Caroline Foran

What are the other structures or milestones almost along your journey that helped you to get to where you are today?

There was a few practical things.

So I did go on medication and I remember feeling so much shame asking for that.

But just with the stigma, I felt like that meant I was...

taking the easy route.

By no means, it's not the easy route.

It's just one thing that might help you lift your head above water.

And medication allowed me to then just be at a slightly more functioning level to benefit from all of the things like, you know, going for walks and breath work and stuff.

I found CBT massively helpful versus just talking therapy because it was very practical.

It put me in the driving seat.

It just, yeah, I felt like I could kind of work my way through something.

And again, that's satisfied.

It satisfies the anxiety's need to be doing something about the worry.

And there was lifestyle changes I had to make.

You know, I just had to acknowledge that when people say go big or go home, I'm a go home early person and that's just who I am and that's OK.

So I have a real respect for my limitations and I just respect my nervous system now and my smaller window of tolerance.

And I just know that when I live within that and I respect that, then anxiety doesn't have any real reason to be sort of roaring at me.

So as an adult, you almost had to learn how to regulate yourself and make changes to your life.

Yeah.

But you knew by doing so, you would feel so much better.