Tag: Fear

Unusual anxiety symptoms

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Most of us who dwell in this space, having anxiety, we are very familiar with symptoms, causes, effects, so on. There are of course other ways in which anxiety manifests itself within us and others and for those of us not working on our anxiety awareness or on the fringes of the issue some of these manifestations are hidden within other issues. I found a good article here That discusses some of the unusual symptoms.

From the article: “If you have an anxiety disorder and you’re experiencing a strange symptom — especially one your doctor can’t explain — you might feel relieved to know that your anxiety could be causing it. Whether it’s a somatic symptom or an emotion that doesn’t seem connected to anxiety at first, tying these mysterious symptoms to a known cause could help you manage them.”

The article goes on to illustrate several examples, 9 in total some of which I have myself. Now anyone of these can be attributed to other things. AS an example Tinnitus is cited as one unusual symptom of Anxiety. I myself suffer from this but I believe completely its due to the fact that 30 years ago in the hazy 80’s and 90’s I was a committed concert goer. That doesn’t mean it’s not worse when my anxiety flares but these are not absolutes and shouldn’t be take that way.

Even a thick skin has cracks.

Example, the article talks about chest pains. It may in fact be as a result of anxiety but that’s not something you should screw around with you. You get chest pain checked out quickly and let a cardiologist determine if it’s a cardiovascular issue or not. The article is not without its merits though. Again for someone who is not as invested into Anxiety this may be an extremely helpful look at what might be causing their specific issue.

If you have an ailment, ringing in the ears, aches in your joints, constant stuffy nose you should be pursuing knowledge to determine what is going on and why. The more educated we become in our own health (physical and mental) the better advocates we become for ourselves and the more we can help shape health outcomes for others.

Mental health issues are at the forefront of healthcare now as we come off a pandemic. It may very well be that you have anxiety and or acute anxiety and you aren’t alone. Maybe one of the symptoms listed in the article applies to you? If so get it checked out, don’t be bashful or ashamed here. The sooner you can get a reasonable diagnosis as to what is wrong the sooner you can start work on solving the issue or at least coming to a place in your life where you can live with it.

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Reintegration fears

Posted on by Karac Avalron

The vaccine has been out now for a while, millions of people have been vaccinated (myself included) it’s now time to discuss materially reopening a reintegration back to the way things used to be. Yes, that means removing mask mandates, restrictions on gathering, penalties and the vast government dip into its citizen’s civil liberties.

As more and more vaccines happen it becomes harder and harder to make the argument for quarantine protocols. At some point we are all going to have to agree, regardless of where you fall on Covid, that it’s time to move back to a pre covid world. For those of us with anxiety? That’s another potentially crippling outcome. It’s not the fear of reintegration exclusively, its everything else that goes with it. I found a good article here that talks about some of these issues.

From the article: “Fear is normal. You and I are supposed to fear the virus because it’s dangerous. The difference, however, in terms of developing a psychopathological response is whether you end up behaving in … overly safe ways that lock you into the fear,” said Spada. “My expectation is we’re going to have … chunks of the population that are avoiding re-engagement and constantly worrying about the virus for months to come, whether they are vaccinated or not.”

This has the potential to be a serious issue not just for those who are in fear of reintegration but for everyone else who is striving to return to normalcy. There is no “new normal” only normal and the problem has always been what is normal for you might not be normal for me. I’m not proposing that anyone’s fears, or desire to get things back to normal are wrong. What I am saying is we potentially have a large chunk of the world population who will be living in fear for years to come.

Fear is devastating, regardless of the source.

Is it irrational? Not to them and that’s why we all have to do the best we can to make sure we create the safest environment possible. The quickest way to achieve this is getting the vaccination. I am no vaccine advocate I don’t believe personally that anyone should be forced to do anything. That said Covid has taken on a social and political life of its own and when you argue (whatever side you are on) over the solution it makes it extremely difficult to move forward.

There will always be people who chose to live in fear. There will always be people who have no choice but to live in fear because of their anxiety. There will always be people who will never accept government mandates. It’s never going to be perfect and there is always going to be risk. Covid has made many entities (media, pharmaceutical companies) way too much money to ever go away completely.

That said we can do our part one person at a time. If you can get vaccinated it, do it. If you can help someone get vaccinated do it. At some point in the future so many people will be vaccinated the fear should subside. Something else will present itself, it always does but for now, if you are still in fear you have my empathy. Many of us are doing the right thing and getting vaccinated, things are getting better you have to prepare for the next phase, reintegration.

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Pushing fear for views-Dorian

Posted on by Karac Avalron

If you were in the U.S. this week you saw or heard about hurricane Dorian. This post is more of an editorial/opinion piece but it’s important to get it out there. Many in the media use fear to drive views. I know I’m not going out on a limb here, as a blogger there is always an element of “click bait” in what you do. That said the fear mongering can add to your anxiety levels. First, a hurricane should be taken seriously if its heading toward you don’t ignore it.

Second and most importantly don’t be pulled into the fear. Over and over they will play horrific scenes of damage and past disasters to emphasize the potential of this storm. This is partially to serve you as a consumer, they want to give you information. It’s also partially to scare you so that you will tune in to the next broadcast.

As a person with anxiety this can really affect you negatively. When you are hearing reports of pending doom your mind races. It’s not enough you have your other triggers to deal with but now there is a “monster” storm pending. It’s an extremely hard thing to qualify, meaning I can’t in good conscience tell you to ignore the news, but we do have to temper the news.

The best way to handle hurricanes and weather events is to watch your local news cast. They are going to use fear to drive views as well but when they get to the facts its going to be most applicable to you. If you surf the web, you’re going to see all sorts of horror stories, and they are real. Stay local, use common sense and really focus on your immediate safety.

While this wasn’t my most eloquent post, I was compelled to produce it because after being bombarded this weekend with “pending” hurricane devastation I found myself really bummed out. Remember, it’s okay to take world news to heart, its okay to have an emotional reaction but remember come back to center and focus on your LOCAL and IMMEDIATE surroundings.

If you are in this storms path be safe.