Great question Amyra! I definitely noticed this was true for me. Dealing with uncomfortable feelings was the hardest thing for me when I first started recovering from my eating disorder. I always wanted to *do* something with my feelings–in other words, avoid just feeling them.

But it’s like the saying goes: the only way out is through. In coming face to face with the void, I learned a lot about what hurt me, why, who I wanted to be, and what I wanted to do in life. I also learned that two things caused most of my suffering: the belief that there was something wrong with me, and the fear that other people would see it and reject me.

In releasing these beliefs, I feel less of a need to run from my feelings, because they no longer stem from a deep fear of inferiority. And they no longer make me feel powerless. That’s not to say they don’t hurt; it’s just that I now realize I can work through them. Feeling them won’t break me because I no longer feel so broken.

Thank you Amyra for the post.

Guy,  I was so glad to read your post.

Addiction is nothing but full filling the “VIOD” within ourselves.

First 40 years of my life was a pure HELL, deeply Deprested, extreemlly Sad and Unhappy.          Those years I trully believed that the only way out of misery was to KILL MYSELF.

Fortunatelly I met a group of people whom I learned something from and changed my life.

Believe me I have tried Alcohol, Drugs, and Religion, but those are temporal solution (?).

What I learned from this group were “MYSLF”, MY LIFE”, and “LIFE”.

More I learned and UNDERSTOOD, more I became Happy.

Rehab, AA meetings and other support groups DO NOT WORK, simply because addressing the wrong causes.

Hi Ginger,

I experienced the exact same things as you are experiencing now. I was an addict, suffered from depression and anxiety attacks and felt like life was passing me by. Even two counselors could not help me feel better. I hope yours is better and will be able to help you. I just thought I’d share some things that have helped me a lot:
– start some form of intense physical exercise. This helps with physical stress and tension, and it releases serotonin into your brain which instantly makes you feel better.
– meditate: it will help you let go of negative thoughts, fears and anxiety
– find something you love to do and do it often. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you enjoy doing it.
– stop watching TV: TV has the same effect on your brain as drugs and it is easy to get lost in it. If you really want to watch a certain show, watch in on dvd. This way you can watch in when you want and there will be no commercials. Think about what would happen if you were to spend all those hours you lose by watching tv on improving your health and the quality of your life. On average people watch 3 hours of tv per day. That’s a total of 1095 hours per year. If you work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, it will take you more than 21 weeks to get to 1095 hours. If you spend 21 weeks a year on improving how you feel and on improving the quality of your life, there is no limit to what you can achieve.
– eat healthier: Food has a huge impact on how you feel. Eating unhealthy will make you feel depressed. Eating healthy will make you feel good and give you tons of energy. Even adding one green smoothie to your diet everyday can make a huge difference. The more changes you make, the bigger the effect.

These things are easy to do, cost no money and you can start doing them right away. You will start to notice changes very quickly if you follow through with them.
The thing with fear, anxiety and depression is that they will not go away by ‘waiting’. You have to create the changes yourself. Set some attainable goals for yourself and take life day by day.

Best of luck to you!

I really needed to read this. I am in recovery for an eating disorder (and other mental health problems) and for a while I was trying to fill the void, and I guess I somewhat still am. But now I am spending my time doing things I enjoy, that bring me peace and bring me closer to being the person I want to be.