Fall is my favorite season! It was in September when all of the stars aligned and I woke up like if all of my anxiety and panic had been a nightmare.
September 2011 Anxiety Free
I was expecting to wake up with the same feeling in the pit of my stomach. My mornings for the last 11 months had been filled with dread. I didn’t want to wake up again, feeling nervous, nauseous and just exhausted. I had seen some improvement since starting the medication and I was no longer waking up because of a panic attack, but I was still waking up nervous and nauseous. That is, until TODAY, September 21, 2011!!!
My eyes slowly fluttered open to the sound of my alarm and all I felt was CALM! My birthday would be here in a few days and what better way to celebrate, than to have a party!
Celebrating my Birthday Anxiety Free
In this picture, it was my 38th birthday. Because of medication and my desire to do whatever I needed to do to get better, I was able to throw myself a birthday party! Just a few months before this picture was taken, I wasn’t able to leave the house, work, or do much of anything at all. The sensations I felt were too powerful and I could not function. I was literally in a state of panic all day every day, frozen.
On September 24, 2011 there was a Miami Dolphins football game on TV. My whole family is into sports so I had a football party! I am not really that into sports and my kids were too young to care at that time, but for me, it wasn’t about the game. It was about showing my family, who watched me suffer and turn into a mess from one day to the next, that I was now ok. Without their support, I am not sure how I would have gotten through it all. I was back to my old self, entertaining, laughing and having fun. Happy birthday to me!
Below are other pictures from the Fall of 2011. My smile in these pictures is REAL. I am not hiding a debilitating anxiety disorder any more. I am on medication and it helped and that is OK.
How Will You Celebrate?
What is one thing you did or would do if you overcame a debilitating condition? If you are suffering with a mental disorder right now, what will you do WHEN you overcome it or get it under control it?
