Anxiety
Now, I’m going to write about something that has made not only my life, but other people’s as well. Anxiety can affect people in different degrees, depending on how bad you have it and how it would affect you. In my case, it’s pretty severe and stops me from even going outside because my main source of anxiety are people and crowds; both of these triggers rooting in my fear of social interactions. Of course, that’s just one branch of anxiety as it is rooted in my own fears and paranoia. Someone else may have light anxiety when it comes to stressing over projects and deadlines. But, just as those who have light freakouts to these conditions, there are also those who have stronger, more aggressive attacks. Those with anxiety are familiar with panic attacks which cause shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling hands, and some say they have distorted or reduction of vision. They aren’t fatal but the symptoms are similar to heart attacks and cause the one having an attack has an increased sense of fear. There are no actual cures for panic attacks or panic disorders, only medications that are given to you to...’control’ your attacks and your anxiety. And these prescriptions don’t always work and require you to up your dosage multiple times and causing you discomfort and wasting your money on all the doctor visits and prescription fillings.
Of course, there are ways to shorten the length of the attacks. One way is to just focus on your breathing, taking deep breaths and canceling out the noises or thoughts that are the cause for the attack. Another way is to focus on your senses. What do you see? Smell? Touch? Hear? Taste? Pick one to start with and list five, then continue down the five senses while taking one thing off the list for each. Example: Five things you see, four things you hear, three things you feel, two things you smell, one thing you taste. One more way is to try and focus on something else; considerably something that you like or love to do. This helps calm you down more than you might realize, the only trick is that you need to focus solely on that one thing. And let’s not forget personalized tricks, like how I fiddle with a piece of jewelry on my person (i.e. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc.) What are your tips and tricks when dealing with anxiety and the attacks that follow? I would love to know!
