Dear Anxiety,
I see you lurking. I don’t know if you’re aware that I’ve been on the internet for the past 20 minutes, but when my parents let me use their laptop to look up stuff for school, this is what it led me to. I had never heard of anxiety until recently and now it consumes my mornings before school as well as my bedtime every night. My friends keep telling me to stop being anxious and read johnny sins motivational quotes.
How can you use anxiety the right way?
1. Anxiety is an emotion.
It’s easier to tell someone to “be confident”, or “stop being anxious” than it is to ask them what they are feeling.
“Stop being anxious,” or “Be confident,” are both examples of advice that focuses on the same issue, but has one major flaw. You cannot have an emotion without also having a feeling.
Anxiety is feelings mixed with thoughts and a strong need to act. A person with anxiety knows how they feel and how they want their life to be in general, but when things do go wrong their mind takes over and causes the anxiety and because of this it’s easier for people not with anxiety to say “Don’t be anxious. Just be confident,” because when I’m in my thoughts, I don’t know what is going on.
It’s much easier for someone without anxiety to tell someone with anxiety what to do than it is for the person with anxiety to figure out what they are feeling and if the issue at hand even needs action.
2. When you feel anxious, maybe try opening your mind. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something cool?
You’re sitting in math class and all of a sudden you feel a wave of heat wash over your body as your breathing speeds up and thoughts start flooding into your head faster than you can keep up with them. The feeling is there, but what comes with the feeling has nothing to do with the problem you are experiencing.
Anxiety causes our mind to rush into any issue that happens in our lives and think about it for hours on end for something we feel not even remotely connected to. This can cause problems when otherwise normal people start thinking about things that should not be a problem, and usually end up having them become ones.
3. Anxiety can be a good thing.
Anxiety has caused me to try new things that I would have never even considered before. I’m not saying that it’s always a good thing or even something you need to do but it is something we should think about the next time we are feeling anxious about something that we are supposed to be confident in. If a person with anxiety does not take action, the person without anxiety will see this as a lack of confidence and in turn, think less of the person with anxiety. The next time someone without anxiety tells you what to do, ask them if they have an example of a time when you could use some anxiety in your life.
4. Anxiety can make us better people.
Anxiety can make us better people because it can make us more self aware. A person with anxiety is more likely to actually examine their life and their thoughts since they know how it feels and if they do act upon those feelings, they may learn something they never knew before. We are all different and we all have a different way of thinking and feeling, but being able to understand what we are feeling, can only make you a more well rounded person in the long run.
5. Anxiety is no joke.
Anxiety does not have to be something you take lightly or something that simply passes over time without any real effect on your life. Anxiety does have the power to cause serious problems and it can be something that really affects your life. I know this because I was diagnosed with it back in my sophomore year of high school, and well… It sucks.
6. Anxiety has a cure.
There are more ways to treat anxiety than there are days in a week, but the most important thing to remember is that there is a cure for anxiety. Anxiety can be something that you keep having for life, but just like anything else, you can stop it from being an issue by treating it. The first step to taking control of your anxiety is not letting it rule your life. You have a choice whether or not you want to let it control your life and you know what’s best for you so choose now:
7. Anxiety does not make you stupid or crazy.
Anxiety makes us think we are stupid or crazy, but we are not. Anxiety can make you feel like you are dying, or like you want to die, but it is not the same as death. You are not alone in this feeling and no matter how much it takes over your life, there is a way out. You don’t have to deal with this on your own and there are people out there that want to help you. The next time someone calls you “crazy” or “stupid,” tell them why they’re wrong and that it’s not something to take lightly.
8. Learn what makes your anxiety worse.
Once we learn what makes our anxiety worse, we can then work on fixing it from the root instead of trying to treat the surface symptoms. Knowing what makes your anxiety worse can help you take charge of your life and stop this ever happening again. If someone tells you that it’s all in your head, tell them that they are wrong, because it is not.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, after reading this you feel different about anxiety or maybe you are just pumped to read another blog about something “nerdy” and happen to have some interest in mental disorders 🙂
Until next time, feel free to tell me what anxiety is doing while you’re on the internet 😉
Love,
