Decision Making with Anxiety

[rynling]

Although I'm doing a little better this year than I was last year, I'm still in a very bad place. It's weird that this is my life now; but, since it looks like I'll be here awhile, it's become necessary to reevaluate how I make decisions so that I'm not acting from pain, fear, and anger.

Part of being an adult is having to make decisions about things that are 60% bad and 40% good. Like, is the 40% good more meaningful than the 60% bad? Even if the 40% good doesn't justify the 60% bad, is the 40% good important enough to make the 60% bad a necessary evil? And, if it does, how do you develop the courage and the moral character to endure the consequences of the 60% bad? These are questions that smarter and wiser people than myself struggle with, and I don't have a definite set of answers.

What I've started to realize about myself, however, is that there are actually two versions of me, Normal Me and Anxiety Me, and that Normal Me has to make compassionate decisions for Anxiety Me.

Normal Me is ambitious and loves other people and wants to be involved in projects, while Anxiety Me is all about intense panic attacks, violent self-harm, and aggressive suicidal ideation. Normal Me wants to make the world a better place, but Anxiety Me just wants to make it through the day in one piece. I would like to think that Normal Me is always going to Do The Right Thing to the best of my understanding and ability, but Anxiety Me is capable of engaging in some truly shitty behavior for the sake of self-defense.

This is why, when I make a decision, I first have to figure out whether that decision involves Anxiety Me; and, if it does, I have to be very kind to Anxiety Me so that I don't end up putting myself in what will feel like a fight-or-flight situation. I'm still figuring out what triggers this response, but I think the most important thing is listening when Anxiety Me says, "I'm actually really not okay with this."

This feels like a strange way to describe the situation, but I'm still in the process of figuring things out. I'd like to think that I'm still the same person even with this illness, but the change of circumstances means that I can't rely on the same set of decision making skills, and it's going to take time to develop new ones.

Comments

[lassarina]

I think that's a really important place to reach, knowing when Anxiety You is making a decision. One of my friends uses the "what would it look like if..." question to ask herself what other potential outcomes are, or "what is the worst outcome of this? why? does that even make any sense? How likely is it?" So for example if the situation is "I got in bitch mode at the old dude who kept talking over me then took credit for my suggestion, in front of my boss and my C-suite," anxiety brain might THINK the worst case scenario is "escorted out by jackbooted security personnel and destitute in the street," but in reality, a. there would be discussions with HR and remediation; b. my husband and I would figure it out; c. I have marketable skills I can use elsewhere and friends in the field who could hook me up in short order. Which helps me soothe Anxiety Me, and also consider decisions from her perspective.

[runicmagitek]

Just wanted to toss in my two cents, because I have feelings on this. The whole asking yourself "what is the worst outcome of this" thing doesn't work for me. Mostly because my super anxious brain will plummet in a downward spiral with no end and I have a hard time prying myself out of it. It's all overexaggerated and 99% likely not going to happen for reals, but the minute I ask myself "well what's the worst that could happen?" it's like I just walked off a cliff into the abyss. I usually need an outside source to pull me back to safety (usually my boyfriend) and even then it takes me a while to mentally recover. Though honestly, having a sounding board in general is helpful in the anxiety department. Like having someone else who is completely detached from your anxiety to be like, "Yeah no, that's not going to happen, but this, this, and this probably will" is really comforting. Sometimes no matter how much you douse yourself in self-care or The Right Treatment for you, your brain is still wired oddly and framing this in a less toxic light can be exhausting or just flat out difficult. It's not to say you shouldn't ever ask yourself things like "what's the worst that could happen?" But more like if you're going to brave a stormy ocean for the first time, maybe you should have someone else manning the boat, because at least they thought to bring the boat while you were just going to rely on your pool floatation device. Hell, I've been out to sea on storm waters for decades and I'm still sending out SOS signals. And that's ok.

[lassarina]

That's a very legitimate point! For me I've trained myself to try to ground the answers to that question in reality but sometimes I don't succeed and I didn't mean to sound like it was the only answer.

[runicmagitek]

Oh not to worry! I just wanted to piggyback off of your initial point to provide other options or insights or what not. Definitely didn't come off as the only answer. I have a lot of feelings in regards to mental health and self-care :D

[runicmagitek]

I feel this so hard. I'm forever juggling what I actually want to do and what I should be doing to preserve my mental well-being. They're definitely not the same entity, which is frustrating. Even harder when you have multiple mental illnesses that further divide your identity. Whatever illness you have shouldn't be the key element that defines you. We're all complex individuals (well, I like to think we are, anyways). It can be frustrating, regardless. Like shit, is my mania making me pissed off at the smallest things or am I Actually A Shitty Human Being? The struggle is real, but I promise there's balance in there. It's a lot of constant work and doesn't happen overnight, but it exists. Really proud of you for even putting all your thoughts on this on paper. Shaking my pompoms for you :D