My battle with anxiety began when I was around 14. From my freshman year of high school up until my junior year, I let my anxiety completely control my life, and I let it change who I was. I went from a generally happy teenager to extremely stressed and anxious. I stopped going out with my friends, I didn't care as much about school, and I just wasn't happy. One day in my junior year I was looking through middle school pictures (atrocious, I know), but I noticed a clear difference in the person I was then, and the person I was in 11th grade, and I didn't like the difference. I knew the reasons as to why I changed, and I knew that I had to do something about it. I began looking into ways to reduce my stress and anxiety. In doing this, I have become happy again, I go out, I make new friends, and I'm a better person because of it; I still suffer from anxiety, but I have found ways to reduce it immensely. Rather than focusing on what I cannot control, I have begun to focus on myself, and what I can do to make my daily environment positive, happy and healthy. These are my ways in reducing my anxiety, and I hope that they can help you as well:
1. First and foremost, put that phone down.
Close your computer, shut off the TV, just stop for a second and look at your surroundings. It’s unreal how much technology influences our leaves, and for a lot of people (myself included), it just tacks on to already endless anxiety, so just shut down for a bit.
2. If you’re feeling exceptionally anxious or stressed today, take a deep breath.
Seriously, breathe in for five seconds, release for eight; I cannot even begin to explain how much this helps when it becomes your daily routine.
3. Stop self-deprecating.
Seriously, look at yourself in the mirror and find at least one thing about yourself that you like. Now do this every day. I’ve been using this practice for years; everything is something small, but once you begin to love yourself, it truly helps. A lot of anxiety is induced by personal insecurities, and if you start working on self-love, you will see a difference.
4. Something I try to do a few times a week is just sit outside and soak in the sun.
It seems like something so little, but taking those 20 minutes to yourself to relax can change your day around completely.
5. Stop aiming for perfection.
Instead, promise to try your best at whatever task you’re presented with. Aiming for perfection is a way to hike up your anxiety levels to an extreme.
6. Stay positive.
I used to be the most pessimistic person, and sometimes I can still be the negative one in situations, but I made a conscious attempt to become positive. Once I started looking at (most) things with an optimistic view, in many situations my anxiety instantly was becoming less and less. Not all situations, but in enough that there was a clear difference, to me at least.
7. Clean your room.
Once you get rid of the clutter and visual disaster zone where you work, whether it be your room, desk, or office, you’ll feel better almost immediately. Now, just be prepared for the anxiety that emerges when you decide to clean and have a chance to look around at your mess, but once you pull through and clean you will begin to feel 10 times better.
8. Go to that party.
If you’re like me, your social anxiety is unreal. I totally get it, but forcing yourself out of your comfort zone, if only for an hour, can make a huge difference.
9. Exercise!
I cannot even begin to explain the effects that exercise has had on my anxiety levels. Every time I feel more and more stressed, I try to get to the gym ASAP. Having access to a gym is key; being able to work out releases a lot of stress and anxiety. Just try it; pushing your feelings through every workout can really make you feel better. At first, I hated the gym. It gave me anxiety just to be in that setting, but I pushed through it and now it is one of my outlets.
10. Learn what triggers your anxiety.
For me, the school was a huge trigger. Of course, there are other things in my daily life that cause anxiety attacks, but school was my major culprit. I learned what classes gave me the worst anxiety and spoke to those teachers about it. To my surprise, they were all completely understanding, and they went out of their way to help me. Once you find your main trigger and find a way to work on it, you realize your anxiety will slowly decrease, and no matter how little the change, it still makes a difference.
Now, everyone struggles with different types of anxiety. My anxiety isn't as bad as others, and others aren't as bad as me, but that doesn't mean that not everyone can try these tasks. Just see what works for you!
