Posted by Johann on April 26, 2007, at 0:11:24
Hi,
We often talk about having high anxiety but seldom write about our actual experience of it. I think it would be interesting to know how much our experiences are parallel, or vary--sort of a phenomenological survery, if you will.
So, to get it going, and being brief:
I awake almost every morning with some level of anxiety--unfocused fear. The other day I heard my neighbors making noise (a trigger for me) while I was asleep, and a sharp, seering bar of fright shot through my body, which grew tight. I didn't want to get out of bed, but didn't feel safe in it. My fear level was much higher and I became two people in dealing with others: the apparently functional person and the one behind battling terror, sometimes feeling hopeless, sometimes feeling that the psychic pain was intolerable.
While life has its stressors, it's clear to me that my anxiety comes first, so while on one day being afraid I might have made a mistake would trouble me a little, if the fires of anxiety are already kindled I can be terrified that I've done something terribly wrong. People don't understand the agony that anxiety can cause, which can exhaust my physical resources more than exercise.
So much for being brief.
What's your experience?
Johann
poster:Johann
thread:753498
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070419/msgs/753498.html