Trapped in Anxiety

One of the harder things about anxiety for me has been a strangling sense of confinement. It is not a constant but instead something that builds and dissipates, sometimes quickly and other times slowly. As anxiety sets in there is a disengagement from normal or desired habits and patterns. 

The disengagement can be internal as you look at your current state while simultaneously longingly looking at whatever image you have of your normal self. Or it can be a disengagement from friends and family as anxiety consumes more and more head space, taking away energy that would normally be given towards those people. 

For me it has also happened in relationship to things that are normally life-giving and energizing. It is very difficult experience for me to not like the foods I normally like, enjoy the movies/entertainment I normally enjoy, or enjoy the social interactions that are so much a part of my life.

The sum of it all creates a very stifling sense of confinement. Within anxiety it is easy to feel trapped. No room to move, no where to stretch out and experience life. The world shrinks and everything in life appears as chaos and pressure. For me, as a Christ-follower, the only outlet in the hardest of times is the shaft of light and breath that comes from faith.

For those struggling with anxiety and for those trying to help, finding ways to increase the size of that outlet is of incredible importance. Pulling back those pressures, bringing clarity to the chaos, and bringing truthful perspective to the skewed perspectives created by anxiety allows the anxious soul to stretch and breathe and live again. 

Here are some of the battlefronts for me that I have discovered in the fight against anxiety. Each is a place where others have been able to help in breaking down the sense of the confinement. For those helping or loving a person struggling with anxiety make sure to avoid any sense of being patronizing. At least for me, my anxiety strengthens my radar for that kind of thing. Without further ado here are my five battlefronts for fighting anxiety:

• relational- Anxiety itself creates a desire to isolate oneself. Add in a sense of shame or stigmatization and the anxious person can quickly withdraw from their regular relational habits. Continued attempts to connect or hang out are very appreciated, even if not always accepted. Simply knowing someone knows, cares, and is praying is a tremendous gift of grace.
• personal- The truth helps a lot, especially about one's self. By that, I mean having true and accurate perceptions about situations, people, the world and self. Keep a list of things that you know to be true of life so that you can pull it out during hard times. For friends trying to help, point the anxious soul towards truth about life and different situations. Remind them of their kindness or sense of humor or their favorite foods or anything else that is true of them.
• physical- For me physical touch and exercise have been hugely helpful. A touch like a hug, pat on the back, back rub from my wife, use of a weighted blanket have been ways to reconnect with the present and with reality when I am feeling anxious. I wrestle my kids, get exercise, and find ways to get my body moving. Some days that extra exertion is beyond reach but that is where family have been a blessing with an extra hug or snuggle or reading a book together on the couch.
• mental- Keeping my mind active and engaged is very helpful in fighting anxiety. When anxiety is building I find that low stimulus or mindless kinds of activities are helpful. Listening to music, writing, drawing, doing puzzles, doing dishes, watching a movie, mowing the lawn, having a book read aloud, and similar things that require low physical activity and sometimes lower-level mental activity help keep the anxiety held at bay.
• spiritual- When things are not going well, there is a certain mental fog that settles in one's heart and mind that can make seeing or hearing truth difficult. Scripture tells us that the truth will set us free so finding ways to hear or graciously communicate truth is imperative to clearing some of the clutter and chaos that the anxious soul sees. Based on an anxiety coping technique that I mentioned in my previous post on anxiety I created a spiritual grounding technique that I have used to remind myself of spiritual truths. 
• 5-think of five things that you are thankful for
• 4-think of four promises of God or four truths about who you are in Christ
• 3-think of three stones of remembrance, points in your life where God showed up
• 2-think of two people you can talk with and have pray for you then do it
• 1-take action using one spiritual discipline that draws you closer to God

I hope that these posts are helpful as you help fight your own or someone else's anxiety. As this series of blog posts continues I'd love to hear feedback, questions, or ideas from others. Were in this battle together!