Fear of body sensations
Hello! This is my first day here.
I have been living with anxiey for as long as I can remember. I have lots of great habits for dealing with it, and they do help. One thing that I cannot seem to quite figure out is how to not be upset by certain nagging physical sensations. the most persistent and intense: clenching in my upper throat and scalp. It’s like a fist, squeezing, tensing.
I get that I should ‘be’ with them, mindfully, and I do that as much as I can. But many days — today included — it does not matter how I approach them, they seem to delight in ratcheting the tension until I collapse. Not sure who ‘they’ are, but they really want my attention, and they try to convince me that theyre right to be tense — ‘something is wrong.’ This could be on a cloudless day with nothing actually pressing.
Anyway, curious if this is familiar to anyone else. Thanks!
My throat clenches to the point it makes stomach-like grumble sounds! It is a horrible sensation and I don't know how to stop or prevent it either. The worst part is when I try to speak. My voice sounds so froggish. There have been times it has gotten bad enough that my words hardly come out, or I even go into a coughing fit.
I have social anxiety, btw. The tension in my throat always makes it worse because I feel people notice. Sometimes they do, they'll even ask if "I'm alright" or "have a cold". Things start to spiral. I have to take time to ground myself whenever I feel people notice. I could understand how someone with generalized anxiety might fear they have a medical problem, as well. It is a scary. It can feel like your throat is closing in on itself.
So sorry to hear you’re dealing with this — it is so uncomfortable! Is there a consistent trigger that you can identify?