I often encounter people that want a magic solution to their anxiety problem. And you know what? I don't blame them. Who wants to live with bad nerves? But, sadly, there is no such thing. The solution to abnormal anxiety is less magic and more self-discovery. Finding out how you became anxious and how to stop it is a long journey. But that got me thinking. Is there anything that you can do to decrease your anxiety while you seek full recovery? Of course there is! And the crazy thing is that much of what you can do to lower
How You Tricked Yourself Into Becoming Anxious
Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will make you nervous. Well, if you let them anyway. If you tell yourself the wrong things about anxiety symptoms over and over they tend to get more tenacious. This makes the words you choose to describe your anxiety symptoms super important. That's exactly what happened to me. When I first encountered anxiety symptoms I didn't know what they were so I ended up associating threatening words with the symptoms I was experiencing. This was a horrible mistake that a lot of rookie neurotics
How to Get the Most Out of Therapy
What's so special about therapy anyway? Isn't it just a super long conversation with a stranger? No, it's not. It's much more. It can feel like the millions of conversations you've had in the past but with one major twist. When done right therapy elicits the truth; you know that thing you hide from everybody. Most people aren't totally honest about their inner world because humans are damn good liars, which isn't all bad. Lying serves an important function in that it helps us to keep on a pretty mask so the "ugly" doesn't scare away
Hope in the Face of Fear
I'm intrigued by anxious people. What isn't interesting about somebody else's anxiety? In some ways it's like holding up a mirror and confirming, among other things, that you aren't alone in all this. At the same time it's an opportunity to learn about how others manage their symptoms and fears. I just recorded an interview with Jess, a brave soul that wanted to share her story to help you move on, past fear and away from anxiety. What We Covered During the Interview: The origins of Jess's anxiety Her family's reaction to her
You are Bigger than Your Anxiety
Today's article is brought to you by AG contributor Bryan3000. Bryan and I have been exchanging ideas for weeks and I've enjoyed those conversations. I think that you'll enjoy his perspective as well. -- Paul Dooley So, it's another Sunday afternoon and I'm lucky enough to be spending some time at home, playing with my little four year old girl and watching football. Life doesn't get much better. That said, as I sat there... I had some of the usual slow-boiling anxiety that seems to just hang around some days for no particular reason.
I Need Your Feedback
A few weeks ago I asked for feedback about whether or not I should expand this website and the response was great. That kind of response tells me that people are being helped by this site and that what I do is having an impact. Now, I'd like to ask you about a few specifics, because I'd like to get an idea of what would help the most. Design - Right now my web design is not bad, I guess. But, the next change will have to last for some time so I want to make sure that everything is optimized. I have three basic design concepts in mind and I'd
The Top 100 Things You Should Know About Anxiety Disorders
Over the course of a decade you can learn a lot about anything. You can become an expert at car repair, kitchen remodeling, hair styling, or in my case you can learn all about anxiety. Since 1999 I have been battling anxiety non-stop and as a result I've learned a thing or two about this topic (I've recovered since then). Many of my thoughts on this issue are short thoughts or blurbs that I've collected over the years and for no particular reason I wanted to jot them down. I can't possibly recall everything but here is a good chunk of
Dying A Thousand Deaths
To be honest with you I feel like I'm going to die suddenly sometimes. I'm not ashamed of this fact, it's just the way it is. Interestingly, I have developed a rather deep sense of acceptance when it comes to feeling fear and anxiety symptoms. I accept the feelings and thoughts without much commotion, but I still think that instant death is likely at least every other Thursday or so. That's the amazing thing about anxiety that I still have trouble understanding. It's particularly hard to understand because I have a rather clear notion
What Do You Want To Know About Anxiety?
The vast majority of my stint as an anxiety sufferer has been spent in utter confusion about what the hell was wrong with me. It took me years of searching, reading, asking, and probing before I got a clue. Going to my primary doctor wasn't always the best information session because the doctor's reaction was to give me a drug and call it a day. The therapist I've seen never really saw me look or act nervous so they figured I was fine. Therapist: "So you don't want to hurt yourself or others?" Me: No. Therapist: "So you get nervous, have