“Are You Anxious?”

Lifting The Lid On CBT Therapy - Part 1

Prior to Christmas I finally started undergoing a set block of 4 sessions devoted to CBT - prescribed due to anxiety significantly causing the symptoms of vestibular migraine to be out of control. I kept a diary and notes of each session for this newsletter, to lift the lid on what this has been like - this is part 1.

Just because you wear it well does not mean it is not heavy.

Sometimes it’s the overly earnest need to make people laugh that hides a simpler truth; it covers up the terror underneath. I have said ‘I’m anxious’ for many years now - especially when it comes to banding around services said to help so called ‘vulnerable’ (yuck, hate the classism of this word) adults. It’s gone unheeded, replaced by the ‘helpful’ aphorisms: “just stop worrying”, “don’t be anxious.”

Worry doesn’t come nearly packaged - but that’s the expectation: “we’re not worrying about that now.” The ongoing illness from Covid 19 has a huge weight - I haven’t been able to speak to it yet. But here we are at last.