Anxiety is a strange thing. Your body sends a signal to your mind that something is very wrong, but nothing is actually wrong. How does anxiety even do that?! For me, I'm sure I got it from my Nonna, who worries constantly. I've also heard I wear my heart on my sleeve and that doesn't help either. I love caring for people, even more than myself sometimes, but slowly and surely, I'm learning that putting yourself first isn't such a bad thing after all. For one post only, let me invite you into the realm of my anxiety... |
But even the antics of Cam and Mitchell didn't calm me down nearly enough. I slept 30 minutes on, 10 minutes awake for the rest of the night until I decided to wake up at 7 or 8.
From there, counselling, asking friends for help, even alcohol (bad, bad, bad university Margaret) were my coping methods for a year or so, until my first boyfriend and I broke up and I spiralled into a very bad mess. My anxiety got worse, counselling was frustrating because, being socially awkward me, I didn't quite know how to phrase my thoughts and feelings. More often than not, we didn't even discuss my anxiety and talked about relationships, school, family, friends. Nothing that triggered anxiety.
That summer I went to a doctor. I started getting small anxiety attacks (sharp pain in chest, tightening in chest) during work. The doctor said I had generalized anxiety disorder (he guessed, there isn't really a way to diagnose anxiety) and gave me a prescription. After researching and freaking out, I decided not to fill it because of side effects. I don't need anti-depressants, I needed a way to stop worrying. I wasn't depressed; my body was doing strange things and I needed that to stop. So I cut out most sugar and pop from my diet, ate better, exercised when I could, reflected more often.
Most of that worked out for a while. I occasionally had the small panic attack, especially when dating or running around during jazz festival, but that was pretty typical.
Fast forward to this past summer: I'm introduced to young living. Hurray! One of the first things I purchased was the stress-away roll on so it could go right into my purse. That blend gets rid of my stress and anxiety within 5 minutes of inhaling and rolling on my wrists. Valor on the back of the neck, joy on the heart and stress away on the wrists is a trio for everyday or job interviews, new social interactions, and just very long days. Peace and calming is a go to when I wake up in the middle of the night, heart pulsing and arms tingling. I inhale, put a few drops on my chest and I'm fine to sleep again. Progessence phyto plus has helped me be more of myself without the anxiety and had instilled confidence in me again; something I haven't felt since high school rocking out in band and choir. You may think these oils are voodoo, but you have to try it out in order to believe it yourself. I am so happy to have found an natural and healthy way to treat my anxiety that has no side effects (other than getting rid of stress!) and has saved me hours of worrying and money from re-filling my prescriptions.