Support is key

Hello everyone!  Welcome back if you've been keeping up and welcome first timers.  So, support is key.  Reading some postings as of late, it seems that many people find a lack of support from their spouses or family if they choose to use medication for their anxiety.  Well, here's the deal, now remember, I'm not a doctor, but basically the chemicals in your brain are not functioning the way they are supposed to.  Taking a medication for anxiety is similar to taking insulin for a diabetic.  It something our body doesn't produce the right amount of.
My husband doesn't fully understand either.  More women suffer from anxiety than men.  My husband gets his "high" from doing extreme exercising - Ironman races, triathlons, and marathons.  It works great for him.  He can clear his mind while he's working his body.  And that may very well be the difference.  Men can compartmentalize way better than women.  I'm not saying that women can't, just in observation, it seems that men are better.  Women's brains are kinda like spaghetti junction.  Everything intermixes.  This is why I've never been good at yoga.  I spend the hour trying not to fall over and deciding what I have to do when I finish.  I need to learn to live in the moment...but I've just never been good at that.
The hubs, over the years, through  many ups and downs, and trials, has learned that, for me, medication is part of the routine for now.  Does he love it - no - but it's a necessity for the health and well-being of me, him and our family.
Anxiety, as well as depression and mania, is very hard to understand unless you have experienced. It has benefited us to be open and talk about it.  Originally, I used to feel like he was disappointed in me.  It wasn't something I could control.  I never thought this could happen. I never knew this kind of anxiety existed.  So, for better or for worse, he has learned.  And me thinking he was disappointed - really, it was me projecting.  I was disappointed in myself, because society told me that I let it happen.  And that I should be able to control it.
Support is key!  If it's not a spouse, a close friend.  A support group. Church.  www.adaa.org has lots of resources for support.  Check Facebook, Twitter.  There are affirmation Apps on your phone.
Once you have become okay with anxiety, it is easier to find support.  To accept help and to not project on the world around us.  Tell you spouse how you feel.  You can't argue with someone's feelings.  Embrace the anxiety.
Now, i'm not saying medication is the only way to go.  I have to layer good eating, exercise and medication to balance it out.  Sugar - especially processed - is anxiety's enemy.  It's  a killer, especially when you want that piece of cake or a cookie.  But once our diet is better, it does help us to feel better.  I did the 3-day sugar detox.  More on that coming up in the next post.
Smiles
~B