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I have found that weight training really helps w/ reducing anxiety. Just going to the gym once a week has a big payoff.
I think it depends on the condition. For example if you’re neurodivergent it inherently is a big part of who you are like any other identifier such as being a woman. Externalizing is a way to cope with whatever is going on but also embracing it is indeed apart of your make up is also super empowering in and of itself
Exactly! I spent my whole life hiding it, but not realising I was hiding. Getting to own it, and acknowledge how it is a part of me and who I am is really freeing.
Agreed!
Accepting yourself is freeing. But anxiety is not an inherent part of neurodivergency. Its a common pathology that cokes with it, but it builds on it, not a part of it. Its important to know this.
@@olympiaelda1121 to be clear I was not lumping the 2 together but providing an adjacent example. That being said I’m not understanding the pertinence of adding any sort of differentiation here.
Yes, it’s important to not let a disorder, medical condition, abuse, distressing experiences become our identify and to become negative programming. 💜
I have been able to eliminate most of my anxiety by avoiding all stimulants in my diet — caffeine, chocolate (theobromine), energy drinks. After two weeks, you will feel much better. I rarely get a headache. In the morning, I’m fully refreshed when I roll out of bed. My mood is more even keeled throughout the day. My days are much more manageable even though I am in the middle of serious financial, family, and work problems. Eliminating these stimulants has definitely improved my life.
I agree. I am clinically depressed, but that’s not me, it’s just a part of me like playing the piano or being a bad baker. I need to be aware that that part of me exists to manage the consequences, but it’s not my whole identity.
I think part of this phenomenon is also a reaction to the fact that historically and still to a great extent psychological issues have been dismissed as laziness/inability/unwillingness .
I think we also live in a weird time where what would traditionally be viewed as “negative” traits are now valuable social currency. The more you have, the more “legitimate” you are, the more your voice matters. It’s pretty wild how intense it gets online.
As a therapist I am so glad you said this. This is a huge issue I have been noticing more and more from social media that is harmful and has so many repercussions in therapy. Social media encourages so much pathologizing and making diagnoses people do or don’t have a part of their identities.
Agreed. Also…. it helps if you rationalize with yourself that anxiety is something in life that will happen but that it is fleeting….it comes and goes. So knowing your triggers, having an action plan that is easy to remember in those first moments of identifying that you are in active anxiety and a routine for self care if it happens during or after an unexpected event or emergency situation. It basically helps me separate from carrying it with me throughout daily life but also not invalidate the fact that it happens to me in certain circumstances. It also makes me feel safe….that i can TRUST MYSELF…..to properly care for myself, mentally and emotionally, regardless of what happens in life. And i can move on from the anxiety of possibly freaking out or having a panic attack or mid life crisis meltdown lol ❤
So well said, I think in my youth I clung on to some of my diagnoses and now (also mid 30s) I see where it stemmed from but I don’t feel as though I need to wear it with pride every day
This is a great point. It is kind of like the body positivity types, like Lizzo, who are now losing weight and grappling with the identity crisis that is making your online persona about a mutable characteristic. Holding a disorder or condition as a tenet of your identity certainly seems like it would limit your ability (or maybe even desire) to manage it better. Especially if you’re part of an online community where you are valued based on the severity of your issues :/
Yes, this generation needs to stop this identity BS. It’s not posititve.
I totally agree. The amount of comments and people i hear talking about “my anxiety and/or depression” makes me so sad for them/upset because so many people in my life have used it as an excuse not to change and reflect, rather than recognising it as usually being a symptom of something else (and its usually 🙌traaauuumaaaaa🙌)
I think “trauma” has become one of these buzzwords as well
I would argue that the medical (insurance) system’s historical and ongoing insistence on labeling whole people “as” something in order to grant or deny needed treatment and support (or, historically, deny rights) is a big culprit, too. The idea that emotional and mental experiences define who you are comes from a history of categorizing deviant thought or behavior as intrinsic to someone in a shaming way, so those people could be excluded from society or fixed, or denied rights. Psychiatry and medicine hasn’t fully shed that attitude (and hasn’t fully stopped denying people rights) so I think we’re trying to mix those old ideas with modern ideas of acceptance in messy ways. For some people pride is necessary for survival because the oppression is still really bad for them. For others, requesting accomodations requires people to label themselves. And some people have just internalized these ideas from the past century or so of talking about it that way. I think it’s a messy point in history for all of this.
I think it depends on the condition. I don’t consider severe allergies and asthma to be part of my identity (even though they have both affected my life for decades) – they are just a thing I need to deal with and manage. On the other hand, I *do* consider asexuality and autism to be part of my identity – they are not things I need to “cure,” they’re just part of who I am. They are as much a part of my identity as being a Jewish woman is.
Love the hamza necklace!
I think it’s a natural progression over time. When we learn something new about ourselves that allows us more self-compassion and hope for healing, it becomes a huge part of our thoughts. Over time it’s less shiny and we learn better coping mechanisms (often as a result of the diagnosis). After that, it makes less sense to talk about and think about all the time. I don’t think it means that it’s wrong to have that initial reaction of incorporating it into your identity, but it’s also perhaps natural to move on from that.
For those who do see it as a persistently strong aspect of their identity, perhaps they are better equipped for activism.
I have had anxiety for most of my life. I’ve coped, holding down good jobs. Eventually, I could no longer function owing to things outside my control
. I was prescribed medication, ehivj helped enormously. Long story short – I’ve been in therapy to understand the WHY. I see it as part of who I am. I’ve come to accept these feelings and not suppress them, and I now feel more calm and at peace. Remember anxiety is a response to trauma. It is part of you, but it does not have to define you.
100% spot on!!!
I agree. These days embracing yourself has just gotten too far. It’s the same with obesity for example. there isn’t anything to embrace, even if someone feels good in their skin being obese is unhealthy, period! We just need to accept that we aren’t perfect and just be okay with it