The hardest part of a wave for me is...

[[...]]

... remembering that a window will come eventually. Even though just a few days ago I might be feeling good, as soon as it goes bad again I cannot remember what it's like to feel good and I convince myself for the 100th time that the bad is never going to end, even though there is no doubt that it will. It's such an illogical mess. *sigh*

[[ma...]]

The same thing happens to me mrn, our anxious brains convince us we might be stuck like this forever even though logically I know it will be over soon the anxious part of the brain seems to override the logical part. Answering you question though, the worst part of a wave for me is when the anxiety gets soooo bad my mind starts racing and I get that feeling that I am losing control of my sanity - hopefully I don't have many more of those

[[xe...]]

Yes, absolutely. The first 3-4 really severe waves I had post-jump were awful, and every time I refused to see it as a temporary thing, and more or less worked myself into a state of unreasonable and unsustainable anxiety.

 

Since then it's been a lot better, and I got through a bunch of unpleasant stuff just by telling myself over and over it would end, even if I didn't really believe that emotionally.

 

Meditation helps a lot.

[[Te...]]

Yep, one of my favorite expressions is:

"When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember that the original intent was to drain the swamp"...  m