When I was in my junior year of high school, I dealt with anxiety for the first time. I remember my first anxiety attack. I had a growing fear and my heart started to beat fast, my palms became sweaty, and I started to lose focus. I tried my hardest to hide how I was feeling, but I was trapped in my mind with the fear that something terrible was going to happen to me. My anxiety attacks happened for about four months. Here are some ways that I was able to calm down when I suddenly became overcome with fear.
1. Listen to music that will bring you peace
Whenever I would start to feel anxious, I would leave my classroom or the lunchroom and find a quiet place (usually in the restroom) and begin to listen to a song that I know would calm me down. The song that I chose to listen to was a Christian song named "Fear Is a Liar" by Zach Williams. I usually prayed while listening to the song because I felt like everything around me was out of my control. The lyrics of the song reminded me that I was okay. It is good to be cautious and aware of your surroundings, but you shouldn't let it stress you out constantly and you should not constantly be living in fear. I had so many days that I became anxious and lived in fear when in the end, things turned out fine. I had let myself get distracted with fear rather than fully enjoying the moments that I was living in.
2. Practice the "5 Senses Test"
Another thing that I would do when I got anxious was the "5 Senses Test." I would ask myself, "What can I see in front of me?" "Who or what can I hear?" "What can I touch?" "What can I smell?" and "What can I taste?" Asking myself those questions helped me to realize that all of my five senses worked just fine which meant that I was okay. Even though my vision started to blur and I would cancel out noise and just listen to my negative thoughts, I had to remind myself that I was fully present and that sometimes I was making the situation worse in my head.
3. Talk to someone you trust and be honest with them about how you are feeling
Often times when I felt anxious, I would call my dad, talk to a friend who also dealt with anxiety, or talk to the school nurse. It felt so good to have people around me who cared about how I was feeling. I usually like to hide how I feel, but it was so important for me to be honest about what caused me to be anxious or even to simply tell someone that I did not know why I was anxious and that I was confused about the way I was feeling. It was important to me to have people around me or someone to call who made me feel safe.
4. Realize your purpose and how significant you are in this big world
One thing that used to make me feel anxious was when I used to feel so small in this big world. I used to fear that something tragic could happen to me, but it would not even matter to anyone because I was just a small speck in this huge universe. I used to feel insignificant. I used to feel this way even when I won Homecoming princess at school that same year and my peers showed nothing but love towards me. I knew that a lot of people cared for me, but for some reason, I was convinced that I did not matter that much in this big world. I used to think about how small I was in comparison to my big school and the hundreds of students there. I had to look at life from a different perspective. I started to realize that even though I am small in size in comparison to the world, my life and everyone else's is so important. Each individual has something important to share and contribute to this life here on Earth. Also, there is so much of this world to explore so we should be in awe of how big this world is instead of getting ourselves anxious and making ourselves feel insignificant or fearful. There is so much to see during our time on Earth so we should not live in fear and just enjoy life.
5. Focus on your breathing
When anxious, it can be hard to focus on breathing because your mind is racing with so many thoughts and your heart may be beating fast. During this time, we have to remind ourselves to focus on our breathing to calm ourselves down and to help slow down our heart rate. Anyone who deals with anxiety knows that it was no fun when our heart starts beating fast, so it is important to simply remind ourselves to take a deep breath and to just breathe.
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