#9: Your Anxiety Is Not Yours Alone

Rising costs of living & housing, unemployment, Covid, vaccines, debt, bills and now, inflation, politics and the invasion of Ukraine. Anxiety is on the rise.

Here are five key things to know about anxiety:

1) We All Have Mild Forms of Anxiety

No one is immune or excluded. None are spared. At different stages of our lives, we have experienced a mild form of anxiety in one or some parts of our lives.

The challenge is we don't often recognise that we are anxious hence the mention. Take note of some of the more notable patterns such as sleeplessness/over-sleeping, numbness, panic attacks and loss of/change in appetite, mood swings, irritability, hypervigilance and lack of concentration. You feel unlike yourself or more of but it's not in a helpful way.

Some of us are able to process the stress efficiently or have developed very effective coping mechanisms (albeit temporarily) to manage our anxiety. Know that there's no shame in feeling anxious or experiencing anxiousness.

2) Your Anxiety Is Not Yours Alone; Don't Be Selfish

Harsh? A friend, someone whom I still respect as a trauma coach, told me, "Your anxiety is not yours alone; don't be selfish!"

I was in deep with anxiety at that stage of my life. My immediate response was a rare combination of rage and sorrow. What the F***. But it changed my state.

After the rage had subsided, I understood her point. The pain I was going through wasn't mine alone to bear. It's easy to get attached to the feelings of anxiousness and feel like we're the only ones having it. Get very involved and entangled with it, attached. We isolate ourselves as a result as we wonder if anyone else could possibly understand what we're going through. Reminding yourself that anxiety isn't to be harboured alone i.e. there's no hoarding or hiding.

Get help. Keep on getting help. Don't stop. There is someone or a group of them who get it.

3) Triggers: Thoughts of The Past or The Future

The anxious feelings that we have, and their close cousins, arise as a result of our triggers. These triggers are about what's happened in the past or what we afraid of in the future. Our brain's job is to keep us alive and conjuring worst case scenarios or replaying some of our worst fears is how it does that. Pain in the A**!

We don't have control over what's happened nor about to happen. No one does. Not even the weekend horoscope columnist predicted Covid! We do our best to prepare for what's to come.

Additionally, our thoughts and feelings run a million a minute, don't they? They are fleeting, temporary so know that they too will pass.

4) Feed Your Gut

The psychological, mental and physical effects of stress, worry, fear and clan are understated. We each have different responses. They load up our kidneys and liver as well as put additonal stress on the heart and flood our bloodstream with an amazing concotion of hormones that hit our gut. It'll be too easy to deprioritize your health in this time. Forsake your well-being. Choose different. Feed your gut with the right nourishment in proportion to consumption of typical de-stressors like chips, soda, alcohol. Chocolate is nourishment!

5) Get Present

The mind wanders with thoughts, fears and feelings...gets away from us sometimes. Here's what I do especially when things get a tad intense:

a) Say this mantra three times in the morning and night, "I Am Safe In My Body". Do this for at least 30days in a row.

b) Breathe deeply, inhaling through the nostril and exhaling through the mouth in slow deliberate counts. 4 counts in; 8 counts out. Some people choose meditation. Totally your call.

c) "What Can I Take Care of Right Now?" is an awesome question to start with you get yourself back in the present moment. Helps you get resourceful and focus on one task at a time. Just one.

The key is don't isolate yourself and think that you're the only who's going through this. Focus on one thing at a time - one that's doable - then, put your other foot forward. Keep going! And hey, marvel at the fact that you're doing your best. I see you!

#onepercentbetter #everyday #anxiety #beattheodds #marvel

__

Jenny Vaz: Passionate about Mental WHealth 1% Better Everyday

Need a little Pick Me Up? Grab 10 Steps to Maximise Your Energy for Success.