I have a voice in my head that almost constantly tells me how unhappy I am.
Ugh, I’m so unhappy. Oh my god, I’m so sad. Fuck, I’m so angry…
It whispers to me anytime there is a quiet moment that it can be heard.
Sometimes it tells me other things, like how much I hate stuff: myself, society, salad, the term High functioning anxiety [ref]Why do we need to specify that you’re high functioning? People with anxiety, as with any other illness, are not all the same and are on a spectrum of severity, it also varies within the person, sometimes they function well, sometimes they don’t.[/ref], Trump [ref]I’ve started ignoring the news again because it was sucking all of my emotional stores.[/ref]… It even tries to tell me I hate things that I love, like my husband and my job.
The thing is, most of it is a lie, or some kind of malicious power of suggestion: it’s only true if I listen to the voice.
There are strategies for dealing with the voice that I have been taught and some have become a habit, but others I need to review and practice. I will write about these in coming weeks.
The first one is to challenge the reality of those thoughts.
Pattye says
Looking forward to your thoughts. I have dealt with anxiety issues my whole life. I have learned over the years how to shut down the constant dialog in my head. The constant rehash, the woulda coulda shoulda… I am not always successful but if I can’t shut it down I can change the tone of it.
I turned off the news for 8 years while Bush was president. But this administration is a horror show i can’t avert my from.
Pattye says
Avert my eyes from…