Understanding the Impact of Anxiety on Sleep
Many nights, I lay awake for hours before falling asleep. I attribute this to my Anxiety and all its “friends” when it happens. My Anxiety sometimes gets out of control to the point where it is hard to accomplish much of anything for a while. Most days, I can keep stress and friends under control. I can manage my Anxiety with the tools I have learned.
Living with Lifelong Anxiety
Since I have dealt with my Anxiety for my entire life, I have realized that Anxiety occurs now and again. Anxiety has friends, and they will come along for the ride. I continue to battle Anxiety and all its friends as they pop up and emerge in my life.
Hallmark Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders have hallmark symptoms. Some of these symptoms include irrational fears, rumination, and perseveration. A more severe sign of Anxiety is a full-blown panic attack. Regardless of the symptoms, they are all disruptive of pleasurable moments in our lives.
The Challenges of Mismanaged Anxiety
Anxiety can be excruciating and awful when mismanaged. It is frustrating and agitating and can even lead to a psychiatric hospital. Thank goodness, with the help of my psychiatrists and therapists, I never had to be hospitalized for my anxiety diagnosis.
Unfortunately, I know plenty of folks hospitalized because of their anxiety disorder.
Anxiety’s Effect on Social Interactions
Anxiety can get out of control. Anxiety can also complicate our social worlds when interacting with friends and colleagues. For example, other students and colleagues might struggle with their Anxiety. Stress has the uncanny knack of tapping our shoulders and finding a way to enter people’s lives.
Rumination and Anxiety: Understanding the Difference
The OCD and Anxiety Center defines rumination as being fixated on a negative thought or idea. Rumination is not quite the same as an anxiety disorder. Rumination is a co-occurring symptom of General Anxiety (GAD) and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Rumination can be dangerous for your mental health. When a person ruminates, the thought can become intensified. Negative thoughts, intensified, can impair your ability to think and process emotions and may cause isolation and uncontrollable anger.
Perseveration: Another “Friend” of Anxiety
Another “friend” Anxiety is perseveration. The OCD and Anxiety Center defines perseveration as repeating or prolonging an action, thought, or utterance, usually to an extreme degree or beyond a desired point. Perseveration is different from rumination. Clinically, perseveration occurs during changes in cognitive abilities such as memory, attention, and mental acuity.
Coping with Holding Patterns and Unanswerable Questions
When I am anxious, people like myself get stuck and fall into a holding pattern. Often, this is because I am pursuing answers to often unanswerable questions. Another way of conceptualizing this is to seek the truth of something that frequently has unknowable truths and gets stuck. People that deal with perseveration might struggle with managing stress, processing information, and shifting attention.
Recommendations for Managing Anxiety
There are coping mechanisms for individuals who feel overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious.
Sometimes, you can prevent these symptoms from getting worse. Anxiety, fear, rumination, and perseveration can begin and end with you. Make managing Anxiety your goal and adhere to your conviction. Do not let the “ifs” in life and unknowns fill your day. Begin with goal setting. Decide that your dreams are worth fighting for, and follow your plan.
Embracing Disruptions as Opportunities
Rumination, fear, perseveration, and other anxieties are not only very unproductive distractions, but they are unavoidable and unpreventable. Fortunately, various kinds of disruptions are manageable and can serve as an asset that drives our progress toward our goals—choosing to adhere to your dreams and belief in joy creates peace of mind. Doing what you want in life is a positive and beneficial mindset.
Taking Positive Steps Forward
Take positive steps to reduce ruminations by identifying your holding pattern. Holding patterns are unbearable and use too much mental energy. Try to make your thoughts and thinking more accessible. Managing your rumination is simple when you have more immediate access to your thinking. When you can manage your symptoms more readily, enhanced insight will follow, along with the hurtful distraction of Anxiety.
Ultimately, the fundamental objective is to move forward in your recovery. While your anxieties might return, hopefully, they will return with less intensity and less frequently. For now, begin with focusing on the first step. Every journey starts with one step.
Author Info:
Howard Diamond
Certified Peer Specialist from Long Island.
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