How to save yourself

Or how to listen to your body and get yourself out of an anxiety spiral

Growing up the classical Disney films always depicted a woman in a pickle, and at some point a dashing man would ride in and save her from the thing that she was struggling with the most. Once I got to my teens my overriding thoughts were that someone (a man) would swoop down and dig me out of the hole I found myself in. I was shuttling between my parents’ homes due to them being divorced. I felt invisible in many ways (was out at all hours with no boundaries in place, leading to some uncomfortable and downright dangerous situations). I had posters on my wall of Michael Hutchence, and for a long time I believed that this would be the person who would ‘save’ me - they’d have a calming influence on my nervous system, stop me waking up feeling panicked and my anxiety and overthinking would stop.