The Magic Ingredients Required For Anxiety Recovery

Photo by Jan Ranft on Unsplash

I’ve had the pleasure of supporting a number of both women and men through the darkness of anxiety, stress, and panic over the years. This often has me asking what are those magical ingredients that lead to their success? What do the individuals who hop on the fast track to recovery have in common?

You could narrow it down to four qualities: ownership, commitment, willingness, and belief. While belief can follow, ownership, commitment, and willingness are a prerequisite for change to occur.

They understand this work must be a priority. So they make it a priority, and in doing so are rewarded greatly. It’s a mindset shift, and it changes everything.

Regardless of circumstances, there is no comparison when an individual committed to change goes up against one that is not. The former will fast-track their recovery, and the latter will continue down the same path of misery and self-pity.

Why is commitment so important?

Because the work demands it. Ironically, when you commit, life gets significantly easier. Some will commit straight away; some will take ten years; some will never change. Such — it seems — is the nature of the beast. And yes, many do commit yet, unfortunately, end up getting help from someone who doesn’t have their best interests at heart or an understanding of the struggle that is anxiety.

When recovery becomes a priority, you begin to see solutions — not problems. Failure is no longer failure — it’s a precious lesson and opportunity for growth.

This is not to say life will be plain sailing. However, rocky roads will now build resilience and newfound mental strength. Roadblocks simply become obstacles — there is always a way.

We all have our issues and obstacles and struggles to overcome — some more challenging than others.

We can’t expect life to work out for us without working for what we want. Yes, anxiety and panic are shitty hands to be dealt with, but we can only ever play the hand we have in front of us. That hand does not have to define you. A better definition, if you must, could be the resilience, strength, and perseverance acquired as a result of being dealt such a hand.