Welcome back to another Q&A episode with Annie! This week’s topic is on all things anxiety acceptance, and how this anxiety tool might look different for everyone. We’ll cover what exactly acceptance means, and how you can practice acceptance through your own recovery journey! To make things even better, Annie will share how acceptance has helped her heal from panic disorder and agoraphobia.
I’ll share some insights into the role that acceptance can play in your own recovery, and how you can start practicing anxiety acceptance, too! But before we start, I want you to remember that acceptance is just ONE of many tools for navigating anxiety. It’s okay if there are other tools that are more helpful to you! So let's get started.
What is Anxiety Acceptance?
Acceptance is all about allowing yourself to feel the thoughts, symptoms, and fears that come with anxiety. Simply put, acceptance is letting yourself feel anxiety while resisting doing anything to try to make the feelings go away (like resisting practicing safety behaviors)! And although this can be pretty tricky in the beginning, acceptance tends to become easier with time. Annie shared that acceptance can look slightly different for everyone! For her, acceptance looks like coming to terms with the fact that she might panic when she leaves the house, but knowing she will be okay even if she does!
The Role of Acceptance in Anxiety Recovery
So here’s where people often go wrong with acceptance… The goal of acceptance isn’t to make the anxiety go away but to create a healthy relationship with anxiety. Acceptance teaches you that you don’t have to react to anxious thoughts and symptoms… and that you were safe all along! Anxiety acceptance is just one of many tools that you can utilize to recover from anxiety. Although it’s absolutely essential to accept anxiety to some degree, it’s definitely not the only solution!
Accepting the Symptoms of Anxiety
If you’re new to practicing acceptance, you might find yourself feeling more anxious when you allow the thoughts and feelings to be there. And this might surprise you, but it makes sense! You’re doing something you often avoid and resist, so it makes sense that it’s uncomfortable. Acceptance is not a magical cure for anxiety, but that’s not the goal here. Eventually, acceptance will teach you that you no longer need to resist feelings of anxiety. And when you no longer resist anxiety, it slowly will lose its power!
Anxiety acceptance is an amazing tool, but it’s not the only one! Practicing acceptance along with self-compassion, awareness, and other tools can be so helpful when it comes to anxiety recovery. I put a huge focus on acceptance in my program, Panic to Peace, because accepting anxiety is so incredibly helpful! And I'm not just talking about acceptance in terms of when you're feeling anxious. There are so many layers of acceptance in the healing journey! For so many, acceptance is the tool they've been missing. But I want you to remember that everyone’s journey is unique, and what works for one person might not work for you. And no matter which tools do or don’t work for you, you are capable of recovery!
Don't forget to listen to the full Q&A episode for all of the helpful information!