Anxiety Tips I Wish I Knew Earlier

Anxiety is a normal thing, unfortunately. Over 40 million adults in the United States suffer with an anxiety disorder. For reference, that’s 19% of the population! So if you ever feel alone, realize that you are definitely not.

The thing about anxiety is that, while it never goes away, there are plenty of ways to manage it and lead a healthy life. As I’ve been dealing with anxiety for about 10 years now, there are some helpful tips I’ve learned along the way. I feel blessed to deal with different forms of worry and anxiety, because each time I get though it, I learn more about myself.

Today I’m going to share some helpful tips I’ve learned along the way that I wish I knew from the beginning. Hopefully these tips will help you!

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this is by no means to be considered medical advice. If you are struggling with mental illness, please call 1–800–662-HELP.

Your worst fear probably will never come true.

So a major part of anxiety is fear- fear of going crazy, fear of death, fear of heights, etc. Human nature is to naturally think of the worst possible scenario, and with anxiety, we fixate on this scenario. The good news is, it’s very unlikely to happen. For example, the fear of “going crazy” is a common fear with anxiety. But fearing this in of itself is proof that you are not, in fact, “going crazy”. Having self-awareness and insight into your feelings is actually the opposite of losing your mind. We spend so much time worrying about things that will never happen, or could possibly happen in the future. Which leads me to my next point …

Try to live in the present

Anxiety is literally worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet, or fixating on something that already has happened. Anxiety cannot exist in the present. If you focus on the task at hand, it kind of puts anxiety on the back burner. I’ve found that when I’m super busy at work, or when I have plans for when I get off work, I’m less anxious that day. The idle mind is sometimes the worst place to be.

I know this is so much easier said than done, but just try it. Set aside some time each day where you will let yourself have anxious thoughts, and if you start to have them outside of that time, just say “No, not right now.”

Talk to people and get outside!