RC/3 Anxiety

Slightly new format for this blog, from now on. Instead of long-winded titles I will be writing the intro in full with Shortened Titles. I.e. this one is a related conditions blog so I call it RC/3 Related Conditions / Blog Number 3 Anxiety. I hope you all find this change OK, it is just because I am writing so many blogs at the minute It helps me to focus and be more concise with titles.

I feel a bit nervous writing this post.  I feel nervous about this whole series really. I mean don’t get me wrong , I find learning new things about autism really interesting. But this series it is touching areas of my life that I never really  realised how deeply some of these issues affected me  like anxiety for example.  Ok headspace I really need you to focus.

What is Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of unease, worry or fear. Everyone feels anxious at some point in their life, but for some people it can be an ongoing problem.

Symptoms

There are two different types of symptom. There are those that are physical and those that are more pyschological.

The physical symptoms include

• a pounding heartbeat
• breathing faster
• palpitations (an irregular heartbeat)
• feeling sick
• chest pains
• headaches
• sweating
• loss of appetite
• feeling faint
• needing the toilet more frequently
• “butterflies” in your tummy

The physcological symptoms include

• feeling worried or uneasy a lot of the time
• having difficulty sleeping, which makes you feel tired
• not being able to concentrate
• being irritable
• being extra alert
• feeling on edge or not being able to relax
• needing frequent reassurance from other people
• feeling tearful

Anxiety can happen for a range of reasons and people with autism or Asperger syndrome can vary in their ability to cope with it.

Me? I do suffer from a mild case of anxiety I would get exteremly shy in social situations and kind of close off and this makes it hard for me to make friends which makes me more anxious that I am always going to be alone. It is a vicious cycle. But I work everyday to overcome it. I know a little anxiety is perfectly normal its when the anxiety and panic attacks that really scare me. One of my favorite youtubers suffer from it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-iNOFD27G4 She actually made a video talking about it. And Zoella I am so proud of you.

I have a one note diary set up to help me manage my issues. My anxiety section is set up with a table which looks like this.

Since so many of us use either Google or Outlook as our email providers, and a lot of us have smart phones would it not be a good idea to have it set up in your phone so you can automatically record how you feel.

If anxiety gets the better of you it can lead to serious health problems.

I have created a few resources to  help you document your feelings. I will ask that when you are using it. You save a copy to your own files files so that nothing gets changed for others using it. http://1drv.ms/1R1gekX That is the link to my excel book Self Help Worksheets. As I create more I will be adding more worksheets.

Although the best way I can recommend to get help is talk, talk is always the best way to understand your problems.