The fact that I am around 70% mentally and emotionally disabled, means I live with anxiety. If I was to place my anxiety on a scale of 1-10, I would probably place it at around 7 or 8 in times of stress.

Autism

It is my neurological impairments (autism) that trigger my anxiety. I then have to deal with the thoughts that accompany it, my physical reactions to it and the strong urge that leads to panic if the issue I have, isn’t dealt with quickly.

But how we deal with anxiety isn’t straight forward. A lot of how we are conditioned in our early years, adds to how we cope with psychological triggers in adulthood. In the early years, our experiences mostly become the foundations for how we interpret and deal with every day issues.

Conclusion

Although it's gone on to take me years to understand my sensory input and how my brain works because of my disability, it has taken me even longer to understand how best to work things through. Anyone working with their intuition, and a positive belief system, is the key to keeping their perceptions positive and working on their issues.

Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines. Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.

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2 comments on “Bringing Perceptions Together”

  1. I have anxiety when I play meaningless scenes over and over in my mind. My impulse is to think about what could go wrong before it happens, hence anxiety.

    Of course, I don't represent myself like that in public.

    1. Thanks Tim. I can resonate, particularly when we over-think a situation or scenario and talk ourselves into three different endings.

      Anxiety tends to play out like that where even the most sensible and logical can fall foul. We almost set ourselves up to fail when we're doing it.

      Yes, we always show the public that we've got everything under control. We want to show others we have fortitude in the face of adversity. That no matter what we deal with we have self-restraint around our emotions.

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