An anxious person’s guide to feeling less anxious
Even if you’re not clinically anxious, we’ve all experienced feelings of anxiety before, whether it be fearing you’re not going to make a deadline, social anxiety when being around certain people, or just feeling really lonely. I know how hard it is to calm yourself down during the scary times, so here’s a list of things I do when I’m feeling incredibly anxious or in an anxiety attack.
*Anxiety is different for everyone, what works for me may not work for you. I’m not saying “Literally, do all of these things and you will never be anxious ever again.” This is just me
1. Cry If I’m feeling anxious, the first thing I do, every single time, without fail, is cry. I love crying. It’s just like a good 30-minute break in between feeling anxious and completing whatever task is making you feel anxious at the time. You can just focus on crying and you can be dramatic as you possibly can. It works every time.
2. Workout If I’m feeling anxious and a little more ambitious I’ll go to the gym. Working out apparently sends endorphins throughout your body or something. You’re supposed to be happier when you leave the gym, so they say. I mean, you don’t leave the gym feeling completely free of anxiety but you at least feel good that you left the house and didn’t spend all day doing absolutely nothing, even if going to the gym was the only thing you did anyway.
3. Have the talk with myself If I feel an anxiety attack coming on, or woke up on a bad day, I try to convince myself that it’s just my anxiety. I try to reassure myself that nothing is as bad as my brain is trying to make me think it is. Honestly, this rarely works because my anxiety wins a lot of the time, but it’s good to remind yourself that it will eventually pass, even if it’s hard to believe the feeling will pass when you feel like you’re literally dying.
4. Listen to Music Putting on music is not the first thing I think to do during an attack, but I always wish I did. Putting together a playlist of whatever music helps you feel good and calm is key. Spotify has a meditation playlist that I’ve truly abused. Also, Boss A$$ Bitch – Nicki Minaj should be listened to once a day in the morning to reduce the likelihood an anxiety or panic attack. This is a fact.
5. Read @sosadtoday twitter Spending all day on Twitter is my favorite past time anyway, so once I started following accounts that are related to anxiety, my social life was over. It’s so reassuring to know that you’re not the only person who feels so confused by their own mind and that your crazy thoughts aren’t any less crazy than the next person’s.
6. Overreact Ahh, my favorite. When I’m in an attack, the only thing it seems that I manage to do every single time is overreact. The screaming cries, headaches and stress I’ve inflicted on myself for absolutely no reason, yesssss. Usually, it’s not that serious and you have to know this during an attack because otherwise you will freak yourself out more than you need to. But it’s really fun to overreact because you can just blame everything on everyone else for a few minutes.
7. Write everything down BUY A JOURNAL. Seriously, if you are an anxious individual, buy a journal. It’s so important to understand your feelings and why you feel anxious. If you start to consistently write down your triggers and more details about your attacks and feelings, you’ll start to see patterns and this could help you better understand yourself and your attacks.
8. Stay in bed and ruminate in your anxiety all day Never mind, THIS is actually my favorite thing to do. This is what it usually comes down to when none of the other things work. And sometimes we have those days, and it is okay! It’s not you being lazy, sometimes the anxiety wins though. Don’t feel bad, it happens to us all. As long as you’re at least trying to do things that make you happy and feel calm, you’re okay. Just try to remember that the feeling will pass and it will get better, kind of.
