Managing Anxiety in Everyday Life
Anxiety can feel crippling at times, seemingly taking over your life and consuming most of your everyday thoughts. However, anxiety can also be more subtle and less in your face, making it hard to even realize that those quirky behaviors and feelings that show up out of nowhere are even related to anxiety at all.
The more common signs of anxiety include feeling helpless or nervous, a sense of impending doom, obsessively thinking about one or more things, as well as increased heart rate and sweating. These symptoms can range anywhere from hardly noticeable and not much of a disruption to your day, all the way to your entire existence is made up of what you are experiencing. This level of anxiety is also where someone may, but not always, start to suffer from anxiety or even panic attacks. If you are someone who has ever experienced intense feelings of anxiety, you understand exactly what that far end of the spectrum is like.
Then there are the lesser known symptoms of anxiety, the ones that once you realize that’s what they are make you stop and think, “Oh, that’s what that was” or even “That makes so much more sense”. This can feel like struggling with not being able to control what is going on around you, worrying about criticism from others or even struggling with your own self-criticism. Then you have the fear of what others are thinking about you, sometimes even if you are just sitting and minding your own business. Anxiety can cause a whirlwind of thoughts to race through your mind. Are people judging you for how you are sitting, what you are doing while sitting, the look on your face, even what you are wearing?
These internal struggles with anxiety can already be hard enough to manage or even just survive, but then you have the physical symptoms to contend with. Muscle fatigue, tingling/ numbness in your fingers or toes, excessive sweating, headaches, stomach issues, and sleep disturbances just to name a few. When your brain is working overtime to fight back against an internal assault like anxiety, your body will also respond in kind. Anxiety wreaks such havoc on you as a whole, that it is no wonder people feel absolutely drained by the end of the day.
If any of these symptoms sound like something you are dealing with, know that you are not alone and there are things you can do to help lessen the severity or even diminish them all together. If you are looking for someone to help guide you through this process or even just to talk to, then reaching out to a licensed therapist can be a good first step. They are there to help you navigate whatever life is throwing at you while also providing a safe place to be a sounding board. Sometimes just talking things through can lessen symptoms.
However, if you are looking for some options to try on your own, don’t worry, there are plenty of those too. You can try things like making sure you are getting enough exercise and having a healthy diet. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a real thing, and if you are not meeting your most basic needs first, then you will be fighting an uphill battle to address any other issues or concerns.
You can also work on practicing Mindfulness techniques and making sure you are staying in the present. A good way to help you do this while also combating those negative thoughts anxiety brings about is to stick to the facts. Ask yourself “What are the facts in this situation and what are my feelings?”. While your feelings are always valid, feelings are not facts and if you allow your feelings to run your life, it can be hard to see what is true and what is just in your head clouded by your emotions. So when you feel your anxiety creeping in, try and point out the facts and work to separate them from your emotions.
A few other options to try would be journaling, cutting down on caffeine, reducing social media usage, and working to keep a good sleep routine. Also, having a good support system can also be beneficial.
Each person and their journey with anxiety is going to be different. That is the beauty about who you are. Each person is unique and what works for them is no different. So try different ideas, research some more of your own if none of these work. It is okay to try them and say this is not for me, as long as you continue to try something new until finding what works for you. Anxiety can feel overwhelming, and at times, even absolutely crippling. But it does not have to be. You have the power to fight and win your life back. It will take work, but it can be done.
Resources
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