I'm not going to bullshit you. Anxiety is a thing, and if you have it it'll probably stay with you for your whole life. Don't stop reading, I know its painfully pessimistic but the truth hurts. Although while there is no cure, no magic concoction of medicine you can take, there are ways, real ways, to improve your situation. When someone first told me that anxiety was something you would most likely live with your entire life it well, gave me anxiety about being anxious. Which is frustratingly ridiculous because I'd worry about being anxious at a party, and not because of the party itself but the fear of having a panic attack in that kind of situation, then I would genuinely panic. For me in particular the medication prescribed for anxiety disorders is a paradox, and therefore I find them unhelpful. Most anxiety medication works as a kind of sedative, slowing you down and making you tired as to avoid the adrenaline rush associated with panic. But then at work I'd always be run down and I'd never be able to do my job properly. So you have to pick, which is the lesser of two evils?
I've come across a few loopholes that I've personally found incredibly helpful, and while not everyone is the same, it doesn't hurt to try.
1. Get away, just run.
Two of the things I pride myself on are being able to do completely stupid things and being the best at running away. Thankfully they tend to go hand in hand, and have given me my no.1 weapon against anxiety. Sometimes you need to get away, things are too much, you're stuck in a rut, there's seemingly no way out, but wait. There are trains and buses and planes able to take you to literally any destination you want. Get that ticket, whether its to the countryside for a weekend or bloody Australia. I almost did a mini getaway once, and the one thing that stopped me was the fear of being fired. After talking to my boss about what I had planned to do, after missing a day of work, he told me I should have just gone. Not in a way that made it seem like I would be instantly fired, but taking in that my mental health was declining and it's something I needed to do. People are understanding and forgiving in the most unlikely of situations. Sure most jobs won't allow it, but proposing to them you need some time off, confiding in them that you're not 100% okay can do wonders.
2. Immerse yourself in the things you love.
Take a day, or even just a couple of hours, to turn off your social media, step away from the computer and get stuck into the things that bring you joy. The checklist might include watching your favourite childhood film (The Neverending Story for me), baking the biggest batch of brownies you can, reading a flipping amazing book while taking a bath, writing parts of that novel you've always wanted to get stuck into or learning your favourite radio song on the guitar. Remembering that you have some kickass hobbies and skills will give you that initial mood boost that you need to recuperate. Once you've found that tranquility it makes it much easier to drag yourself out of whatever slump or sudden stress that you've found yourself in.
3. Annoyingly, people help.
"And so it turned out that only a life similar to the life of those around us, merging with it without a ripple, is genuine life, and that an unshared happiness is not happiness... And this was the most vexing of all."
This
quote is currently one of my favourites, and not just because it's
highlighted in Into The Wild (a great book/film about running away).
Let's have a moment of silence for all the introverts, the people who
are so content in their own company that normally they don't actually
need other people around. When you're anxious it's almost drug-like the
way you just want to stay at home, do nothing and 'heal'. The problem
with this however, while days off can be incredibly helpful, they can
become addictive. Humans naturally need to socialise, we were built for
it with our vast language abilities, and when you're in a slump or about
to have a panic attack certain people in our lives do in fact help.
While the ones that understand the most can never be with us all day
everyday they can act as a temporary safety blanket. I know it sounds obvious but taking that first step is harder than it looks.
4. Identify the problem.
Anxiety comes about in a ton of different forms, sometimes it'll be a certain environment, specific people or a traumatic event that sets you off. If you can accurately find out what your trigger is it makes it much easier to deal with. Once you know, stamp the shit out of that trigger. If it's your job, quit. If it's being around your parents then it's completely find to minimize contact with them. I know this all sounds so easy online, and that doing the actual acts is an impossibility for most of us, but if you don't start prioritizing your mental health over literally everything else then nothing will get better. You need to understand that you're more important than your job, your friendships and your environment. You have to start being painfully selfish. The rest of the world will cope.
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