Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/1526870
Expand your menu safely with ASCP's Advanced Esthetics Insurance at ascpskincare.com/aei 69 KEY POINT • Your clients may experience sensitivity triggered by the effects of anxiety. Tailor your approach and listen to their concerns, even if you can't see visible signs of irritation. While falling down the rabbit hole of understanding everything happening with my body, I realized this was going to be a long and exhausting road. I experienced debilitating gut issues ranging from constant discomfort and bowel issues to cramping so severe it led to multiple ER visits. Enter food sensitivities and more than my fair share of colonoscopies. Then, I experienced constant insomnia and lack of quality sleep, migraine attacks, visits to the neurologist, learning about triggers, fear of crowds and people, self-isolation, and much more. Thinking this was far more than enough to fill my already overloaded cup, I noticed my sensitive skin was kicking into overdrive too. With skin being the largest organ, it was unsettling dealing with these effects. Among other effects, I experienced "burn- crawling" sensations, intense discomfort, and itching, which are common skin reactions for people with anxiety. 1 I also started experiencing cystic acne. SKIN EFFECTS OF ANXIETY Why is the skin so affected by anxiety? The main culprit is a tiny part of the brain called the amygdala. 2 It sends a "danger" W hen I was diagnosed with panic disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), my world crumbled. The physical effects of the diagnosis, the mental tornado, and the inability to do things that always came easy to me led me to a dark place. I mistakenly thought, as many do, that my diagnosis meant I would be plagued by panic attacks for the rest of my life. No one deserves to be confronted with the extreme and distressing thoughts that occur with daily panic attacks and what that does to the body, soul, and psyche. As I slowly started working to understand my new reality, I realized anxiety disorders are about a lot more than panic attacks and constant buzzing underneath the surface. It comes with myriad additional symptoms, which on their own are difficult to navigate.