Tapping Stopped My Severe Anxiety
Anxiety is something I have always experienced. In situations where I was not in danger, my heart would race. I woke up with a nervous feeling in my stomach. I knew that the anxiety I faced was not a result of worry, as so many well-meaning Christians tried to convey. I knew it stemmed from the sexual abuse I endured as a small child at the hands of my uncle.
Tapping stops the fight-flight-or-freeze response
What I did not understand is that the severe anxiety I experienced was the result of an enlarged amygdala, the part of the brain that warns us of danger. Remember the phrase fight-flight-or-freeze? That phrase describes what the amygdala does when it thinks we are in danger. My poor amygdala frequently thinks I am in danger. My goal is to convince it that I am not in danger, so it will work as God created it to work.
Six weeks into lockdown in the spring of 2020, I found something that helped greatly reduce the anxiety that has always plagued me. That something is called tapping, or emotional freedom technique. “Tapping seems to turn off the amygdala’s alarm--deactivating the brain’s arousal pathways,” Nick Ortner, developer of The Tapping Solution app, says in his book. “Tapping on the meridian endpoints sends a calming response to the body, and the amygdala recognizes it’s safe.”
Through tapping, I have worked on convincing myself and my amygdala that I am safe. I have not had a panic attack in a while because when I feel panic coming on, I tap. I now have a tool to rewire my brain. Until tapping, I did not quite realize just how much the aftereffects of sexual abuse lowered my quality of life. Tapping gives me the freedom to explore how sexual abuse damaged my ways of thinking about people, God, and the world. It allows me to experience deep, Spirit-level healing.
Tapping helps PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is all too common for those of us who survived childhood trauma. What I have learned is that it is a brain disorder. It is not a sin. It is not the result of not trusting God. Someone reading this needs to grasp that fact. Please, know that it is not your fault you suffer from PTSD.
The great news for you and me is that tapping helps with PTSD. Studies show that it works to stop the symptoms of PTSD, such as anxiety. Just by tapping at least once a day, we can fight the beast that harms our brain and lowers our quality of life. We can rewire our brains and overcome PTSD. That is something I want to shout from the rooftops.
Prayer
Oh Lord, I surrender my brain and body to You, the One who created me. I ask You to empower me to begin tapping and keep practicing it daily. Let me feel Your presence as I tap for it is in Your presence that true healing happens.
Photo: Thriving Now