Coping strategies: A resume for your anxiety

 "Know your enemies" is good advise. After all, we cannot beat what we do not know. The same goes for health anxiety, panic attacks and somatic symptom disorder. 

One fun way (yes, fun) is to write a CV for your anxiety. You read correctly: a CV, that boring paper you need when applying for a job and which no one reads. By doing this we learn how much the anxiety really impacts us. We'll realize when it started, how it works and what it tries to do. When we understand this, we can start to work against it.

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Name and personality

To start: imagine the anxiety as a character. It could a human, an animal, an alien, or anything in between. If you're not interested in giving it a specific look, well - then just don't! This is your tool. It does help if it has some kind of  a form though. It's easier to imagine you punching it when it's annoying you. Get some inspiration from Toby Allen: 16 Animated Toby Allen Mental Illness As Monsters (themindsjournal.com).

Then bring your anxiety to life by giving it a name. Mine is Larry (Larry the Lizard, because he affects my "lizard brain"). Maybe yours called You Bastard, or Elizabeth Diamondia Annoyance Anxiotica Smith. Or Bob, what ever you like. Naming it makes it easier to talk about it without using loaded words like anxiety, hypochondria, fear or disorder.   

Next we go to traits. What is the anxiety like? A mild anxiety could be curious to find new things to be afraid of, uncertain, but eager to learn more. A sudden, crippling anxiety could be called intense, dominating or impatient. A long-term anxiety like my Larry is determined, cunning, able to adapt to new situations, logical and socially very capable. 

Know the traits, and you'll know how your anxiety tries to trick you. A cunning anxiety will surprise you when you least expect it to - so have your coping tricks list at hand. A curious anxiety might cause you many differing sensations, as if it was trying out new flavors. Don't be fooled, it's still the same old anxiety! An intense anxiety rolls over you without warning, and so on and so on. 

Job history and motivation

Next is the job history. When did it start, and what was it like in the beginning? How did it develop during the years? Where there gaps in the CV, when anxiety did not bother you that much or at all? Remember to add those success stories (from the viewpoint of your anxiety). Maybe something like:

2005-2006 Started as a part-time anxiousness, causing the employer mild nervousness in public situations. My best moment was in 2005, when I successfully caused a massive panic attack, which landed the employer in the hospital for a full day. 

2006-2008 Promoted into official Panic Disorder. Responsible for a total of 4 sickness leaves per year, and for starting my employer on medication. 

You might recognize interesting patterns. You might also see how it's changed, and how your actions and treatments have influenced the anxiety. 

Lastly, what motivates your anxiety? What is it trying to accomplish? These are the moments when the anxiety has won,  and you can say you're "suffering from anxiety".  It could be for example

• I'm energized by stressful, new situations that my employer has little control over.
• I thrive on news about accidents and illness, which give me energy to try my best to trip my employer.
• My goal is to separate my employer from their hobbies and rob them of their social life through fear.  

So try it out, and let me know -  what is your anxiety like?