amaranth
11-04-2013, 02:07 AM
Hi all, I am new here. I am not young, but not old. I have been dealing with and diagnosed with anxiety for many years. But only recently have I tried to take it seriously. As a result of an abusive upbringing, I learned well to invalidate anything that had to do with my problems. So when I was repeatedly diagnosed with anxiety, I would disregard it and tell myself,"EVERYONE has anxiety. I just need to deal with it." Well now I understand that this would be like telling a depressed person to just "Snap out of it", or "Cheer up". But, I was not taught to be kind to myself or to be taken seriously. I was literally pulling my hair out due to anxiety for many years (trichotillomania, very unfortunate disorder to live with). I understand more how much this has impacted my entire life and I very much want to live without the anxiety beast fuelling my actions and decisions. For one thing, I see now that overeating, hypochondria and alcoholism were all fueled by anxiety. I get it now. I am trying to find ways to treat myself naturally and drug free because I have been down the road of benzos. Not good. Well if anyone else has a similiar experience, please share- (and here's where my social anxiety kicks in) and I apologoze if I have made anyone uncomfortable by "TMI'.