying and see things from their viewpoint. You might change your mind after hearing them or your opinion will be the same. At least you were able to consider all of your options instead of having an automatic answer.

Most importantly, try to find the positivity in every situation. Do not believe that because things did not work out today that that is all the day brought you. Think of the moments when you smiled or laughed today. Use your friends and family as a support system when you are feeling down as a day that you found to be all bad can grow to be positive by the end of the day. By overcoming your all or nothing anxiety, you will be more open to the choices and opportunities around you and you will be a much happier person.

Through years of experience working with art and music therapy, we know how powerfully beneficial they are in healing and relapse prevention. Call Enlightened Solutions today: (833) 801-LIVE.

Writing to Cope with Anxiety

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An important part of our recovery process is learning how to handle our anxiety. Many of us with addictions and mental health issues experience anxiety on a regular basis. Our addictive behaviors are often an attempt to relieve our anxiety, and when we have go-to coping mechanisms, it is often anxiety we’re trying to cope with.

Writing is a very effective, therapeutic tool to help calm our anxiety. There is no right or wrong way to go about it. Use a journal, notebook, phone or computer to write everything that comes to mind- everything you’re worried about, all the pent-up fears you’re holding onto, all the anxious recurring thoughts you’re having a hard time letting go of.

As we write, we allow the energy to flow freely, energy that we have been storing in our minds, hearts and bodies for years. When this negative energy is stuck within us, it creates all kinds of blockages. Anxiety is one of the many symptoms of our energy blockages.

If you pay attention to how anxiety feels in your body, you might notice that the energy feels like restless tension, nervousness or panic fluttering through your body. Our normal coping mechanisms such as our drugs of choice and addictive behaviors don’t make these feelings actually go away, they just provide us with a temporary distraction from our anxiety. All the while it’s still within us, growing stronger the more we don’t face it head on. When we allow this energy to flow in healthy ways on the other hand, we loosen its grip on us, and we give ourselves a chance to let the painful symptoms recede naturally.

Writing is an actual coping mechanism in that it can actually help us to cope. We aren’t burying our anxiety, distracting ourselves from it, numbing it, or self-medicating to avoid it. We are consciously dealing with it, which allows us the opportunity to heal it.

Writing is a meditative process. It allows us to connect with our inner voice and higher power. As we write, we often feel a sense of calm come over us. When we are filled with anxiety, our minds can be filled with noise and clutter, limiting beliefs and painful thought patterns. Writing can help quiet all of that. It is in that quiet space that healing energy can come to us. When we allow ourselves to be open to that healing, it flows through us, and writing is a powerful tool to help in that process.

Enlightened Solutions can help you explore healing tools that will support you in your recovery. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Recognizing Anxiety

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Sometimes when we talk about mental health problems, we speak about them generally and don’t necessarily get specific on what those problems actually are. Many people experience depression and anxiety without realizing it, especially when struggling with addictions.

Anxiety is something many of us experience. Some of us feel anxious every day, some of us sporadically. Some of us experience months of worsened anxiety, particularly when depressed. Some people will go years feeling fine to then have their anxiety symptoms reappear.

How do we recognize anxiety? Anxiety can be complex but has some symptoms and effects that are easily recognizable.

Some people wake up to a rush of negative thoughts that hit them immediately upon waking. Some people wake up worried about the upcoming day, or logistics they have to sort out. They might wake up ruminating about whatever they were upset about the night before. Sometimes we carry issues we’re anxious about and wake up worried about them every day. Sometimes we will wake up upset about a different issue every day.

Some of us experience anxiety accompanied by depression, and we wake up to an onslaught of suicidal thoughts, accompanied by feelings of despair and hopelessness. Our inner voice tells us how inadequate we are, or it replays vivid memories of our mistakes. Sometimes we’ll wake up immediately thinking about the things we’re most embarrassed about or ashamed of.

For a lot of us, these anxious thoughts and feelings stay with us for the rest of the day. Being consumed with these negative, worrisome, sometimes disturbing thoughts can be really distressing. Sometimes our minds race and we feel like we can’t slow them down. We might think or say the same things repeatedly. Sometimes we experience confusion and overwhelm and can’t get our thoughts straight. We might have a hard time speaking, struggle to get our words out, or not be able to speak at all. Conversely, we might talk more than usual and even feel our thoughts and words are out of control.

For many of us, we experience anxiety in physical ways. We have a hard time catching our breath, or we might breathe really fast, shallow breaths. Our hearts beat faster. We might feel a physical nervousness in our chest, stomach, hands and feet. Sometimes we might feel panic as a wave of heat or cold rising in our bodies, or as an intense panic attack, which can feel similar to a heart attack.

Many of us struggling with anxiety have insomnia and other sleep problems. Some of us have a hard time making ourselves eat or have no appetite, while some of us overeat when anxious.

Recognizing anxiety is an important step in the healing process. Being able to identify what we’re experiencing can help us to then seek out healing solutions.

The community at Enlightened Solutions can help you to identify anxiety and work with you to manage it. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Anxiety About the Future

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Sometimes we find ourselves preoccupied with anxiety about the future. We become anxious about things that have not yet happened. We panic, we become filled with dread- all about things we’re not yet dealing with.

Anxiety about the future can be based on fear of the unknown. We have a hard time being ok with uncertainty, and we let worry fuel us. We think in terms of worst case scenarios. We jump to conclusions about how things might be. We anticipate and expect the worst. Instead of thinking “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” we worry in anticipation. We hope and pray something bad doesn’t happen, instead of focusing on how we can change our energy to attract what we do want to happen.

When we are anxious about uncertainty and the unknown, and when we are anxious about the outcomes we don’t want, we are energetically emitting fear. We fear negative outcomes, without realizing that our fear is a powerful energy that is actually attracting what we don’t want. We can choose different energies to attract what we do want, instead.

Sometimes we feel powerless over our anxiety, but we actually have more control over our minds than we think we do.  Fear of the future can be alleviated just like any other form of anxiety. Try calming your mind with meditation, exercise or writing. Listening to music, laughing with friends, and spending time doing things we enjoy are all wonderful anxiety remedies.

Whatever it is you’re anxious about in the future, decide what outcome you actually want. Sometimes we are so afraid we become overwhelmed and confused. Take some time to do some soul searching and get clear on what it is you actually want to happen in this situation. Visualize that happening. When anxious, fearful thoughts pop up, choose thoughts that reflect your desired outcome coming to fruition. Return to the visualization. Feel things working out in your favor. Believe that what you want can and will happen. Write and repeat affirmations reflecting that outcome having already happened. Try writing things such as “I am so happy and grateful that ____” (fill in the blank.)  I accomplished everything I wanted to. I received the news I wanted. Everything worked out exactly as I hoped.” Try to fill your energy around the situation with as much faith as you can. Be as secure and confident as you can.

We may not be able to predict the future, but we can make our energy one of faith rather than fear, which will help us to manifest the outcomes we do want rather than attracting the ones we don’t want. We can be prepared for whatever happens down the line, but in the meantime, we can choose to be at peace and focus on positivity rather than worry.

Anxiety is something many of us struggle with. Enlightened Solutions has been helping people for years and can help you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Anxiety About the Past

Written by enlightened solutions on . Posted in Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Often when we talk about anxiety, we hear it being described as an inability to stay in the present moment, a preoccupation with the past and the future. While we can be anxious about a great many things, often times our anxiety has to do with things that already happened, things we know we no longer have any control over. We might not be able to change what has already happened, but we can choose not to let our anxiety about the past get the best of us. We can shift our energy to make peace with the past instead.

When we are anxious about the past, it often comes from our inability to let go. We obsess about our past mistakes, embarrassments and regrets. We hold onto the painful memories of a relationship long after it has ended. Sometimes we feel we can’t let go of something or someone because we haven’t yet gotten the necessary closure. We hold onto the pain of the past and carry it with us into the present.

How would it feel to consciously choose to let go? For many of us who tend to dwell on things and obsess, this might feel impossible.

Even if we can’t change the past, we can change how we relate to it, how we perceive it, how we think and talk about it. What are the lessons learned? What can we take away from it? How can we apply what we’ve learned to other similar situations? What can we do differently in order to avoid the same pain down the line? Focusing on the lessons and how you can apply them in the future can help to reduce the anxiety.

Sometimes our anxiety comes from frustration with how we handled things. Sometimes we’re holding onto a grudge and can’t forgive the person who hurt us.

How would it feel to choose forgiveness, for ourselves and others, for the sake of our own peace of mind? Can we prioritize our own inner peace whether or not we reconcile, whether or not we even address the issue?

We have the power to choose how we think about things. One suggestion is to write everything down and feel the release and relief that can come from the writing process. It can be calming and therapeutic just to write it all out. Another suggestion is to use affirmations and meditate with them. Try repeating things like “I let go. I choose to move forward. I choose to forgive. I choose peace.”

The past doesn’t have to keep haunting you. The community at Enlightened Solutions has years of experience helping people. Let them help you. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

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