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INTRODUCTION
This little book will help you to identify symptoms of anxiety and will also provide you with tools and techniques to enable you to cope with them effectively. Some level of anxiety is perfectly normal—useful, even. If you’re about to give a big presentation, then it would make sense for you to feel a bit jittery. But if you become fixated with anticipation, find yourself feeling sick for weeks before the date and end up staying at home because you feel so awful, then anxiety can be quite seriously detrimental. Following the advice in this book will help you to keep your anxiety at a healthy, manageable level.
Anxiety exists to make us vigilant against real-life threats; it is there for a reason, and makes us human. But for some people, living with overwhelming anxiety can feel scary or even life-threatening, and can lead to excruciating misery and suffering. Equally, low-level anxiety can cause long-term problems both at home and at work. This book won’t eradicate your anxiety, as anxiety is an essential part of your emotional and physiological equipment—it keeps you alive. However, this book will help you to notice, understand and cope with your anxiety so you can begin to get on with your life and live it the way you want to. We hope The Anxiety Journal will help you to find a calm, peaceful place in your life.
WHAT DOES ANXIETY FEEL LIKE?
Take a moment to think about what happens to you when you feel anxious. Have you ever experienced any of the following symptoms? Feel free to circle them. Perhaps you have other symptoms too. Sometimes you can experience a symptom completely randomly, as if out of nowhere, which can be very confusing.
You might feel:
• jittery
• dizzy
• panicky
• shaky
• numb
• irritable
• cold, shivery, with goosebumps
• hypervigiliant
• as though you want to hurt yourself, or even suicidal
You might also experience:
• an inability to speak
• random, flitting thoughts
• repetitive thoughts that you can’t turn off
• insomnia
• a need to sleep in the daytime
• panting
• trembling
• breathlessness or a tight chest
• a racing heart
• a dry mouth
• a clenched jaw
• clammy hands
• tingling feet or hands
• sensitive skin
• headaches or migraines
• nausea
• vomiting
• difficulty relaxing
• difficulty staying still
• a desire to excessively bite your nails or your lips, pick your scabs or scratch your skin
• sensitivity to light and sound
