Boomerang Anxiety: What Is It and How Can You Handle It?

Anxiety is a normal reaction to the stresses we all experience in life. What? Yes, it’s normal to feel that racing heartbeat, catch in your breath, and overall oddness that can feel like panic. Short responses to external circumstances can help you make the right decision. It is when anxious feelings and obsessive thoughts control emotions and interfere with your life that anxiety becomes a problem. Sometimes, after you learn how to handle your anxiety, it may disappear, but in certain cases, there it is again wanting to take over, like a long-lost boomerang coming back to you after you thought you had thrown it away.  Sometimes called anxiety relapse, this troublesome kind of worry is often difficult to handle to begin with, but if it returns after months or years, you may wonder “why now?” or think nothing can be done. Not quite. Using coping strategies, perhaps the ones you used the first time, can help, but examining what is causing this recurrence can give you an even better outcome. The cause may be obvious. Sensory input can make it happen. Sights, scents, sounds, tastes, and even something we touch might trigger the same memories or emotional state experienced earlier. Were you going through a traumatic event at that time? Did you lose someone you loved? Things that happen regularly year after year, such as holidays, are apt to bring back some of the pain and confusion you felt when you first struggled with anxious feelings because they are full of sensory stim...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Rumination Worry Source Type: blogs