Healing Anxiety: A Switch Metaphor
The way things are wired in my head, I have to be careful. There are two switches side by side. The one on the right shuts off my ability to feel. Anything. The master shut-off, nuclear option. That one makes healing anxiety a challenge.
The switch on the left merely shuts off someone else’s ability to harm me. I think of that switch kind of like a well-chosen troll block on social media.
Both can be helpful when flipped intentionally. However, if I flip the one on the right and leave it on, I can too easily create extra suffering when it’s time to deal with whatever unpleasantness I was hoping to avoid.
The problem for me typically comes when fear has me grappling for switches in the dark and I end up snagging the master switch with a flailing arm on my downward spiral when the non-nuclear option would have been just fine.
This is how I see my generalized anxiety disorder. A result of mindlessly going nuclear too frequently and developing a sort of muscle memory for the nuclear switch.
The good news I see here is that it’s something I can learn not to do.
I was recently lamenting on Bluesky how waking up with my anxiety takes an expensive toll on my body—dizzyness, imbalance, shallow breathing, elevated heart rate, a deer-in-the-headlights paralysis, malaise. It sucks extra, starting every day like that.
I was offered empathy and hope from people who get it, and I’ve added a couple of recommendations to my Amazon wishlist that have the potential to help me. I started following a new account on Instagram too.
People reaching out to me when I’m struggling is helpful, and I blog pretty incessantly about my struggles because I think I can pay that kindness forward.
If you’re struggling with anxiety you do not have faulty wiring. You’re just a human being, and there’s another switch you can try.
Like this post? You might also like Review: Rewire Your Anxious Brain