Yes I’’m fine, just tired: Even the best excuses to hide anxiety only make it worse. A true story of panic, OCD and the search for identity

'Yes I'm fine, just tired', is a first person account of how Tom went from being a teenager, disabled by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, panic attacks and anxiety, to an adult content with who he is. Everyone experiences anxiety at some point in their lives. However, more people are coming to view anxiety not as a disorder (necessarily) but as an emotion. It rises and falls based on the level of perceived danger. It acts as a protective mechanism in this way.

Tom explores these concepts from an evolutionary, psychological, biological and social standpoint using his experiences as a way to draw upon similarities with others. Tom hopes his experiences will shed some light as to why anxiety has become increasingly more prevalent within the western world. Tom's narrative coincides with the methods and teachings of Charles Linden in 'The Linden Method' as well as Barry McDonagh's 'Dare Response'. With the ever-increasing amount of distraction in our world, it is imperative we spend more time with ourselves to get to know ourselves.

Tom hopes his experiences will help define what anxiety is, what it can do, why we have it as well as how it manifests itself so that it does not prevent others from living their lives as it once did for him.

Tom Ahern is a current CrossFit trainer and functional coach. He turned to CrossFit as a way to improve his strength and fitness during his 2012 football pre-season after a friend recommended they try it together. He soon fell in love with the CrossFit training methodology and decided to make pre-season training, a full year implementation to his lifestyle. Specifically, Tom enjoys coaching the olympic lifting and CrossFit-based gymnastics movements to new CrossFit members. Tom is also the host of the ’The Mind Mate Podcast’. The podcast explores mental health, spirituality and authenticity in the modern landscape. The stories told on the podcast are deeply personal and transparent. This podcast is available on most audio platforms including the iTunes podcast platform. Finally, Tom features frequently on another podcast ’AdventureFit Radio - exploring fitness, adventure and life’. He works as a travel coach with AdventureFit Travel (for more information, visit www.adventurefittravel.com) and has led people on trips through such places as Bali, the Gili Islands, Mexico and Iceland.