Cookouts and parties on the Fourth of July are a long-standing tradition, something like apple pie, but this time you’re eating hamburgers and barbecue. You might be hosting the event yourself, or you may be going to a friend’s, as we are.
If you are going to a friend’s or a family member’s home, it might be an occasion for your Anxieties to act up, so it is prudent to prepare yourself in advance. Thinking through the event will give you a level of comfort you won’t have if you just wing it.
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Tagged as:
Anxiety,
GAD - General Anxiety Disorder,
Gatherings,
Panic,
Panic Attacks,
Parties,
SAD - Social Phobia,
Stress,
Tips
You might have noticed that sometimes I capitalize the word “anxiety,” and sometimes I don’t. Am I just being sloppy, or is there a reason for it?
There is a reason, and a very simple one. I reserve the capitalized letter for diagnosable Anxiety Disorders, and use the lower-case letter for everything else. I use the little “a” for butterflies in the stomach, and the big “A” for Godzilla’s buddy Mothra flapping around in your belly!
In the English language there is only one word to take care of both the “normal” sense and the psychiatric sense of the feeling of anxiety. This is one of those instances — ”depression” is another — where we could use a different word to name one of those senses. Instead, we are left with one word to describe two very different states of mind.
This ambiguity is confusing for the public, and is the source of untold misery to the millions of Anxiety Disorder sufferers. One of the bedrock principles for this blog is to help you better understand the difference between anxiety and Anxiety. This post introduces you to my way of thinking about these terms and the reasons behind it.
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Tagged as:
Anxiety,
Education,
Stigma
