Explore how anxiety can show up in your life, work, and relationships
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Generalized Anxiety Disorder
This was the first piece I wrote about GAD. It appeared on Medium and the Huffington Post. I wanted to reach people who were Googling the hell out of their keyboards and not finding the information they were looking for. That's how I felt when I was first diagnosed.
Avoiding Risk is Risky
It makes sense that we focus on external financial risk. Those results are easy to gauge: Payoff equals rising income. But what about internal risk? What about emotional or psychological fallout from paths not taken? We don’t talk about them as much, but these fallouts play a huge role in our lives. They affect our most important relationships — our friends, families, marriages, our selves.
I Wish I Had Known That Amorphous Pain was Not a Given
I believe I am not alone on this terribly confusing path. In the time since I was diagnosed, I've talked to tens of people with similar symptoms who also didn't realize that anything could be done about it. They were like me: living with chronic pain, not knowing that anything could change. Simply talking with them has made a huge difference for me, and, as they've told me, for them.
How Do You Feel When You're Told to "Just Be Yourself"?
A Medium post by David Heinemeier Hansson yesterday got me thinking about this question. Hansson (who goes by DHH) is best known for his creation of Ruby on Rails (web framework) and Basecamp (company and software tool), and I really respect his thinking. I loved his book Rework. He's often insightful on many topics.
Not this one, though.
Personal Prioritizing: We Suck At It
"The lightbulb over the back porch is out. I better fix it." Where others might be able to take note and continue their day, Gaddies end up in a whirlpool of what-if's and perceived negative outcomes. "If I don't change it, something might happen tonight and I might need a light." "If I don't get to it now, I might not get to it for another couple weeks." Changing the light bulb mounts the to-do list, becoming as important as getting to school on time, getting work done.
The Winging It Spotlight on TWIGG How-To
I'm a big fan of the TWIGG How-to mission: "creating a damsel-free world, one article at a time." The women behind this project reached out and asked if they could reproduce my first piece on GAD, as well as run a short interview. I was honored that they wanted to feature me in their spotlight series.
"Our Tastes Define Us."
What would you think if you heard someone say, in a matter-of-fact way, "Our tastes define us"? GAD knows.
Advice and Tips from Readers
Check out all of the responses that people had on private FB groups, Slack channels, and off to the side. Anxiety has a stigma, so this isn't information that's easily shared publicly, though it would be great if it could be.