Um, this is kind of blowing my mind. I'm ten minutes away from a consultation with a new therapist who I'm hoping can help me heal from a decades old phobia of getting cancer. I have a 19 month old son, and my birth experience was traumatic, and something I still haven't dealt with. I've also known several people under the age of 40, and in some cases under 30 who were diagnosed with cancer. Some who made it through to the other side, and others who didn't. But these experiences have created space for my fear to develop into a full blown, physical manifestation of panic and deep phobia. I cannot get a normal blood pressure reading in a doctors office, my eye twitches and my chest gets perpetually tight in one spot when I'm in a panic flare up, and the mental toll is absolutely devastating. It ebbs and flows, and I'm able to have stretches of "peace," but the triggers are always lurking around the corner. Thank you for talking about this. I'd love to learn more about your experience with healing.
I hope your new therapist is able to provide some measure of comfort to you! At the end of the day, of course, we end up healing ourselves, but a good therapist is an invaluable guide along the path to recovery.
This is so spot on. The first symptom I had was a cramp in my hand that started during a psych class. It got worse the more I tried to write and ignore it. Along with that I had just had a baby, also a 2 yr old and loads of anger at my husband for not helping out. I think I just turned my anger inward and tried to succeed at everything no matter the circumstances. Then one day I woke up with muscle spasms on the whole right side of my body. I got so tired and miserable that I gave up my dream of finishing college. I struggled for a few more years trying to balance work, school and kids. and that crushed me. I became scared of everything and my world became smaller and smaller.
I know that feeling well! Symptoms can be so frightening that it feels like the only natural reaction is to resist them at every turn — like you’re at war with your own body. Of course, that’s exactly the reaction that digs the symptoms in even more deeply.
The most difficult part of recovery is, to me, the recognition that you need to do the opposite — let go, let the symptoms take hold, let them fill up your entire mental landscape. If you can do so all while reminding yourself that they’re not a threat, they just start to melt off your body. Sounds simple… doesn’t make it easy, though!
Um, this is kind of blowing my mind. I'm ten minutes away from a consultation with a new therapist who I'm hoping can help me heal from a decades old phobia of getting cancer. I have a 19 month old son, and my birth experience was traumatic, and something I still haven't dealt with. I've also known several people under the age of 40, and in some cases under 30 who were diagnosed with cancer. Some who made it through to the other side, and others who didn't. But these experiences have created space for my fear to develop into a full blown, physical manifestation of panic and deep phobia. I cannot get a normal blood pressure reading in a doctors office, my eye twitches and my chest gets perpetually tight in one spot when I'm in a panic flare up, and the mental toll is absolutely devastating. It ebbs and flows, and I'm able to have stretches of "peace," but the triggers are always lurking around the corner. Thank you for talking about this. I'd love to learn more about your experience with healing.
I hope your new therapist is able to provide some measure of comfort to you! At the end of the day, of course, we end up healing ourselves, but a good therapist is an invaluable guide along the path to recovery.
This is so spot on. The first symptom I had was a cramp in my hand that started during a psych class. It got worse the more I tried to write and ignore it. Along with that I had just had a baby, also a 2 yr old and loads of anger at my husband for not helping out. I think I just turned my anger inward and tried to succeed at everything no matter the circumstances. Then one day I woke up with muscle spasms on the whole right side of my body. I got so tired and miserable that I gave up my dream of finishing college. I struggled for a few more years trying to balance work, school and kids. and that crushed me. I became scared of everything and my world became smaller and smaller.
I know that feeling well! Symptoms can be so frightening that it feels like the only natural reaction is to resist them at every turn — like you’re at war with your own body. Of course, that’s exactly the reaction that digs the symptoms in even more deeply.
The most difficult part of recovery is, to me, the recognition that you need to do the opposite — let go, let the symptoms take hold, let them fill up your entire mental landscape. If you can do so all while reminding yourself that they’re not a threat, they just start to melt off your body. Sounds simple… doesn’t make it easy, though!