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Stopping the Anxiety Spiral Before It Starts
When meditation and self-care fail, it’s time to do one thing
My freshman year in high school, I earned an “A” in advanced geometry the first semester. The second semester I earned a “D”.
I didn’t know it then, but during my freshman year, I entered an anxiety spiral that led to self-destructive behavior that could have killed me.
I’m almost 43 years old now. I didn’t get an anxiety diagnosis until I was 32 — it came as a complete shock to me. But, after having lived with the diagnosis for a decade, I often look back at my past and see times where I was clearly struggling with mental illness.
The Tension is Building
I can sense when an anxiety spiral is coming. It feels like a spring being wound tighter and tighter in my chest and in my brain. It feels like at any moment the spring will reach a point where it cannot be wound any tighter, and it will uncoil in an explosion.
An anxiety spiral is different from an anxiety attack. It isn’t a single incident. It’s a change in my mood and ability to function that can last weeks or months. When I’m in a spiral, I feel worse the harder I try to break the cycle.
