The old you is still there. Underneath all the distressing symptoms, you’re there. The calmer your nerves become, the more glimpses you’ll get of the old you. You’ll realise you were there all along. You haven’t lost yourself, it’s just temporary. #anxiety

Avoiding certain experiences only teaches your brain that there is a genuine threat there and so the fear response is turned up when you approach it again. Non avoidance teaches the brain that there is no genuine threat and so in time begins to turn the fear response down.

If you judge anxiety recovery by how much anxiety you feel you won’t recover. This is avoidance and out of your control. Recovery should be judged on how much anxiety you ALLOW yourself to feel. Seeing anxiety for what it is then allowing it is how you gradually heal #anxiety

Progress should not be measured by how frequently you deal with intrusive/obsessive thoughts. Progress should be measured by how frequently you avoid the temptation to argue with/try to rid yourself of particular thoughts. Let it flow and the brain will move on. #anxiety

You can’t break out of a negative routine only by thinking about it. You have to get up & make better choices every single day until the new way of living becomes the routine.

Many people have a consistent fawn trauma response. Fawning is: people pleasing, appeasing, or just going along with people to avoid conflict. HERE’S WHY WE DO IT AND HOW TO HEAL FROM IT: 🧵

You can’t recover if you don’t understand the goal of recovery. The goal is NOT to no longer feel anxiety. The goal is to change anxious behaviors and how you relate to thoughts/feelings so you no longer fear anxiety. This is how you break the anxiety loop. #anxiety

There are three steps to recover from basically any anxiety disorder: 1) Realize that everything you’re feeling is a harmless symptom of a sensitized brain 2) With this understanding, allow these symptoms without fear. 3) Repeat steps 1/2 until it becomes a lifestyle. #anxiety

Facing your #anxiety doesn’t feel like it’s ‘working’ while you’re doing it. Why? Because there’s a time-lag between facing your fears & your brain making the correct adjustments.

The simple explanation of anxiety: You are fighting with/running away from uncomfortable feelings that are caused by fighting with/running away from uncomfortable feelings. This is the anxiety loop. Fighting/running signals danger. Allow feelings. They mean nothing. #anxiety

You must learn to stop interpreting feelings as evidence of a threat. When you feel anxiety/panic/intrusive thoughts, view them as harmless impulses of the brain. Even try to visualize this. Losing fear of feelings changes behaviors in ways that promote brain healing. #anxiety

Key anxiety driving habit: Checking Checking for symptoms. Checking for thoughts. Checking for anxiety. Checking signals importance to the body and ensures you will get more of what you want to avoid. You will never recover from anxiety if you worry about feeling it. #anxiety

Forgive yourself for not being at peace. The moment you completely accept your non-peace, your non-peace becomes transmuted into peace. Anything you accept fully will get you there, will take you into peace. This is the miracle of surrender.

The anxious brain will never be satisfied. When you devise a “solution” for an imagined problem it will conjure another frightening scenario. Mental problem solving is avoidance. The only way to relief is to allow all thoughts without fear. There is no alternative. #anxiety

The trait that will most determine your ability to recover: Persistence Persistence in learning about your body. In truthful self-assessment. In resisting bodily urges In allowing discomfort You are creating a better version of yourself. It will require patience. #anxiety

You will NOT recover until you lose your fear of the uncomfortable thoughts/feelings that we call anxiety. Anxiety is caused by fear. Fear of the resulting feelings causes us to get stuck in the fear-anxiety loop. Anxiety will chase you until you stop running. #anxiety

In reality, anxiety disorders aren’t driven by how much anxiety we feel but instead the lengths we go to avoid feeling it. Bodily anxiety is a side effect of these behaviors. It’s a habit driven loop. Anxiety wants to chase you because that means you are running. #anxiety

A habit that helped greatly in my recovery: Labeling my feelings. "It's an uncomfortable feeling" "It's my emotional brain" "It's an emotion" The brain understands labels. Labeling anxiety in non-fearful ways makes it easy for the brain to see you are not in danger. #anxiety

Symptoms I had the hardest time with: 1) Chest discomfort 2) Derealization 3) Intrusive thoughts You'll continue to have symptoms until you see them as symptoms. Nothing more than uncomfortable sensations of a panicked nervous system. Don't fight them. You can't win. #anxiety

When we react negatively to our own negative emotions, thinking of them as something to be eliminated, and defeated, we get into trouble. Reactions to unhappiness can change what might just be a brief, passing sadness into a persistent dissatisfaction and overall unhappiness.

Anxiety is the body’s way of asking you a question: Should I be afraid? When you avoid/fight because of anxiety you are answering “yes”. This validates anxiety and rewards the body. This always causes more anxiety. The body is more concerned with safety than comfort. #anxiety