Ways to Fight Anxiety

Anxiety is the most common mental disorder, not only across the globe but also in the US. Internationally, 1 in 13 people suffer from it, but, unfortunately, because of the stigma of having a mental disorder, less of 40% of the people actually go and seek some sort of treatment.

What’s this all about?

Anxiety is what you feel when something triggers your emotions. It’s basically feeling nervous with some extra fear thrown in for good measure. You probably felt anxious before holding a speech in front of a group of people, when you had to go for a job interview, when you met your in-laws for the first time, and so on.

Anxiety can ever rear its ugly head when you experience beautiful moments that put a strain on your stress level, such as your wedding day, graduation day, meeting your favorite celebrity, seeing a dear friend or family member after a long period of time, so, basically, when your nerves are stretched to the maximum.

Anxiety tends to lead to panic attacks. Common symptoms include shortness of breath, an impending sense of doom, confusion, diarrhea, or palpitations. This makes people want to avoid the same situations that caused them their first panic or anxiety attack, which, in time, makes them avoid more and more situations, especially public gatherings.

Why don’t people seek treatment?

Given the horrible way these attacks can make you feel, you’d think everybody would rush to the doctor to have things checked on. Well, as some people generally do, avoiding the doctor at all costs is just as common in this situation as it is when people experience other disorders or illnesses, postponing them as much as possible.

Aside from people who just generally avoid doctors, there are also people who just don’t have the information about this disorder. People in rural areas, especially, are bound to be less understanding of such things, which discourages those who struggle to look for a remedy from the doctor in the first place, as they’re led to believe it’s not a real thing.

The third group is, ironically, the people that go to the doctor. Since anxiety seems to mess up your entire body, people seek a generalist, to tell them what could make them feel symptoms in their brain, heart, stomach, and even limbs (as numb limbs are also a common symptom). And here comes the stigma.

If the doctor figures out you have anxiety and sends you to a psychiatrist, you should go. But many people refuse to believe “there’s something wrong with their brain”. There is nothing wrong with your brain, a disorder doesn’t mean a disease. On top of the social stigma, people are also afraid of psychiatric treatment, fearing addiction.

You should keep in mind that no doctor has any intention of getting you addicted to anything. If anxiety pills were bad, nobody would have taken them. The risk of addiction is actually really low, because, unless it’s a severe case, a lot of people only take those pills for a couple of weeks or months, so the body doesn’t get addicted.

What Else Can you do?

Aside from seeking medical help, other things you can do to help you get over anxiety are things like Claire Winchester Hypnotherapy that will get your mind off of overthinking. The simplest way of describing anxiety is the brain’s ability to overthink. Instead of being happy, you are graduating, you fear the worst that could happen and, somehow, think that is going to follow you forever.

That is not true. Also, try focusing on sports. Get some comfortable shorts and start jogging, as that creates dopamine in your body, and relieves stress in general. Focus on your hobbies, and turn them into really important activities that you follow daily – painting, taking photos, playing video games. If you are a fan of games, getting a gaming laptop computer and playing to your heart’s content can go a long way in making your anxiety go away as well.

While you are at it, you must also try and find the reason why you feel anxious. Are you scared of how that new neighborhood is going to be? Do you think you may not cover your monthly bills with the money from your new job? Figuring out what causes your stress levels to go up is going to help you a lot in this fight that you will win sooner than later.