With anxiety we can use different words that describe our experience of it. Our personal experiences are just that – personal. And yet, there is a familiarity / connection when we deeply listen to each other.
TYPE 1
“When I feel anxiety, I feel it sort of like pins and needles across my chest and arm pits. Breathing moves to my chest. My heart feels like a brick. Throbbing in ears (especially with AirPods in) and clenched jaw. My shoulders rise hunched and get tight. In my head, I’m thinking “everything I do/done is wrong”.
TYPE 2
“I typically experience anxiety throughout my nervous system. Often all over my body like a “stress blanket”. It’s a heat sensation, a prickly sensation and it can be a heaviness too. I feel it mostly on my chest and thighs, a bit on my stomach and arms. My limbs get heavy. But depending on the situation and who is involved, it can be anywhere connected to my nervous system – parts of the head, or my throat, etc. If it lasts for days such as with a very bad situation, it will settle in my lower back (unless I physically burn it off with exercise).”
TYPE 3
“When I have anxiety, my stomach constantly feels like it’s in my chest and my heart is racing. I can’t focus, my mind is racing and I’m extremely jittery. Sometimes I have to walk in circles to calm down. I also feel like I can’t/and won’t be able to get anything done. Like a hopeless feeling of being stuck and having no way out. This also feeds into an ultimate anxiety of me feeling I won’t be able to achieve or accomplish anything in my life.
TYPE 4
“I experience anxiety like a constant shifting between all of my body parts- nothing stays still- so I often grow extremely fidgety and usually don’t make eye contact.” I recently drew a picture of myself at the bottom of a cup looking up at fizzy water with bubbles rising to the surface. That’s what my anxiety looks like when it is really intense. Heart: embarrassed, raw, or closed Mind: scattered, fearful, like being pulled underwater and not knowing which direction is up or down.
TYPE 5
“What makes me nervous is that people will not like what I have written or what I say or the project I propose. It is quite an annoying feeling because it slows down the process of sharing what has been drafted and acquiring input essential to completing projects in a good way. This feeling is accompanied by: tingling in the front of my head; restless feet which includes curling toes and tapping feet; and shame in my heart that this isn’t good enough and I’m not good enough.”
TYPE 6
“When anxious the first thing I notice is that I take a quick, shallow breath. I notice my heart beating faster and my arms tighten around me as if I’m holding myself in or bracing for something to happen.”
TYPE 7
“When I feel anxiety, I feel contracted, fast, short breath, amped up, overwhelm, clamped down chest/heart, sharp but scattered focus in thoughts and actions. Push energy. “life is hard” :)”
TYPE 8
“I experience anxiety with a lot in the body. My stomach will start to tighten to squeeze making it feel like my insides are constricting. I usually have a tendency for my throat to feel like there is something in it, again constricting me. Once I notice I am in anxiety my head goes through whatever plans or tricks it can think of to try to get me out but the key is in being aware and noticing.”
TYPE 9
“I feel anxious when I’m “in the way” of others, which is ultimately believing I don’t deserve to take up space. In everyday life this looks like driving with hyper-awareness of my speed and position to other cars, when I am in the grocery store, I make sure I’m not blocking an aisle or taking too long to pick a product. I feel extremely anxious if I’m late for an appointment, and it takes a lot to send back a meal that’s not right.”
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