Anxiety disorder symptoms are the biggest pain in the ass anyone could ever experience. I only say ‘bad’ words when I’m passionately sure of something, and this I am sure of. Health anxiety disorder sufferers have long lived with this repeated pattern, and it’s time to dig deeper than ever into this cycle.
Imagine a security guard monitoring a certain floor of a department store. He’s focused, he’s ready to pounce in case of danger, and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep his job. Health anxiety disorder sufferers are no different than this passionate department store security guard.
Monitoring anxiety disorder symptoms is a responsibility that sufferers believe they need to live up to daily, or else!
Or else? Or else what? You may be thinking. To a mentally and emotionally balanced person the idea of monitoring your bodily symptoms 24 hours a day (unconsciously during sleep) 7 days a week is absurd. But to a health anxiety sufferer it’s the difference between life and death.
I call it the ‘standing guard cycle.’ The moment these sensitized individuals (I used to be one of them, here’s a personal story) pay more attention to what’s taking place in the outside world rather than their inside world they feel like their swimming in a freezing lake of water. They believe that if they keep swimming they’ll lose control of their bodies (followed by their minds, or vice versa).
Little do they realize though that if they keep swimming the water gets warmer and warmer. The next time they go swimming the familiarity factor kicks in and they’re a little less sensitized to the water (or in this case the symptoms), and so it continues.
Health anxiety disorder sufferers need that one moment, that one win that proves to them that they can let go.
That moment can come at any time, but it can only show up through awareness. An unaware person goes through their day remembering and reacting (unconsciously remembering what they did last time, reacting in a similar way). An aware person sees the opportunity that lies within the moment and starts swimming.
To stop monitoring your anxiety disorder symptoms for good here are 7 suggestions I have for you:
1. Raise your consciousness – Look at moments when your system wants to default to fear and inner mindless negative chatter as opportunities. Until you see these sensitizing moments as practice opportunities (to respond differently) you’ll always be coping and managing your symptoms.
2. Stop looking for social support all the time – Yes, others love you very much and want to be there for you, but they also want to live their own lives. The more reassurance you seek and the closer you get to people in 98% of todays anxiety ‘support’ groups the harder healing becomes. Only you can change this, no one else.
3. Get to the roots! – Notice the exclamation mark after #3?
This may be the MOST IMPORTANT part of the entire healing journey and once and for all ending the habit of monitoring your anxiety disorder symptoms.
You see, your anxiety disorder symptoms are a manifestation of something lying deep within your subconscious mind and body (this YouTube video explains). If you don’t cut the grass at the roots it just grows back quicker and quicker. Your body doesn’t do anything for no reason. Every physiological response is a response to something that hasn’t been dealt with and has been stuffed deeply inside for too long.
4. Meet your needs another way – Yes, it is possible that you’re meeting the needs that weren’t met when you were a child through maintaining your anxiety disorders symptoms. For example, when I was a kid the only option I had to gain my fathers love was to get sick. So sick I was, constantly!
Many times we unconsciously keep our negativities beliefs alive because it matches what we’ve wanted for so long.
If the attention is there, the sense of identity, or even love is present you will sabotage your anxiety healing forever. Be aware, be relentless in your pursuit towards self discovery and ending the habit of monitoring your anxiety disorder symptoms.
5. Stop playing the victim card – I mean it! Stop talking to yourself and others in the way you currently are. Replace words that don’t match the positive direction your life is going with new ones. For example, let’s take the word transition:
Someone asks: “How do you feel today?”
You respond: “I’m working on X, and I feel like I’m in a transition to a new me.”
Boom! One gigantic tic towards no longer being one of the many health anxiety disorder sufferers. Change your vocabulary, change your mindset toward you and the day ahead, and act in line with your desires. This will tame your fight or flight based amygdala in time. Sorry to sound like your mother, it’s only temporary, right?
6. Don’t look to be a one shot wonder – You know, the ones that look to do that one meditation class, or get that one supplement, or receive one piece of advice that will turn everything around. Don’t be that guy, or girl. Think long term, think life long. There’s no finish line here, you are always going to be developing yourself all day everyday for the rest of your life.
Anxiety is an opportunity to evolve
To evolve we must begin perceiving these anxiety disorder symptoms differently. This comes in time for most people. But leaving the world of being a ‘one shot wonder’ will be one of the biggest positive changes in this healing journey.
7. Change your social media tag name, picture, or description – You know what confuses me sometimes? People that say they want positive change but still have social media tag names like:
- Anxious Betty
- Depression Nation
- Worrying Wonder Woman
Take into account your social media picture as well. You look at it up to a 100 times per day (sometimes more), so you’re only cementing your anxious identity by looking at a depressive picture of you. Change it, today. While you’re at it describe yourself in a different light, and add the word ‘transition’ into the description as well. Now you’re well on your way.
This list could be really long but I’d like to hear from you. Let’s discuss other ways we can completely stop monitoring our anxiety disorder symptoms once and for all. Take time also to go over which one of these 7 suggestions spoke to you the deepest, and comment below on that as well.
This is me. All me! This all makes sense to me. I keep trying to switch my thoughts but my mind gets the better of me each time. I know where my health anxiety stems from I just can’t switch off.
I found it best to look to become disinterested by those unhelpful thoughts over time rather than look to delete them quickly. I found that this mindset prevented pressure to build up and compassion arose more quickly.
you do a such an amazing job you don’t stop doing this your dedication for help unbelievable
Such kind words thank you.
I truly believe that we must take care of our minds, as well as our bodies when considering anxiety disorder symptoms. Our lives present so many everyday stresses and all around us our realities are always changing, we must balance being aware of our mental health as a portion of our existence.
Well said Matt. The key word here is balance, that level of inner harmony can certainly lead to a feeling of flow throughout the day rather than fighting.
One of my greatest challenges is to stop going to the er for reassurance that I am ok. I’m not exactly sure what this stems from. I am a domestic abuse survivor and on my own now. I also have systemic lupus, fibromyalgia, and uctd. So I feel the need to make sure I am ok….because I am alone to make every decision and to make a life for myself.
😱 I pretend to be sick or expand on something that happened to get attention from people, my husband, co workers and friends. Mostly from my husband as he is not nearly as affectionate and compassionate as he used to be. I never took problems to work until a few months ago so now it’s everywhere I go.
Work used to be my happy place but now I have tainted it. And it doesn’t feel like an outlet anymore.
Your post has opened my eyes for me to realize that I never got the attention and love as a child as my parents divorced and my step father did not like me and my mother gave all her attention to him.
So now I need attention more now than ever through the pandemic as there is no physical touch ( hugging, I’m a hugger)
And this is bringing me down even more.
So, I am not letting myself breathe and come up for air. And now I don’t know what to do to get out of this!
Seems the answers are on the way, just be open to them and act when they arise Tina.
I am always checking my oxygen meter and my blood pressure. And when anxiety is up those numbers go up which increases anxiety even more.
Naturally yes, the key is to pick up on such anxiety patterns and begin losing the fear of what could happen.