Fight or Flight?

 Are you a fighter or a flighter?

Ok so I'm not talking about physically fighting someone or flighing a plane but this phrase is commonly used with anxiety sufferers. The fight or flight response is an involuntary, reaction to danger. Imagine walking through a jungle and you come face to face with a tiger. Your heart starts beating fast, your muscles tense, you are incredibly alert. You are paralyzed with fear, then you make a decision. You decide to either defend yourself or run and  this is the fight or flight response. This response was much needed in cave man times but not so much for 21st century man.

Last week my anxiety and panic attacks have been kicked down a couple of pegs or two and I have been bloody determined to make sure that happened. If you follow my blog you will know I suffer with anxiety and have become agoraphobic (scared of certain environments and therefore not leaving the house) so I tend to put things off, I miss out on opportunities and really just living life. That's what anxiety does, it takes over every part of your life, your inner being and everything you wish and want to be. Everyone can feel that way in some time in there life but with anxiety it becomes ten times harder to pick yourself up and carry on with the day but last week I wasn't going to let it win or engulf me anymore than it has already.

Early last week I was lucky enough to meet with a private therapist and with only one session she has really opened my eyes to why this may be happening to me. So are you ready for therapy with me ;) First thing that may help you if you are struggling with anxiety is to look back on your past, is there any particularly hard moments you've had in your life that could have caused this panic and anxiety.  In my case there has been a lot of lead up to this from the age of about six, but to help your anxiety you need to revisit that time and really try and put it to bed as you may not have gotten over it fully. Make a timeline of all the bad things that could have made this massive great big mess in front of you and see if you can pin point a time that really kicked this anxiety alarm off in your head.

     

Now I'm not saying this is easy as the last thing I want to be doing is thinking about all the crappy things that have ever happened to me but what about anxiety is easy? You have nothing to lose. Secondly, I've said it before and I'll say it again...PUSH YOURSELF!! This week I've tried to do something every day from having friends over to going to Tescos with mum to talking to someone on the phone. Not one of them situations made me feel comfortable but the more I do it the easier it gets and more enjoyable. Say Yes to at least one thing in your day and put yourself in uncomfortable situations, I hate to say it but yolo (yes, I just said yolo). At the beginning of last week I simply thought f*** it, why should I stop my life because I'm scared to be seen or scared about how I look or scared if I have a panic attack. Who cares if I'm sick or need to rush home or need the toilet. These things aren't going to kill me why let the thought of them kill me?

Quick Round up:

•Right out a time line.

•Say YES at least once.

•Stay determined.

And just remember...⬇

Stay strong beauties, if you have any questions please comment or if you'd rather it be private then please feel free to email me mccartneyshannon@hotmail.co.uk

All my love,

Over and out

S.Mx