Since I started speaking openly and writing about my anxiety and CBT, people, who I both know and don’t, have started asking me about it. After months of covering up how terrible it had got, I’ve become a CBT champion among friends and the online community I’ve carved out for myself. It’s both baffling and an extreme compliment. And something I’m still getting my head around.
I’m in a good place. Bumpy at times but I’m now armed with the techniques to steady myself. I can balance without falling. Metaphorically that is, definitely not in the cool down at my Zumba class.
I’ve become a champion of CBT. The more I talk about it freely and openly (within reason, there’s still a need to protect myself) the more people talk back.
We story swap. And fuck, that’s so empowering.
It’s a genuine, tender moment when you open yourself up and tell someone your deepest darkest thoughts and struggles.
It’s happened to me at a friends barbecue, another friends hen do and with strangers online.
I find it fascinating and humbling that they’ve chosen to talk to me about it. Because it’s not always easy. It took me long enough to get there. So if I can encourage others to do the same, I will. If I can be that ear that listens, that release and comfort for another person battling their own demons, I’ll do it. Just as others have done for me.
Now those stories aren’t mine to share but what I can share, is how it made me feel when those others confided in me:
- Less alone
- A sense that we’re all in this together
- That you have no idea who is facing battles of their own
- That you can feel that weight lifting off your shoulders when you do start to talk
- You find connections that weren’t there before
- Connections with people you had no idea about
- That feeling of support
- Empowerment that you’re finally able to share what’s been going on inside
- A sense of zero judgement
- That there’s no shame in admitting you’re struggling
- And that it’s way more common than you think
If you have any questions about anxiety or my journey with CBT, ask away.
Read more about my CBT journey:
