Anxiety
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As someone with chronic illness, it’s been comforting to not be the only one who’s stuck at home this past year
The pandemic is finally winding down. While we’re by no means in the clear yet, the end is finally in sight.
Between the number of people vaccinated (20% of Americans have received at least one dose so far) and those who have a level of antibodies after contracting a natural case of Covid-19, experts believe we could be back to “normal” by summer or early fall. President Joe Biden boosted those predictions when he announced last week that anyone who wants a shot should be eligible for one by May 1.
That means by the time summer turns to fall…
From phone-free hours to nature walks
I’d like to be able to tell you that I’ve developed enough resilience by now to adequately weather the never-ending spiral of uncertainty we’re entangled in, but that would be a lie. Instead of mastering the art of emotional fortitude, all I’ve gotten from this year’s nervous handwringing are 35 perfect loaves of sourdough bread. And so, with just a few days until the election, I am more anxious than ever, and I’m willing to guess that you are, too.
Millions of Americans are experiencing some form of anticipatory anxiety around the election, which has only continued to mount as…
For once, my worried thoughts are validated
What do you do with an anxiety disorder during a global pandemic? That sounds like a weird riddle but less clever. The answer, for me, is: Go to sleep and wake up, watch more TV shows than you ever have, and FaceTime anyone you’ve ever been friends with.
It isn’t glamorous or fun — but it also isn’t especially difficult.
I realize how callous that sounds, but hear me out. It isn’t that I enjoy uncertainty or don’t have any people or places I love and miss. …
Lessons learned after a panic attack at Trader Joe’s
When I recently opened my refrigerator to discover all that was left inside was a bottle of champagne, a couple of eggs, and a jar of mustard that predated the Trump administration, I knew I could no longer put off a trip to the grocery store. Sadly, a woman cannot live on bubbles alone. Believe me, I’ve tried.
The revelation came shortly after San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that face coverings are now mandatory when shopping, taking transit, or entering essential businesses. …
How anxiety, uncertainty, and way too much spare time have me returning to unhealthy habits
Back in February, a friend suggested that I stock up on three weeks’ worth of food in the event of a lockdown. Within minutes, I had fallen into a state of sheer panic — not about the virus, but about keeping that much food in my apartment.
I’ve had issues with food since I was 12 years old. I was bulimic in high school and part of college, and after that, I struggled with cycles of binge eating and heavy restrictions. Fortunately, in the past few years, I’ve started to get some semblance of a grip over my eating disorders…
Even not leaving your house can remind you why you don’t like to leave your house
A silver lining to quarantine for those with social anxiety is you no longer have to feel uncomfortable at social gatherings in person. Instead, you can now feel uncomfortable at social gatherings via Zoom. What was once technology for the average tech worker is now a fancy tool for everyone and their dog is to use for their quarantine virtual happy hours.
But don’t let the screen stop you from feeling awkward, or the miles of distance, inhibit you from overanalyzing whether your friend remembers that time you thought “Prerogative” was originally a Britney Spears song. …
What I thought was a “grandmas only” hobby has done more for my mental health than anything else I’ve tried
An old frenemy came back into my life this past year: anxiety disorder. I finally admitted to myself that this particular flare-up wasn’t going to just go away when my dentist said my gums were receding “due to stress-induced grinding.” If your dentist can guess your mental health, it’s time to get proactive.
I started looking for an in-network therapist (still working on that one five months later) and, in the meantime, tried a slew of other self-treatments. I upped my workouts, paid $8 a month for a meditation app and pulled out the adult coloring book I spent way…
I struggled with anxiety and an eating disorder. I never could have imagined how much one smoke session would help.
In the fourth grade, I developed a stress-related stomach ulcer. Yes, I was so stressed as an eight-year-old that my stomach acid literally burned a hole in my stomach. If only I had known that life got more difficult than gold stars and dodgeball.
I guess I’ve always been an anxious person. When I was six, my doctor told my mom that I have a “type-A personality” and that people like me are likely to develop eating disorders. Despite my mother’s hippie-like attitude, which shined through her (“Do whatever makes you happy!”), I was constantly afraid of disappointing her and…
SF, you’re a beautiful, anxiety-ridden city.
I’m not saying it’s easy to live anywhere else. In San Francisco, however, the competitive professional culture places a unique sort of stress on the clientele of Shrein Bahrami, MFT, a therapist who practices in the Marina / Cow Hollow neighborhood of San Francisco — by all accounts one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city, with a 2015 median household income of $147,573 (over 50 percent higher than the median income for SF at large). Shrein specializes in disordered eating and primarily sees professional women in their 20s and 30s. …
You’re sitting on the edge of your bed, elbows on your knees, hands clasped in the space between. Head bowed, like an athlete at rest. Earlier in the night, you’d had an attack. Now, hours later, you breathe. You tell yourself that this is a process. You’ve been here before.
Through an open window that overlooks Lombard Street, you’re listening to the sound of the city in the fog at night. It’s an orchestral sound, comprised of sub-parts. There’s the traffic, which arrives and fades in a spectrum of percussive intensities — Smart cars like waves at low tide, busses…
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