I have always carried my stress and anxiety in my jaw. When I'm tense or nervous, my jaw clenches. Over the years I have tried numerous remedies to thwart the clenching and, for the most part, I have it under control. During the day I am usually aware of the habit and it can be stopped. At night, my clenching becomes problematic.
My jaw has been clenching so much over the past few nights that I can no longer chew. My range of motion has been severely impacted, and I feel a constant sore pain every time I open my mouth. To add insult to my discomfort, I'm not even sure why I'm clenching. Historically the cause of my tension and anxiety is obvious. This time, I am not able to identify the trigger.
I suspect that my clenching is the result of the accumulation of pandemic and cyber school anxiety and tension bubbling over in my sleep. I feel frazzled, but that has been my usual condition for almost a year. I cannot figure out why is my jaw suddenly starting to clench so severely that I cannot talk without pain. Of course, not being able to find an obvious answer is only adding to my frustration, which will in turn cause me to clench more tonight.
I wish being an adult was as easy as I thought when I was a teen.
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