Living With Anxiety

There are many different manifestations of anxiety, including:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder: excessive anxiety or worry about a variety of things including personal health, work, social interactions, and everyday life circumstances.

• Specific Phobia: an intense fear to specific situations, things, or places that are out of proportion to the actual danger.

• Social Anxiety: excessive worry about actions or behaviors in social situations.

• Panic Disorder: episodes of intense fear that come on quickly and reach their peak within minutes.

Common Symptoms of Anxiety

• Feeling nervous

• Feeling helpless

• A sense of impending danger/doom

• Hyperventilating

• Sweating

• Trembling

• Obsessively thinking about the panic trigger

These feelings can interfere with daily activities and can sometimes be difficult to control. While most people with anxiety need therapy and medication to get their anxiety under control, there are some coping strategies and lifestyle changes that can make living with anxiety a little easier.

Tips For Coping

• Keep physically active; exercise is a powerful stress reducer

• Make sleep a priority

• Use stress management and relaxation techniques (breathing techniques, meditation, yoga)

• Keep a journal, writing down thoughts make them seem less daunting

• Socialize, do not let yourself become isolated

• Question your thought pattern, challenge your fears and take back control

• Practice focused, deep breathing (breathe in 4 counts, breathe out 4 counts)

• Identify your triggers

General Triggers Include

• A stressful job or work environment

• Genetics; anxiety can run in your family

• Side affects of certain medication

• Driving or traveling

• Trauma

• Caffeine

• Phobias

• Having another mental illness, like depression

My Experience With Anxiety

Sometimes I try to look back and identify the defining moment that turned me into an anxious person, but it's impossible. As a kid, I was terrified to speak to strangers, to speak up in general. I was told I was just shy and would eventually grow out of it.

It wasn't until my anxiety began effecting my relationship with food did I start receiving help, people finally deeming it a problem that needs to be taken care of. I started going to therapy, and I won't lie, its a long and tedious process to find a therapist right for you. However, once I found one, my progress began. It doesn't happen over night, and there are easy days and hard ones, but finding the right person to talk to while actively working on oneself, makes a big difference. I learned to accept the things I cannot control, to ignore the anxious voice in my head, and to not let the physical effects of anxiety get in the way of my life.