01 02 03 Amorina Rose Writes: One Step At A Time 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

One Step At A Time

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Also look for me at
https://blueinkonadragonstail.wordpress.com/

I thought I'd share something that has a large impact on my life and how writing has helped me cope.
At some point in all our lives, we will all suffer from anxiety of some description. It comes with being human. Some, unfortunately, will suffer  more than others. 

I suffer from anxieties and panic attacks, to the point that sometimes it will send me to hospital with me thinking I’m having a heart attack. Anyone who has experienced this will understand where I’m coming from. It can happen anywhere, I can be angry, sad, happy, excited, anxiety holds no bias.  It can happen two or three days after any particular stressful event. I can experience an attack if I’m too involved when writing an intense scene – can you imagine the helplessness I feel when I became frighten to write? Here is something I enjoy!

When I was first ‘officially’ diagnosed with an anxiety/panic disorder (seven or more years ago), and began the cognitive behaviour treatment, one of the tasks was to write a daily diary.  I recently came across my diaries from that time, and it gave me such a powerful insight to how I was and how far I have come.

I’ve always had a diary. Whether I wrote in it or not, was and is another matter. So it wasn’t much of a task for me, at that time, to record my days.  I found that simply writing down my thoughts, events and episodes helped me gain a perspective in my head. I began to see patterns and I began to see light at the end of the tunnel.

I still have anxieties and every now and then I will have a bad one that will make me doubt if this is a panic attack or something more serious. But I know how to cope, I know what they are, sometimes I even know what triggers them. It’s a long journey, but I’m not letting it control my life as completely as it once did.  There are steps backwards, but many more forward.

In a way it’s like writing a novel.

With every step I take in my journey in writing, I am reminded that it takes time, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  I will take steps forward and there will be steps back. I will keep plodding along with the help and support of family and friends.

And please remember: If you or anyone you know suffers from anxieties and/or depression, there is help available.

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