Everyone has experienced anxiety at least once in their lifetime. Whether it be the wave of stress you feel as you cram to finish that assignment the night before it is due, or that awful feeling you get when you are about to present in front of a room full of strangers. For the majority of people, anxiety is a part of everyday life. It is something that we just have to “deal” with, even though it sucks. So, what is anxiety? And what can you do about it?
For starters, there is a difference between anxiety as a mental illness and the feeling of anxiety in general. Anxiety is a natural emotion that everyone feels. Sure, it sucks, but if you never felt a wave of anxiety, you’d have a whole other set of problems. Anxiety is how our brain reacts to danger or stress, and dates back for centuries. It’s an alert system that allows us to engage in our fight or flight mechanism. Without it, we would be unable to react and process danger. It was used by cavemen to ensure survival in a life-or-death situation.
However, the problem with this life saving mechanism is that we are rarely in life-or-death situations in our modern day. It is not really needed in everyday life anymore. Yet, anxiety is still a part of our brain and is ready to fire up anytime it senses a potentially dangerous situation. This leads to us worrying over things that hardly warrant such a stressful response. We start stressing and panicking over what grade we got on our midterm, whether or not people like you, if your outfit looks okay, and the list goes on. This is, generally, what we call anxiety.
So, what can we do when we feel anxiety?
Here are a few helpful tips that have been proven to work by professionals:
5/5 Rule:
First, let’s start with the 5/5 rule. It’s pretty simple – if it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it. For example, if you’re ever feeling overly anxious about something, let’s say a presentation you have coming up in class, take a step back to analyze it with this easy rule. Will this matter 5 years from now? In the case of a presentation in class, probably not. You probably won’t even remember the presentation or the grade you got in 5 years from now. So, in this case, don’t spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it. This rule allows you to avoid unnecessary stress and feelings of anxiety.
5 senses trick:
This one’s a really common one that circulates all over social media. It may seem pointless or unhelpful at first glance, but if you ever experience anxiety attacks it can be really helpful, so don’t knock it yet. This one is also really simple. If you’re ever feeling overwhelming anxiety, such as an anxiety attack, try to think of 5 things you can see, smell, hear, touch, and taste. This will ground you. It has been proven to take your mind off of what’s causing you stress and instead focus on your environment.
What to do if your anxiety is severe?
The difference between anxiety as a mental illness and the general feeling of anxiety is that an anxiety disorder causes unexpected or unhelpful anxiety that begins to impact everyday life. It affects how we think, feel, or act in a given situation. In a lot of cases, an anxiety disorder is both physical and mental. The feeling of anxiety every once in a while is completely normal, but the constant feeling of anxiety, or experiencing anxiety in a situation where feelings of anxiousness are not needed or appropriate is when it begins to be considered more of a disorder.
So, if you’re experiencing an anxiety disorder, what can you do about it?
A common misconception with people who experience anxiety is that they should “just get over it” or figure it out by themselves. This is the wrong way of thinking. An anxiety disorder is a real illness that impacts a person’s well-being. You wouldn’t downplay a broken leg, so don’t downplay your symptoms of anxiety either. It’s important to reach out to a professional that can help you overcome what you’re feeling. They will be able to give you advice on what options are best for you, as well as your next steps. The sooner you reach out, the sooner you can improve your everyday life.
The bottom line here is: make sure to take care of yourself and your mental health. Whether you experience severe anxiety, such as a disorder, or just an occasional feeling of anxiety, it’s important to take the right steps to take care of yourself.