My dog passed away recently, and while I still am consumed but the sadness of his passing, it made me reflect upon the primal states of humans. Human emotions have evolved over thousands of years, but we still carry some of our very basic emotional hardwiring within us, and it often manifests in the most unexpected ways.
Evolutionarily, we have our basic instinct of fear. Fear enabled us to survive amidst danger, and make it this far. Fear is the primary emotion that drives anger, and anxiety. But this post will focus more on the anxiety part of our lives. Anxiety, in very simple words, is the manifestation of fear. When I started therapy, I was in the waning stage of a very intense anxiety attack. An anxiety attack is like a panic attack, but lasts longer (could be days, weeks, or even a month) and may or may not be more intense. One of the things that my therapist taught me was to look at anxiety as a friend. I remember she made me draw a human body (in this case, me) on the floor, and mark all the symptoms of anxiety that one feels physically. After which, she made me circle the ones that I felt, and made me realise the physical manifestation of anxiety.
As someone who deeply appreciates purely scientific reasoning behind things, this made sense. I saw my body from the outside, and saw what it felt and realised that anxiety is nothing but the fear that guides me through life. When my mind senses danger, my sympathetic nervous system (SNS) kicks into action and takes charge over my body’s reactions. When my therapist made me realise the evolutionary benefits of fear in our body, it all clicked into place. The fear made sense, and more importantly, I was not averse of my anxiety anymore. Instead I was grateful for it.
You must be wondering what this has to do with diabetes, but that’s where the crossover happens. All my life my doctors have told me to “make friends with my diabetes”. What they essentially meant was: understand it to make it work in your favour. If you hate someone, no matter what they do, you still hate them. Similarly, if you hate diabetes, you will always look at it with a skeptical and hateful gaze. The minute you flip the switch and look at it differently, you will realise that some days, this “friendship” makes regulating sugar levels a piece of cake.
Understanding a problem will yield more results than simply turning away from it because it seems difficult. I know that feeling, that is why it took me so long to accept my condition, and acknowledge its role in my life. I hope you find that acceptance within you, and realise that some things are better understood than not.
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