In one of his podcasts, Richard Nicholls, a British Psychotherapist, talked about how we might cope with anxiety. Key to his message was that it is okay to be anxious, and it serves a purpose when things are different. Our worries ensure that we take action, whether to run away or to choose other steps to alleviate those anxieties.
His podcast introduced me to the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS), a scale 0 to 10 for measuring the subjective intensity of distress currently experienced by an individual. It is a self-assessment scale, whereby an individual rates their fears and anxiety from 0, where there is no anxiety at all, up to 10. At 10, you feel unbearably anxious and unable to function normally.
Given my varying anxiety levels over time, I have used SUDS to reflect on the range of fear I have felt. I have had periods where I have felt as high as an 8, a point where I started to freak out. This scale provides me with a logical way to deal with my anxiety. If I can measure it, I can manage it.
Fortunately, my anxiety currently sits at 1, no acute distress and feeling good. It's a nice place to be.
His podcast introduced me to the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS), a scale 0 to 10 for measuring the subjective intensity of distress currently experienced by an individual. It is a self-assessment scale, whereby an individual rates their fears and anxiety from 0, where there is no anxiety at all, up to 10. At 10, you feel unbearably anxious and unable to function normally.
Given my varying anxiety levels over time, I have used SUDS to reflect on the range of fear I have felt. I have had periods where I have felt as high as an 8, a point where I started to freak out. This scale provides me with a logical way to deal with my anxiety. If I can measure it, I can manage it.
Fortunately, my anxiety currently sits at 1, no acute distress and feeling good. It's a nice place to be.
peterdannock