Anxiety, myself and I
I have a feeling I was always going end up on the anxious side. Both my parents are worriers and growing up was a question of navigating their world filled with imagined threats.
But still, as a little girl I was an extrovert, all singing all dancing, but something changed as I approached adolescence when I was overtaken by a teenage angst and insecurity that seemed to last for 20 years.
Social situations suddenly became very stressful. Networking events left me in tears in the toilet. And after choosing a relatively unpredictable and stressful career in the media, I struggled to cope with the constant change and intense competition until at the age of 34 I had my first experience of debilitating anxiety.
Therapy followed – CBT, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, but somehow it was like water off a duck’s back and still the anxiety continued to find new and ingenious ways to take root.
I changed careers, moved country, took up yoga, meditated, you name it I’ve done it. Some things were a temporary fix, while others barely touched the side.
There are still good patches and bad ones. The bad ones occurring when I decide to throw gasoline on the fire and think my way out of the anxious episode.
But most of all, anxiety has become a blessing. From it I’ve learned to understand and take care of myself better, have shifted my perspective on my place in the world and have learned a whole bunch of tips that I hope will make other people’s journey through anxiety easier.
Mary Greenwood
Latest posts by Mary Greenwood (see all)
- Why facing our mortality is the best way to wake up out of anxiety - December 30, 2016
- Anxious during the holiday season? The question is: to fight or accept? - December 22, 2016
- Five ways to stay sane and anxiety free with your family - October 28, 2016