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...

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Uncomfortable is not the same as anxious

Brockster
Brockster

An unfortunate reflexive behavior I've developed over the years it to either equate uncomfortable with anxious or to believe that being uncomfortable will lead to feeling anxious. I grew up in a family that did not really express emotions, so knowing what to do with them... or rather, how to just experience them... is still something I'm not really confident with. I'm learning, but I've a long way to go. And I know no one likes to be uncomfortable... we all want to get away from those feelings however we can. But I need to just keep reminding myself that's okay to feel discomfort. It' okay to be sad, or uneasy, or worried, or whatever, and it doesn't have to lead to a visit from anxiety. And, I really have to keep reminding myself that they are not the same thing.

arfie
arfie
To my senses, being uncomfortable is not the same as being anxious, but it is one of my nastier anxiety triggers. My anxiety escalates rapidly when I have to navigate uncomfortable situations.

The good news is that recognizing that trigger often helps me prepare for and calm the escalation before it has a chance to regain control over my life. When I am forewarned of an uncomfortable situation, I carry extra therapy tools to help with the preventative measures.

But that is me and every case is unique. . .

Continued support while you find what works for your case, Brockster.
Community LeaderMid
Mid
For me, uncomfortable is anxiety.

It's a helper in that moment, and I use the techniques for calming to help the anxiety part disappear naturally fast. Then I use the stop, pause, and breathe to do the options before making a decision.

Here's to finding your better balance.
rmb
rmb
For me, discomfort can trigger anxiety but I do feel they are different to me. For me, anxiety is more a response and discomfort is more the catalyst for the response. And a lot of times I can feel discomfort or uncomfortable and it doesn’t necessarily prompt anxiety. Just depends on... who the hell knows, haha!
Brockster
Brockster
Thanks for the input everyone.

I see it much like rmb describes, discomfort is the stimulus and anxiety is the response. I have a rather strong aversion to feeling discomfort, both uncomfortable situations and, even more so, uncomfortable emotions. And that aversion, that wanting those feelings to go away ASAFP can trigger anxiety. So, learning to feel the discomfort, to experience it, without it triggering anxiety is a thing I'm really trying to work on... to try to move from aversion to acceptance of feelings I don't really want to feel.

May we all find our own peace and serenity.
Mindfulness1
Mindfulness1
Thank you for this post Brockster. I know I didn't contribute anything but I learned a lot from reading this. It never occurred to me to contemplate and distinguish between the two.
TypeC
TypeC
You're right....they're not the same but they're intertwined. Anxiety is trapped emotion, at least in my case. It is part of my anxiety disorder. The lack of feeling and expressing emotions come from childhood and the way one was raised. I was raised in a good home but emotions were avoided. It's called childhood emotional neglect or CEN. I've posted on here about it before. Find Dr. Jonice Webb's quiz on CEN and take it. I also read her books; parts of them were like I was looking in a mirror. I learned by reading her books that my parents were both emotionally neglected as well. It gets passed on.
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