3 Things I’ve Learned About Anxiety Recovery
Often, the path of healing and recovery leads to a sense of purpose in the world, and you can’t help but want to reach out and share what you’ve learned to help others. Anxiety has always been a big part of my life and even before beginning therapy as a career, it was my mission to overcome it and not let it control my life. I have learned a lot of things on my own journey, and from my clinical training that informs how I look at anxiety recovery:
It is Not Easy- It Takes Hard Work
There is a quote I love by Australian Psychiatrist, Claire Weekes, who did work in the early 20th century around anxiety. The quote reads, “Recovery lies in the places and experiences you fear the most”. This is such a beautiful summary of anxiety treatment and recovery. The way out is not around, but through. By facing the places and experiences that we fear the most, we allow ourselves to experience transformation. It sounds very metaphorical, but this is quite literal. We must activate our distress in order to recreate new pathways in the brain, and we must learn to sit with, not resist, our fears. If that isn’t hardcore, I don’t know what is. Anxiety work is not easy work. There will be tears, resistance, discomfort, courage and determination and breakthrough, and that is all part of the journey.
It’s Okay to Take it Step by Step
Sometimes we look ahead to where we want to be, compare that with where we are now and it’s overwhelming. “How am I ever going to be able to __?”. It usually isn’t realistic to expect that anxiety recovery happens instantly. In fact, I have found it to be more of a gradual experience that unfolds over time. Wherever you are on your journey with anxiety, it is okay to start there. You may start by building your awareness of your tendency to ruminate on your “anxiety story” (the anxious, future predicting, mind reading narrative that plays on repeat through your mind at all hours of the day and night), then you may start practicing disrupting that rumination cycle; then you might start practicing mindfulness and grounding techniques; then you might start building awareness of your triggers and avoidance tendencies, etc. Depending on how consistent you are and how much accountability you have, each of these things can take a while to get the hang of, and each makes a big difference.
It Requires Maintenance
Another lesson I’ve learned the hard way is that anxiety work and recovery is not a one-and-done deal. While I am able to easily do many things that once terrified me, I have to do maintenance. Recovering from an anxiety disorder doesn’t mean you will never experience anxiety again. Anxiety is a normal, healthy mind-body experience that everyone has from time to time, and people who have a lot of anxiety are still going to experience fluctuations in their anxiety here and there. The difference is that you will have greater agency to not be controlled by it. You will be able to identify and stop a spiral early on, and stay on top of managing it. An anxiety spiral may develop if you’re not getting enough sleep, activity or nutrition, or if you’re under a lot of stress, but you’ll be able to name what it is and not be confused by it. You’ll see it as a signal to take better care of yourself and have the awareness to not engage in a “safety behavior” to try to soothe the stress of uncertainty.
In other words, the tools you learn along the way become part of how you live your life. Living in anxiety recovery means a daily practice of living more mindfully and compassionately towards yourself.
