Anxiety Series

"Thrown" May 2018

I deal with a little social anxiety here and there. This photo however, is more about my experience with anxiety attacks. For me they come out of no where. Most of the time I have no idea what sparks it. One minute I'm fine and then the next I am hit with this wave of emotions. My body physically has a reaction. My heart starts to race, my chest feels weighed down and all my concentration goes to focusing on breathing.

I wanted to show what this feels like. I was super committed to doing just that. When I originally draw up my concepts I don't think about the "how". I knew I didn't want to fake it with photoshop. I wanted to really throw myself backwards. So I got out a cushion(that I got years ago when I thought I wanted to pursue newborn photography....it's finally found a purpose) and added a pillow on top to soften the landing. 

I quickly learned that this wasn't going to be easy. It turns out I am not a very graceful jumper....as you can see below. I also learned that I need to exercise more! The next day I felt like I had been in a car accident 😂

For those of you who deal with anxiety/panic attacks what steps do you take to calm down?