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Checking In

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by Tab Moura

I feel like it goes without saying, that anxiety has been a regular part of existing this year. Not the clinical kind, per say, but a very valid presentation of self-preservation while navigating a tricky situation.

A very wise person once told me, “there’s anxiety, and there are limbic responses.” Anxiety may say “there could be a snake in this grass, snakes like the grass, I want to avoid the grass.” A limbic response would be, “When I was walking through the grass, I jumped as I saw the garden hose, because I thought it was a snake.”

Whether you have already tested positive, or fear the day you could, what we have in common is this lingering fear of “what if?” We feel anxiety about the future, trying to balance moving toward the future, while simultaneously inspecting the grass at our feet for snakes.

While Covid is new, this tedious balance is not new for so many of us… and I’ve found that those who aren’t familiar with anxiety have had the added challenge of learning to take a mental-health inventory for the first time

One does not simply power through anxiety, not only can it wreak havoc on your social life, but it can actually have detrimental impacts on your physical health; and this is no time to let physical health slide.

 

  • So where is your anxiety these days, on a scale of 1-10?
  • Do you have any new limbic responses this year? (Maybe locking up if someone walks close to you, startling easily even when you are alone, etc)
  • Do you feel over/under-reactive when discussing stuff you care about?

These could all be signs that you are having a perfectly normal response to a stressful situation, but when a threat hangs around for weeks and months at a time, it can lead to having complex stress responses.

I’m not a therapist, so none of this is meant to be diagnostic, it’s an invitation to check in with yourself. We know that in a situation where an individual is in close proximity with a stressor (both physical or emotional) there can be what’s called complex stress responses.

Complex stress responses are different from an acute stress responses: complex stress is when you have been exposed to multiple stressful events, with no clear epicenter, and acute stress is when a singular event sets off a chain reaction of stress responses. Both situations could produce similar emotional responses, and limbic reactions… but both deserve resources and support in order to find a healthy baseline.

Instead of asking what you are willing to do, because I know that can feel daunting, I have an assignment for you. Wherever you are, I challenge you to take 5 deep breaths, and identify 4 things you can see, 3 things you feel, 2 things you hear, 1 thing you can taste.

I know, this feels simple, and the stress and anxiety you have been living with feels so complex. It’s not meant to fix you; it’s a check in that helps separate your anxiety from who you are, and from there the real work begins. How are you doing today?