Do You Freeze?
We Anxiety Sisters are all too familiar with the “fight or flight” response that gets activated by our sympathetic nervous systems when we perceive a threat (real or imagined). You know what I mean—the surge of adrenaline that runs through
Strategies for Managing Holiday Anxiety
One of the worst things about this time of year are all the articles I see about how to deal with anxiety during the holidays. Somehow these authors presume that I usually eat really well and exercise diligently, and they
Parenting Anxiety
As most Anxiety Sisters know, anxiety is contagious. This is quite evident when anxious parents receive unhappy calls from anxious kids spending time away from home over the summer. If you are anything like us, you want to reach into
Halloween Anxiety: 7 Tips for Helping Kids Cope
For many of us, Halloween is a really fun event, bringing back memories of dressing up, trick-or-treating, and gorging on candy (okay, some of us don’t need Halloween for this activity). So, we are naturally excited to share this experience with
Anxiety Management Technique: Use Your Superpowers
You know that game—which superpower would you choose? Some pick flying (probably not panic sisters), some pick invisibility (social anxiety sisters?), some pick x-ray vision (not me—I would freak out if I could see every germ! Yes, I am an
Anxiety Management Technique: Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Perhaps one of the most common symptoms of anxiety is muscle tension. In fact, more than 90% of the Anxiety Sisters we’ve interviewed over the last seven years reported aches and pains in their backs, necks, shoulders and other large
Anxiety Management Technique: Acceptance
This week, a few members of our community really struggled with believing their anxiety diagnoses. Mags and I understood exactly how they were feeling—we've both been there, done that, and literally wrote the book on it. In fact, most of
Anxiety Management Technique: Naming Your Monsters
Years ago, when I was new to the anxiety scene, I had absolutely no idea what was going on inside my head. I understood vaguely that I had some kind of mental issue, but, back then, Panic Disorder as a
Anxiety Management Technique: Bookending
Originally used as a tool to help 12-step recovery addicts prevent relapse, bookending involves creating a positive activity on either end of a potentially triggering event. For example, if I know that going to the doctor will cause me to
Sometimes, The Only Strategy is DIB…
As Anxiety Sisters, we are big believers in not allowing anxiety to take over our lives. In fact, we spend most of our time trying to teach others strategies to allow them to function well despite anxiety. But we are