Today I thought of putting together a list of fears and issues that fuel your anxiety and hold you back from living a fulfilling life.
1) The Fear Of Dying
This fear was huge for me and for those who experience health anxiety. When the panic attack hit me, I was afraid of dying. I was afraid that I would pass out or that I was having a heart attack. Most of the time, people would go to the emergency room because they were afraid something was seriously wrong with them. Panic attacks occur due to the fact that you have lots of repressed emotional issues that you have not dealt with yet. When you can face your panic attacks head on and ride the wave of panic, meaning not running to the emergency, or phoning up people for reassurance, then the change in your mind will occur. When I say change, I mean over time when you keep facing your panic attacks head on, you will become more desensitized to the fear of dying and panic attacks itself. Then, your brain will start thinking that there is no need to worry because you have not died from these sensations before.
2) The Fear Of Change
On the road to recovery, your body will go through some pain. Your old anxious self will not want this change and will do whatever it takes to stay in the same state. You conditioned yourself to the same thought patterns and feelings for many years so why do you think it will be easy? It takes time, and when you completely change your habits and ways of thinking, then the true realizations and enlightenments will come about in your life.
3) Not Dealing With Emotional Issues
When I went through my recovery, the amount of past emotional issues that I have not dealt with yet astounded me. I started experiencing panic attacks around 10 years old and my beliefs stuck around with me ever since. I used to have fears of not getting enough sleep as a kid and I would stay up at night in a worried state. I would develop bad habits over time where I would play video games late at night and consume too much television. I would develop fears of not being accepted when I was in school and I started feeling like I was an outsider. There are a lot of past beliefs that you carry around from your childhood that affect you deeply as an adult. These beliefs cause a lot of negative thinking patterns that result in too much bad habits such as overeating, junk foods, drugs, alcohol and negative friends that result in panic attacks.
4) The Fear Of Failing
I used to stay stagnant in my life because I had a big fear of leaving my comfort zone. I was afraid of what others thought if I was to go in this direction or that direction in life. I was afraid of losing friends and cared too much on what others thought of me. But the reality is, we all came to this planet as a blank slate. We developed these negative thinking patterns from our parents and other people. The beliefs that we carry, that affect our lives in a negative way, were engrained in us from our spongey minds as children. When we start changing our lifestyle patterns around, we start changing the way we think. When we find new role models, and leave the negative friends and people that bring us down, change will take place.
5) The Fear Of Your Sensations
These sensations that you are experiencing in your body such as the body zaps, pains, and strange sensations in your arms are caused from panic. When you experience them, you instantly think the worst and you immediately start to panic. I used to run away from them. If they arose, I would get up and leave the situation I am in, or call people up and look for reassurance. This will not get rid of them. Like I said before, its about riding the wave. Your thoughts are not who you are and you developed them over a long period of time. When I was in elementary school, I started developing a really bad habit. I remember calling my mom up because I thought a little bump near my jaw was a tumour or something bad. It would bother me for the whole day. So whenever I experienced health anxiety, I phoned up my parents for reassurance. Do you see how far back these bad thinking patterns can go?