Anxiety Q&A

If you are a follower of my Instagram page you will know that I often do some live videos where I either talk about a specific topic or answer your questions. For those that missed some of my Q&As on the huge topic of anxiety, I thought I would share some here.

How do I implement the 3 principles into my life when my therapist isn’t familiar with them?

 The 3 principles are really about what it means to be human. They are not necessarily something that needs to be implemented into our lives. It is not a strategy and in this case it’s a good thing. The world is full of books and methods that can be considered a strategy and they do not always work. The reason for this is that the thing that really changes our relationship with anxiety is when we really understand what it means to be human.

So, it doesn’t matter if your therapist doesn’t understand it, it’s about who you are. It’s also important to note that of you are not getting what you need from your therapist, it’s okay to change. However, if you are loving your therapist it could be quite a simple task to introduce them to the 3 principles and explain how it increases your awareness.

What physical symptoms of anxiety bothered you the most?

The worst symptom for me was experiencing the sensation of a lump in my throat. I hated the feeling of not being able to breathe probably! However, over time I have managed to control these physical symptoms since understanding the cause behind them. These physical symptoms are our bodies' way of alerting us that something is not right. If we continue to ignore this, our physical symptoms will only increase. 

By no surprise, the symptom I hated the most was the last to go! The more I battled with it, resisted it and dreaded it meant it stuck around the longest! Think of it as your body desperately trying to tell you that something is wrong – until you listen it will only get worse.

I'm scared to open up about my issues because I'm worried about showing my true emotions?

The message that you are sending to yourself here is that being emotional, perhaps crying is bad. Therefore, you’re holding it in and it’s building up and up. There are multiple ways of helping yourself through sharing that doesn’t mean you have to shout from the rooftops. The fact that you are concerned about this means it’s likely that you feel a need to talk about it.

Please don’t be afraid to get emotional. Everybody cries sometimes! It is your body's way of releasing stress and tensions so allow yourself to let go with those that care about you. 

Have you got any advice for my irrational thoughts that are taking me to a bad place? 

Firstly, nobody should be accepting this as a way of life. This is something that nobody should be suffering from and if you find yourself being taken to a dark place, it’s time to reach out for help. If you are finding that your irrational thoughts are impacting your life, you need to reach out to multiple different organisations that can help you. Even expressing your feelings to one person can instantly relieve you of some of this thinking.

Some help numbers for the UK (from mind.co.uk): 

• To talk about anything that is upsetting you, you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone), email jo@samaritans.org or visit some branches in person. You can also call the Samaritans Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).
• If you're experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else, you can call SANEline on 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm–10.30pm every day).
• National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK.Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK on 0800 689 5652 (open 24/7).

I hope you found this helpful! To view more of my live videos either answering questions or talking about specific issues, make sure to follow my Instagram page here.

These are the things that underpin everything I do with people and everybody that I work with. Every week I work with the community in my Membership to help them understand and overcome these issues.

Sarie xx 

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