Anxiety Paralysis
The feeling when you have so much to do, but feel like you can not get anything done.
Imagine sitting in your kitchen looking at the sink, the laundry, the list of appointments you need to schedule, oh an you still have not worked out or maybe even brushed your teeth. At this point, you feel the energy inside you and even the motivation to do something, but you are stuck. It is like you can not move, maybe you can’t get off the couch or you even take a step forward. This “paralysis” feels almost impossible to get out of. The energy is coursing through you body, but with no where to go. And at that point, your brain may even go into panic mode because you can not move and that is really scary. The fear turns on your “fight or flight” and now we are off to the races with more anxiety.
This cycle can be a a symptom of an anxiety disorder or may occur when you feel overwhelmed and overstimulated. No matter the root cause, it is hard to deal with and hard to get out of it. That is because the feeling breeds a more significant and intense feeling and then the cycle just continues and intensifies.
There ways to break out of the feeling of “Paralysis” and some require a shift in thinking and some ways require action. Before going forward with any suggests or techniques there is an important disclaimer, social media will keep you stuck longer and trick your brain into a false sense of relief. The phone feels like the antedote for the “paralysis,” unfortunately it is not. You will be hit with a rush of good feelings (i.e., dopamine), but once your are done scrolling you are in the same spot, “stuck” and you have accomplished nothing so the feeling it breeds is “defeat.”
Starting with a shift in thinking, we often focus our thoughts on things we have not accomplished or thoughts about things that we will not be able to accomplish. The challenge in those moments is to give yourself grace about what you have accomplished and a reminder that you are capable of accomplishing even more difficult things.
This is more of a behavior change, but when you feel “stuck,” do something you enjoy. Motivation does not come out of the sky like lightening. It has to start somewhere and it is a lot easier to get the motivation going if you are doing something fun. Once you get moving, then you can start to add tasks or activities that are less joyful, but necessary.
Pairing tasks, for example, put on a podcast and get to work.
Finally, here is your reminder, meditation is doing something. Sit down, get comfortable and clear your mind. Every time your mind moves back to anxious thoughts and you can bring it to your meditation is a “step” and if you are taking “steps” then you are not paralyzed by your anxiety!
The feeling of being stuck can occur during an overwhelming day, but can also be a burden that you have become use to because you have spent most of you life in the feeling of anxiety and fear of taking steps. This can occur because of negative beliefs or negative neural networks due to past experiences and/or traumatic experiences. The skills discussed to break the “paralysis” come from cognitive behavioral theory. Once the negative thoughts/feelings/behaviors are identified and you continue to feel that you can not move forward, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) may be necessary in breaking out of the negative belief system that is keeping you stuck.
Individual therapy and group therapy are ways to break out of the cycle of paraylsis. However, if you are already working on yourself in therapy, an EMDR intensive may be able to break through the negative belief system in order to allow you the space to utilize the skills you are building in therapy.
