the anxiety journal- corrine sweet

My anxiety feels like panicky. I get irritable. I have repetitive thoughts that I can't turn off. I am sensitive to touching my skin.

Socrates: the unexamined life is not worth living. Being a robot. Living under someone elses rules. Rote - learning by repeating w/ little intelligence. Being controlled or silenced. Socrates was ordered to leave his home of Athens or stop speaking in public. He chose death. He took his life.

Being sexually and physically abused at such a young age taught me to be afraid. To live in fear. My mind is always "on red alert."

I felt like all my life I was a prisoner in my own body. I was afraid to speak up for myself and just say no. I was a yes man. I have boundary issues. I try to please everyone. I wanted everyone to like me. I am always looking for validation. I don't think of myself first.

Anxiety symptoms are the body's way of warning you "to watch out." What to do when you have those symptoms? Notice them, listen to them, is the threat real or not, and take positive actions. Affirmation: You don't have to live at the mercy of your anxiety; they are just thoughts.