Mitigating Anxiety When The Going Gets Rough
It’s a fact – everyone, and by everyone I mean 99.9999% of all humans, has experienced anxiety in some form at least once in their lives.
Anxiety is a word we use to describe how the human body operates in response to our cognizant or subconscious realizations of stressful, dangerous, or both stressful and dangerous situations.
As we know all too well, humans aren’t perfect, and neither are our brains. Some people experience chronic anxiety, in which our limbic systems, a part of every human’s brain that’s responsible for negative emotions like fear and worry.
While some people are faced with anxiety throughout the entirety of their lives – so bad that panic attacks are a constant worry by such suffers of severe anxiety disorders – most of us will only, or at least for the vast majority of our lives, deal with excessive anxiety when times get tough.
While not every form of self-administered or professionally-aided mental health treatment will be successful, it’s important to at least experiment with various tried-and-true tactics of dealing with the cyclical, compounding stress and worry caused – paradoxically, it seems, with seemingly no cure in sight – by our brains.
Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em: women – uh, uh, oh crap – I mean brains!
Yeah, brains!
Seeing a mental health service provider isn’t always convenient – what to do?
Most people across the United States of America are actively employed. Of those people, the vast majority work sometime during the day, typically from roughly 6 in the morning to, give or take, 4 to 8 in the evening.
When are most doctors’ offices open? Usually, no earlier than 8:00 a.m., and no later than 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. Hard-working individuals that have to support themselves and their families find it difficult to visit mental health professionals – who largely operate on the same schedule as their physician counterparts.
Fortunately, technology has led to the foundation of Talkspace, a firm that connects licensed therapists to clients around the nation through mobile phones, tablets, computers, and other techie tools.
Oh, yeah… guess what? Talkspace’s independent service providers operate on their own schedules, meaning there will likely be tens of counselors free to help at any time throughout the day – or night.
Try distracting yourself, but subconsciously
Virtually everybody with a mental health disorder, or even just a one-off, weeks-long period of excessive stress, has been blown off by others when they hear of your mental stressors. It likely feels so good getting such stressors off your chest, only to be crushed by their dismissive behavior.
Consider taking five slow, deep breaths. For each count, look at one object – a tree, TV, anything – and repeat this four more times. This distracts your brain due to purposeful, increased focus on environmental stimuli.
While seeking help from your own self is more convenient than reaching out to someone else, trained professionals at Talkspace can provide detailed instructions for helpful mental health exercises like the one mentioned above.
Great advice. I have lived with anxiety my entire life and spent my entire adult lifetime in therapy for it. CBT worked wonders for me though!
Great read, I don’t suffer from anxiety on a daily basis but when its time to public speaking I always get very anxious, nervous and overwhelmed to where I cant deal with it. I’ll have to keep these in mind next time I have a public speaking event.
Thank you for sharing this information about Talkspace. I had never heard of this before. It is so important to know about this type of resource.
These are great ideas! I don’t get anxious in large groups or during a speaking engagement. But I do feel myself becoming overwhelmed by anxiety when I don’t have a great action plan on my outstanding to do items.
I have suffered with a severe form of anxiety for years. The key for me is distraction, without a doubt
Stress and anxiety can cause such big problems in our lives. I often take breaks and just take deep breaths, pet the cat and go for a walk to escape my daily stresses.
I have heard of Talkspace!! I think it is a great resource. I need to remember it when the time calls!
These are good tips, especially when you consider not everyone has the same resources at hand. The reality is that we don’t necessarily have the time or money for seeking help.
These are great tips for someone with anxiety. Slow, deep breaths are always a good go-to for when you are feeling overwhelmed or just need to slow down and think for a minute.
Anxiety is the worst! I have suffered from it at different times in my life and it is awful. I know I have family members that have to deal with this also. I think sometimes it is because we as a society have so many things to keep track of. These are great tips!
That is so awesome that there is a place online to be able to talk to a therapist. I suffer from anxiety on a daily basis, would love to check this out.
Great article. I know many people who suffer with anxiety. It is way too common.
Something we all experience. Playing music helps me be distracted
It is great to know there is a service you can access at off hours when the need occurs. I have had some episodes and when it comes to finally getting the appointment the stress has been resolved.
I think this is a great idea! People can’t always get to a mental health practitioner, so the next best thing would be Talkspace. Great insight on this firm!