Jupiteryblazeyangler
Member
Yes, one thing about BFS is--even though it's not a killer condition, it can be chronic. That is, one tends to have "relapses," especially if some of the underlying reasons for the anxiety are not addressed.
Ever notice how when you are anxious, you get more twitches?
That's because we are programmed for a "fight or flight" reaction upon sensing something dangerous. Only in the contemporary world it's not usually a bear attacking us, it's something we can't even affect, like pressures at work, at home, or in other areas of our lives.
There is reason to suggest that *everyone* has the potential for BFS. Everyone I know twitches, it's just that most people don't really pay any attention to them. Things like exercise or strain can make them much worse.
Now, couple that with real fear--especially when you "discover" things like ALS, and all of a sudden you've convinced yourself that you're dying.
The fear gets worse, so do the twitches. You become hyper-sensitive to your body, and even start "inventing" symptoms. Not to say BFS isn't real--it is. I think it takes a level of bodily awareness that most people don't have or use though.
To use an analogy, if you are camping in a tent in your back yard, and you hear rustling in the bushes--you think "racoon." You don't think "grizzly bear."
Now if the news tells you that there is a loose grizzly bear in your area, and you are in the same scenario and hear rustling, you immediately think "grizzly bear" and run screaming into your house.
Compare that to a person with twitches in their eyelid, foot, hand, whatever. You don't immediately think "***." You think, oh, I used that hand a lot today. Or you might not even register it at all.
Now someone who is aware of *** (as has been shown in a lot of medical people having higher rates of BFS than others) might immediately think that is the cause!
As my primary care doctor told me when I was at my most upset: "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras."
Ever notice how when you are anxious, you get more twitches?
That's because we are programmed for a "fight or flight" reaction upon sensing something dangerous. Only in the contemporary world it's not usually a bear attacking us, it's something we can't even affect, like pressures at work, at home, or in other areas of our lives.
There is reason to suggest that *everyone* has the potential for BFS. Everyone I know twitches, it's just that most people don't really pay any attention to them. Things like exercise or strain can make them much worse.
Now, couple that with real fear--especially when you "discover" things like ALS, and all of a sudden you've convinced yourself that you're dying.
The fear gets worse, so do the twitches. You become hyper-sensitive to your body, and even start "inventing" symptoms. Not to say BFS isn't real--it is. I think it takes a level of bodily awareness that most people don't have or use though.
To use an analogy, if you are camping in a tent in your back yard, and you hear rustling in the bushes--you think "racoon." You don't think "grizzly bear."
Now if the news tells you that there is a loose grizzly bear in your area, and you are in the same scenario and hear rustling, you immediately think "grizzly bear" and run screaming into your house.
Compare that to a person with twitches in their eyelid, foot, hand, whatever. You don't immediately think "***." You think, oh, I used that hand a lot today. Or you might not even register it at all.
Now someone who is aware of *** (as has been shown in a lot of medical people having higher rates of BFS than others) might immediately think that is the cause!
As my primary care doctor told me when I was at my most upset: "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras."