Fight or flight anxiety is often present when you suffer from Complex PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress.
The problem is that anxiety can take up so much space that you may think it is a stand-alone issue.
Fight or Flight Anxiety and Its Relation to Suppressed Anger
Very often anxiety relates directly to a lack of boundaries, which in turn relates to complex trauma and its symptoms. When you have difficulty to speak out your “yes” and your “no,” you are impacting your sense of self-esteem and self-worth, and over time this will result in anxiety. The problem is that you "forget" the suppressed anger part and become focused on overcoming the fight or flight anxiety.
Very often anxiety relates directly to a lack of boundaries, which in turn relates to complex trauma and its symptoms.
It is the overcoming that will then take up all of your attention and space as this is the coping emotion which is easier to express and stay with.
How to Deal with Fight or Flight Anxiety
When you start to become aware of the deeper layers of anxiety and your fight or flight anxiety starts to become more contained, you can then start to work with expressing your boundaries. The way to go about this is to start with challenges that are manageable where you fight or flight mechanism doesn't fully kick in and take over.
It is by creating small "successes" that you can build up a sense of self-esteem again.
Do you suffer from fight or flight anxiety as a CPTSD symptom? Share your thoughts below.