Mental Health Moments: How To Not Let Anxiety Get The Best Of You
⌛ By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛
For years, I thought that anxiety was a dirty word.
I convinced myself I wasn’t anxious as I stressed out over every little assignment grade, what people thought of me, if I was indeed a “good enough” person. I thought it was normal to just be anxious. After all, this is who I have been my entire life.
Cue the perfectionism that began when I was a child and morphed into an entity greater than me as I approached my mid-20s. I thought it was normal to just be anxious. After all, this is who I have been my entire life.
...Until I found out that anxiety isn’t the be-all end-all solution to living a happy and fulfilled life. Now, I’m becoming better at allowing anxiety to be what it is: a temporary nebula in an otherwise clear and spacious path.
Here are three ways I don’t let anxiety get the best of me, even in its darkest moments:
Just keep moving.
One of the best ways to help with anxiety and other mental health struggles is to just maintain a normal day. I know this is easier said than done at some times. You just want to remain underneath your safety blanket with your tried-and-true methods of your comfort zone. However, you will not grow if you do that all of the time. It’s important to have a routine and stick to it as much as possible. Go to those already scheduled business meetings, have lunch with your friend, go out with your S.O. for dinner, write your daily word count for your novel, etc. Sometimes, but just simply DOING, you can evade some of the effects of anxiety that cripple you and lead you down an all-too-familiar path of submission and not resistance.
Repeat words of affirmation.
As a writer and overall logophile (lover of words), words possess power for me. I can fall into a deep, dark hole when I begin to tell myself I am not good enough or that I didn’t do something the correct way. Negativity breeds negativity, so I have to use that same word power for good. Through therapy and other research, I have started to learn how to flip negativity on its delusional head. I will say or write things like, “Even though I don’t feel motivated right now, I am still amazing at what I do” and “Even though I feel like I am not enough, I know that I am.” Sometimes, I can squash anxiety and fear by just saying an affirmation once, but sometimes, it takes all day to combat the negative processes in my brain.
Realize that it doesn’t last forever.
This can be the most challenging aspect of anxiety. In the midst of a panic or anxiety attack, you believe that it will last forever, that you will never get a reprieve from the thoughts spinning inside your head. I’m here to tell you that these thoughts and feelings don’t last forever. They may last 20 minutes or 20 days, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not easy to find, but it’s there. I am a naturally positive person, so it’s always confusing to me when negativity pervades my normally positive demeanor during times of high anxiety and stress. Some stressors will be mountains (such as grief after a loved one passes away) or a molehills (you said something embarrassing in a large group of people).
Please note: These blog posts are not clinical, although we will provide symptoms and other information. These posts are based on my experiences with anxiety and mental health in general. If you or someone you know needs help, visit a website like Mental Health America to learn more.
Mental Health Moments blog posts are every other Tuesday of the month. Our CEO and contributors highlight what it's like to live with a mental health disorder and continue to fight the stigma through storytelling.
Kaylin R. Staten, APR, is an award-winning public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV with nearly 16 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a recovering perfectionist, mental health advocate, wife, cat mom and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.