It was February 14th, 2019 when I had my first run in with anxiety. I had been in this situation a million times before, I live in NY for pete's sake, driving down a street with cars on either side of me is an everyday. But this time was different a need to escape and a feeling of being trapped came over me like a wave. The crazy thing was as soon as there was a free side on the street the feeling left as quickly as it came. "What was that?" "That definitely wasn't one of my normal feelings." The next day the same thing happened just under different circumstances. About a month later... I had a full blown anxiety attack, this time I was crying in church during setup. That's when I realized... this isn't going away. That was about 10 months ago so I've learned to live with it and how to talk myself off proverbial ledges I've created.
I've been able to identify my triggers and the feeling of an onset attack.
My Main Triggers:
- Important Meetings or Events
- Overcrowding While at Work
What Helps:
- Communicating that I'm on the verge. In a nice way of course
- Talk through it with a friend
- Talk through it with myself. "Is what I'm worried about real?" "Everything will work out" Everything is ok"
It doesn't happen with one statement to myself or even 10. It may take up to 30 mins or even longer but eventually I'm calm, well most times. The times it doesn't work... I allow myself to go through the emotions until they pass. Sometimes that includes crying other times it doesn't. Each time its different but familiar at the same time. I do feel as though my Vitamin D Deficiency caused the onset of my anxiety. But watch below for more on my anxiety and how I live with it.