Let me preface by saying that anxiety is the most common mental illness in the United States. Anxiety can be caused something as trivial as an exam or something as significant as death; regardless of the culprit, anxiety should always be taken seriously. As a sufferer of severe anxiety, I know first hand how debilitating it can be. Anxiety effects everything from life, schoolwork and relationships and sometimes make you just want to curl up in a ball and cry.
When I was 15 I was in a serious accident that resulted in a partial amputation of my foot. For the first year or so after, I dealt with it completely fine. I went to school, hung out with my friends’ everyday, albeit in a wheelchair. Because I was constantly busy juggling school with friends, I never really had the opportunity to think about my accident and how much it would affect my life in the future.
However, as school let out I found myself spending more and more time inside. On June 30th 2008, exactly a year after my accident, I had my first full- blown panic attack: my chest hurt, I was dizzy, nauseous and felt like I was going to die. It lasted through the night.
In that summer alone I forced my mom to let get an EKG, convinced I had issues with my heart, forced my mom to sleep in bed with me because I was convinced I was going to die at night, and I couldn’t leave my house because I developed social anxiety- every time I left my house I forced my family to take me back. It was unbearable. I was unbearable. I lived in a shell of myself.
Depression and anxiety often times go hand in hand. I started out depressed and then it moved to anxiety- fear that I was sick, that I was dying etc.
I had to go to therapy to treat PTSD, and the tips that I learned from my therapist along with tips that I acquired myself by suffering with anxiety have helped me keep my anxiety at bay.
1. Research anxiety: There is nothing more satisfying than reading about anxiety and having an AHA moment: that they way you’ve been feeling is completely normal. Once you research the problem, it’s easier to find the solution.
2. Breathing techniques: Okay, this may sound completely cliché, but it really works. Often time, hyperventilation can create more symptoms, the common ‘I’m having a heart attack’ feeling associated with anxiety attacks (Anxiety encompasses panic attacks). By just regulating your breathing, which can start of pretty difficult, you can train your body into calming itself down.
3. Watching “simple” tv: When I’m having a severely anxious day, this is by far my most used technique. By watching the Disney channel (Good Luck Charlie is great for this), American Dad/Family or any other TV show in this category, it helps focus your energy onto something else, subsiding your anxiety levels. When you don’t have to think about anything while watching TV, I’ve found that your anxiety levels decrease dramatically.
4. Read a book. For me, the key to battling anxiety is distraction, so I like to pick up a book and get lost in its page.
5. Talk to someone: Talking to someone can be the most difficult part about having anxiety. However, whether it be your best friend, your boyfriend, your mom or a therapist, having someone listen to your burden and have them carry it for you for a little while can ease your anxiety levels.
6. Stay cool: If I’m in the midst of an anxiety attack I constantly seek cool shelter. The heat adds to your irritability, which can increase your anxiety. If you live in a dung heap like me and don’t have air condition, a standing fan works wonders.
Anxiety is a very real thing. A lot of people attempt to ignore it or fight it on their own. Surrounding yourself with the people who love you and want to genuinely help you makes the fight a whole lot less brutal.
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http://www.counselor.org/anxiety.html