Combating Anxiety and Other Negative Emotions

Stress, anxiety, fear, depression, and other varieties of what we consider negative emotions are more prominent than ever nowadays. It can be hard to see the light when you or your loved ones are sick or in risky positions. When all the things you were looking forward to were cancelled; the dream internship over the summer, finishing senior year in a bang, that date with the person you’ve been crushing after and finally had the courage to ask out… Uncertain futures, whether that be the day, the week, the month, or beyond.

Personally, I’m a planner. I like making lists, sometimes to the point of concern. I write up a little bucket-list for every semester to make sure I schedule fun things to do with friends or for myself. Right now, it’s hard to plan for anything. Best case-scenarios have turned into maybes and worst-case scenarios seem more and more realistic. My to-do lists have turned into daily's only, as I try to scrape through the end of the school semester online.

I feel for all of the people who are struggling right now, which I honestly believe is everyone right now. We each have our issues, and while it’s tempting to use the excuse “someone else has it worse” when comparing others problems to our own, you shouldn’t undermine your own problems or the effects that they have on your life. Going back to the time old saying that everyone who has flown on a plane has heard: “first place the oxygen mask over your mouth and then assist others”. If we don’t take care of our own problems first, it makes it a lot more difficult to help others who are also having trouble.

One of the things I’ve been struggling a lot with lately is anxiety. Now, anxiety looks like a lot of different things for a lot of different people, so I won’t go into the details of my own experiences too much but I would encourage you to look up resources online if this is something you or one of your loved ones may be struggling with. A great podcast to listen to is Spiraling by Katie Dalebout and Serena Wolf, they really dive deep into anxiety and tools to help lessen its effects.

Anyways, I thought it might be helpful if I shared a six tips from my own anxiety toolkit, hopefully some of them will resonate with you.

1. Move your body: This can be doing Yoga, going for a walk, just stretching, dancing a few minutes, boxing or even punching a pillow, whatever you need to do to shake off that anxiety energy. Sometimes an intense workout is what I need, like a hard run or a HIIT workout. In other situations, a less intense workout can be better for both my body and mental health (yoga and walking are my go-to picks). This is especially true for those with physical disabilities or injuries who may not be able to do a full on high-intensity workout or those who have experienced body dysmorphia or an eating disorder and have used exercise as a tool to fuel that disorder.

2. Journal it out: Writing a stream of consciousness journal, literally whatever pops into your head, the good, the bad, the ugly, etc. Somehow seeing things on paper helps me get them out of my head and cements them in a way where I can really process them; instead of having the thoughts relentlessly fly through my brain and only increase my anxiety levels. If you need a little help getting started, there are a lot of great prompts on the blogs Let it Out and Lavendaire.

3.Talk with someone: On a similar streak, talking is another great way to get the thoughts out of your head and into the ‘real world’. It could be talking with family, friends, whoever you’re comfortable with. If some things are more personal or touchy that you’d rather not share with your relatives or close friends, it can be really helpful to talk with a therapist and get some advice or just have a space to let everything out. If you don’t have access or feel comfortable with any of these things, you can also just talk with yourself. I don’t mean silently, in your head, because that’s basically what thoughts are, but actually say what’s on your mind. It can feel a lot less scary by just hearing the words in the open. For some reason they seem more real or valid once you hear them and can be easier to work through or convince yourself that it’s probably not as bad as your imaginative brain thinks.

4. Meditation/breathing exercises: This is both getting out of your head and also staying in your head to work towards clearing your mind of all thoughts, positive and negative. To just be. This can be difficult, so starting small by focusing on breathing is a great initial step. Remember, you always have your breath no matter where you’re at.

5. Do something that brings you joy: It can be helpful to get focus off of stressful things and take a moment or a hour or a day or however long you need to get back in touch with what makes you happy. Think soul food, dancing, the freedom of running through an open field, the playfulness of splashing paint everywhere, cozy cuddles with a furry friend, the possibilities are endless. Anything that makes you truly happy.

6. Recognize your triggers: One of the main steps to decreasing or preventing anxiety is recognizing what causes it. There’s not always a cause, which is total normal and fine if you are someone who experiences this. There’s also a lot of things in your life that may cause anxiety or make it increase from a low/manageable level to something exponential.

For me, certain foods like caffeine cause my mind to go on hyperdrive can increase my anxiety like crazy or sometimes cause it even when I think I’m doing fine before. To try to prevent this, I stick to drinking decaf most days or limit myself to 1 cup of caffeinated coffee if I think I can handle that. Another food trigger is dairy, since I’m lactose intolerant and it causes stomach indigestion and bloating...which just whirlwinds into a whole other problem with body image, feeling uncomfortable in my skin, and a lot of other bad memories I’d rather not go into.

Sometimes it can be emotions, like loneliness or feeling misunderstood. Anger with myself or others with no outlet or resolution in sight. I get really anxious when I feeling stuck or trapped, which often happens if I’ve been sitting down for two long or have been in a car or plane for a long time.

Consuming a lot of social media can cause a whole bunch of problems, from unnecessary comparisons to information overloads and overall just feeling disconnected from your own thoughts and life.

Sometimes it can be hard and seemingly impossible to reduce or prevent anxiety. I still struggle with anxiety/stress/fear/whatever else you want to call it. Disclaimer before I finish, I am in NO WAY a professional in any sort of medical or psychological field and everything written is based off of my own experiences and what I have heard from others. If you're struggling with severe mental health issues, please reach out to medical professionals to seek help. I know a lot of healthcare workers are busy right now with the pandemic, but that should not stop you from getting assistance when you need it.

Anyways, I hope some of these tips are helpful for you. Please let me know if you have any that have worked for you, I’d love to hear about them and try them.

Wishing you well,

An (Anxious) Adventurous Aquarius