Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
Way back in The Old Normal of February, "Masking," "Social Distancing" and "Isolation" were common metaphors for some highly dysfunctional psycho ticks in my psychotherapy support network. So much so that I didn't even think of them as metaphors. I was never much good at the masking part, but my mastery of social distancing and isolation were more than enough to compensate. 6 feet never was enough social distance for me, unless it was 6 feet under. Not even if I like/love you. My aversion to touch remains pretty intense and it is difficult for me to speak while in fear of inappropriate touch. It is far easier for me to be gone before anyone even knows there is a problem. I can isolate in a crowd. My childhood conditioning from being raised in the back of a station wagon with 10 siblings even makes that a natural reflex for me. To this day, I still struggle with my metaphorical social distancing and isolation. My overdeveloped fight or flight instincts remain a problem.
Fast forward to The New Normal of Global Coronaville and ? ? ? I am at a loss for words. . . WTF am I dealing with here?
Reality checks desperately needed. Am I making sense?
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I did the dumbest thing today. I charged my earbuds, unplugged the block and put the block in my little bag instead of the earbuds. I wasn't happy about that when I got to the gym. What a dummy!
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Ever since I stopped doing therapy because of insurance, I've been feeling that old tense and irritable sense of anxiety and stress. I hate that. I was making so many strides and changes during therapy, my therapist would acknowledge all of my progress and accomplishments, and I miss that reassurance. Today I thought about it, and I made those changes! She would always tell me that I chose to...
I still can't even look at the mask ads/believers, much less put one on my face for the sake of fitting in. I still feel more oxygen deprived and dishonest than protected behind them. I can't seem to muster enough proper fear of The Virus to feel I need protection.
Having long accepted the considerable damage social distancing has done in my broken life, I am having a hard time accepting ^it^ as cool.
Yes, your advice makes sense. My PTSD therapy started under the "Shell Shock" moniker while I was in the Army in the 70's. Those therapy tools worked well for me, but are proving ineffective for this latest evolution. Well, just it all! ! !
Sorting. . .
Still. . . Those reality checks can be helpful. Life gets kinky when what I thought I was working with turns out to be delusion.