The Insidious Nature of Anxiety
Let’s talk about anxiety. It’s an insidious and amorphous part of living with mental illness and/or trauma. It’s very difficult to ignore the expected spikes of anxiety – like right before a test, performance, or interview – but there is a cause and, in most cases, there are coping mechanisms to help ease the tension such as studying, practicing, or coaching. Then there are the unexpected spikes of anxiety – panic attacks , unpleasant surprises, and bad news. These spikes often have fewer coping mechanisms associated with them, but they are still very difficult to flat out ignore. The anxiety that I’m focusing on, though, is the creeping, background anxiety that rests in the back of your brain and broils in the pit of your stomach. It’s the anxiety that quietly chips at your confidence and makes you question your very word choice. For me, it’s the anxiety that causes me to pick at my cuticles and facial blemishes. It’s the anxiety that pushes me t