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There Are Two Kinds of Anxiety (The Simple Truth)
And two ways to deal with them
We don’t like anxiety like we don’t like an alarm clock at 4 a.m. It screams you have to do something asap and even though you know you won’t die, you still lose your cool and can’t think straight.
But not all anxieties are alike. You can divide them into two categories:
- the fear
- and the overwhelm.
And here’s what they are in more detail and how to approach them.
The fear
The first kind of anxiety is dread — when you expect something dangerous is going to happen. But the danger is never there.
I used to be so afraid of a blood test as if it were the worst thing in the world. Oh, the excruciating wait for the needle to get inserted into the vein (and sometimes the needles were thick), the pain that lasted longer than when you count to three, the sight of the blood withdrawn into a syringe, and my possible fainting (it never happened though).
Bruises after the test meant my body was hurt or in other words — damaged. Danger also lay in the smell of alcohol, the tinkling sound of the metal equipment, and the wait before the technician took the needle out.
Until I went on an infertility treatment and couldn’t avoid it. As a result of many encounters with the pointed devil, the fear subsided. Nowadays I just get the thing done and remember the intensity of that fear only when I see young girls fainting on the lab chair. To overcome anything, you are more powerful than you think.
And it all starts from you.
How to fix anxiety of danger that isn’t there
The reason I get a blood test and a shift of attention have changed my perspective. If you go through fear repeatedly, you overcome it. Along the way, your awareness is key.
