Don’t worry, your not alone, I know what your feeling, I also know that it can get better. You may want to see a Councillor because anxiety usually has a trigger or a cause and one that is addressed it starts to get better. Just remember that your by no means alone.

Hi Mia,

I agree with you: you are not a “freak” and if it feels like anxiety, it is anxiety. When somebody says there is a “chemical imbalance” this does not mean you are broken, crazy or a freak. Chemical imbalances happen in all of us at times, it is these chemicals that shift our moods from happy to sad to angry to frustrated and so on. Physical changes overcome our body and so our moods manifest.

Some person’s moods shift much further, faster and harder than others. This is often due to the habits people have picked up through their lives in reacting to certain situations. It can also be because of our diet, drug use, medications, allergies (seasonal, food etc.), the weather and so on. There is ALWAYS a cause and effect, there is ALWAYS a reason why we feel the way we do. At first it is difficult to become present and pay close attention to our thoughts and feelings without judgment until we learn that this is the key way to figure out what is actually driving our moods, and why.

So, we need to figure out why these moods manifest first before we can treat them. We can do this by doing a full stocktake of our lives and situation:

- See a counselor and talk about the feelings and thoughts you get before/during/after these feelings arise. This is very important as these professionals can help us explore a part of ourselves that is difficult to do until we find guidance.

- Go and see a doctor, and get a full physical plus diet/allergy test. Get our blood checked, our hormones, our general health. Then, get an allergy check and see if we are allergic to certain foods/pollens etc.

- Cut our diet back to one that is pure and clean, basic. Just take in the ultra-healthy basics: lean organic meats/fish; organic veggies; organic fruits; green tea; lots of water etc. Cut out the junk.

- Start to pay attention to ourselves by practicing mindfulness. Watch for the onset of these thoughts/feelings, and see where they are coming from, and where they go to. Take a look: http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/health_articles/howtobringmoremindfulness

http://www.practicingmindfulness.com/

http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/practicing-mindfulness

- Read the stories of others and understand that you are NOT alone nor crazy. Anxiety is a very common condition, it is not permanent. It can be treated but we must work at finding the root cause and working through it daily.

You are NOT meant to have these thoughts nor hurt yourself. YOur mind may be convinced of this, but this has been conditioned into you by certain events in life and possibly helped along by a physical problem.

I wish you well, get started on getting to the bottom of this.

Steve