Tag how anxiety works

Table of Contents

• An anxiety attack. Right out of the blue.
  • Was there a trigger?
• Distraction to manage anxiety
  • Rumination.
• There is always a reason anxiety strikes.
• In the pit

An anxiety attack. Right out of the blue.

Have you ever had that happen? I did. Just this last Monday. We had come home from a nice long weekend at my daughter’s. Had a great time, although my gut acted up one day. We walked in, put everything away, and there it was. An anxiety attack. Totally unexpected.

I was floored. Where did that come from? I didn’t have a clue, but it scared me.

Was there a trigger?

Yes, but it slipped right past me. But it did take up residence in my mind, although I didn’t know it. Any anxiety attack I’ve ever had has been because of this same general trigger. For most people, it”s that way. Here’s a great worksheet I found you can download.

I hadn’t slept well. That’s always a heads up for me, but having not had an anxiety attack in many years, I wasn’t worried about it. But years of learning about my achilles heel meant I knew what to do.

Distraction to manage anxiety

Are you wondering if I stopped and prayed? Yes, I prayed, but not stopping to do so. I prayed as I implemented my very best coping mechanism, and one I wrote about in my first book, Depression Has a Big Voice. Make Yours Bigger! I even gave it a whole section of the book. It’s on my menu and it’s free to download.

It was distraction. I started straightening up, moving some things around, and stayed generally busy until it passed. Sometimes prayer doesn’t mean sitting down and using words. I’ll bet Jesus prayed while going about his normal day. Why wouldn’t he? That’s what “praying without ceasing” looks like. (Ist Thessalonians 5:17)

Rumination.

If you’re wondering what I was ruminating about, that I have to keep to myself. But let’s just say that I was borrowing a lot of trouble. Scripture is so clear about not worrying about the future, and yet it also says to plan for the future.

Trying to distinguish between planning and yet not worrying is very difficult to do, however. Where does the one end and the other begin?

I think I can tell you. When the planning for the future brings on anxiety or depression, then you’ve crossed over from “planning” to “worrying”.

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I know that’s what I did.

There is always a reason anxiety strikes.

Let me repeat something I’ve written about often, “There is always a reason our mood sinks. “Always”. But what happens so often is that by the time you realize how you’ve been thinking (worrying, ruminating), your mood is already in the tank.

Right?

So what do you do when you’ve already landed in that pit?

In the pit

The pit is a terrible place to be. Sometimes it can bring on depression if left untreated.

God bless.