Hi guys so I thought I'd do a little update on my anxiety and how things have been progressing for me over the past couple of months.
So back in June I wrote a post on how I had started to take medication to deal with my anxiety and how it was really helping to prevent panic attacks. I'll link that post here.
Its been 6 months since I wrote that post and I'd like to think i've come a long way! In no way am I saying i'm cured or that i've completely got rid of my anxiety but I'm able to manage it a lot better and i'm not letting it affect my day to day life as much.
So back in August I met my lovely boyfriend. Unfortunately we live 4 hours apart and therefore that involves a lot of travelling to see each other. The thought of getting on a four hour train journey on my own was pretty scary I'm not going to lie. But I just kept thinking of getting to see my boyfriend and that what pushed me through it. On that first trip I did get some anxiety but I made sure to have lots of programmes downloaded on my phone to distract me and to make the journey go quicker. Being in a city i'd never been to before and only knowing my boyfriend there further added to the anxiety but he was really supportive and his family also made me feel very welcome. I did get a small panic attack whilst on a bus as we used a lot of public transport and the feeling of being trapped gave me some anxiety. During that time I just focused on breathing and the end result of when we got off.
Since then I've done many more train journeys with no trouble. I think it's because its quite the norm now just to get on a train and I know i'll be alright. The big tester however was getting on the plane to go on our family trip this past November. Usually I get very anxious on the days leading up to the journey but surprisingly I was feeling quite calm. I'm not sure if this was down to my daily medication I take for my anxiety of if it's thanks to the hypnotherapy I had earlier in the year which focused heavily on flying. Either way right up to and including the flight I felt pretty calm despite our flight being delayed. I am really happy to say I went through both flights ( there and back) without having a panic attack! It did feel like a small miracle to be honest. I mainly watched films on the flight and didn't even need to use the colouring book I brought with me which I've had to use in previous journeys. One thing my boyfriend did for me which I found really helpful was he recorded voice messages for me to help calm me down if I was feeling anxious at any point. It was really reassuring to hear is voice and I could listen to them discreetly without anyone knowing what I was feeling.
Since then I have had a little bit of anxiety as I have been quite ill of late therefore it did upset it a little. Aside from that I am feeling a lot better and am feeling positive for the new year.
I've filmed a corresponding video which I will link below. There will also be another anxiety post coming up soon which focuses on how to help someone with anxiety so stay tuned for that.
Until next time, Sophie x
