Jasmine– Anxiety, Overwhelm, and Painful Periods
“Jasmine’s” mom made an appointment for her because she was having a lot of anxiety. Before school, she would become overwhelmed and worried about the day ahead of her, sometimes stuck in what seemed like a “frozen” state of panic. At 15, she had recently been through some difficult experiences, and her mom noticed that she was becoming more and more withdrawn, and wasn’t engaging with her and the rest of the family as usual. This was very worrying!
When Jasmine arrived at her first appointment, she honestly looked so scared. Her face was a little pale, and she was very quiet. I did my best to set her at ease, letting her know that it’s normal to feel anxious when facing something new, and that I often feel the same way when I have a medical appointment. As we went through her health history/ intake interview, she told me that she gets very intense pain with her periods. She has normally had two days of bad pain, and sometimes has had to stay home or not participate in other activities because of this pain. Over time, it has only been getting worse. Although she was coming for help with the anxiety, I really wanted to help her with this, as well!
When I did a physical evaluation, I noticed that her hips were out of balance with each other structurally, to the point that it looked like one leg was longer than the other. I didn’t work to help with this right away, since I wanted to help her through her fear, and high levels of tension first. So I focused on a treatment for her nervous system, mainly working with her head, neck, and diaphragm.At the second appointment, she was still a little reluctant to come in, but had noticed a positive change since the first appointment. This time, I worked more with her pelvis, releasing tight ligaments that were pulling her uterus to the side. This imbalance can often cause a lot of period pain! I felt hopeful that she could have a much better experience on her periods.
By the third appointment, Jasmine came in smiling, happy to be here! She was feeling so much better emotionally, and coping better with the stresses of school and teen life. She described her anxiety levels as being “low.” She asked her mom if she could keep coming in regularly.
At the following appointment, she was very excited to tell me that her period had come, and there was NO pain! High fives all around! After we celebrated for a moment, I asked if she had noticed an improvement in moodiness beforehand. She wasn’t sure, but Mom said, “I can usually really tell when her period is on its way, and this time I was completely surprised! No moodiness!” How wonderful!!!
This week when I saw Jasmine, I asked her how things were going, knowing she was in the middle of her final exams, finishing school, getting ready to move back to the U.S., and about to go do a special academic program away from her family next month. “Good!,” she said.
Surprised, I clarified– “You have all of these things going on at once, and you feel good?”
“Yeah!,” she shrugged, like it was such an obvious thing.
This time, Mom was beaming. Later, she thanked me for helping her daughter through such a challenging time, and shared that she is even more engaged with the family than ever– which felt like such a relief.
Honestly, it’s such a pleasure for me. I’ve mentioned it before in stories, but I LOVE helping teens! This stage in life can be so hard, and it makes such a huge difference to lighten the load and help them to cope better. I am so glad Jasmine and her mom trusted me to help her.
When I asked Jasmine’s mom if there was anything she would like me to add to this story, she sent me this sweet note:”I am really so glad that we found you. Your service to our community and especially my family has been invaluable and healing in so many ways. You helped both of us with our anxiety. The work you have done on my c-section scar has been life changing. I just wish we could take you with us! Keep loving what you do because it truly shows in the care you provide each of your clients.”
My heart is so full!
