Living With Anxiety | + My Tips On Coping

Anxiety is such a taboo subject. It's falls under an umbrella term of illnesses/disorders called "mental health" which refers to your cognitive wellbeing. I actually hate the term mental illness, it gives off the impression that there is something wrong with you and your not normal. 

Anxiety recently seems to be the "in thing" which I feel is the fault of certain Youtubers *cough Zoella cough*. Although it's great she is raising awareness for people who really do suffer 

with anxiety it's also attracting teenagers who want to be like her and think it's cool or normal to be anxious, that it will help you to fit in if you, for example, have what Zoella has. What worries me most is the comments sections on these videos, where young girls get together and 

say they've been anxious at school today and they don't know who to tell ect. Do these girls really suffer from anxiety or is this a new fad?

You can normally tell who the real sufferers due to them being the ones who don't shout it from the roof 

tops. Although I'm not saying it's not ok to speak openly about it. In the 4 years I have had health anxiety only a select amount of people know and even then most of them don't know how severe it is. 

I want to make it clear there is a HUGE difference between worrying about something (exams, a driving test & falling out with a friend) and having actual debilitating anxiety. Although unpleasant it is not harmful in any way, anxiety is an emotion that triggers physical side effects temporary and will ease up if not pass within a few hours.

A panic attack, which a lot of people experience with anxiety, is triggered by the fight or flight 

response that releases hormones, such as adrenalin and cortisol which prepare your body for the imminent danger. The only problem is there generally isn't any real danger and we are just experiencing these symptoms as a result of a slight malfunction where the wires have got a little 

confused and our brains think we have a big old crazy human eating tiger after us! 

You may find you'll get some unpleasant symptoms with a panic attack, you may feel like your having a heart attack as the heart beats alot faster to carry blood to the right parts of the body. Don't be alarmed if you feel that because it's ok, it won't cause you any long term damage to the body and it will be over as quickly as it started. Another common symptom which I myself experience, is the feeling of lightheadedness so you think your going to faint. 

I always feel lightheaded, dizzy, nauseated, jelly legs, like I'm not 

really here and disconnected from my body and unable to control it. 

The worse bit is the come down after a panic attack, people tend to forget that an actual panic attack 

only lasts about 5 minutes - 15 minutes tops. The rest is the after effect and this can be a few hours to 

maybe even the next day. As I said earlier, panic attacks are not dangerous. Always tell yourself that in the midst of an attack. Repeat in your head or even out loud "this won't last long" too

You may feel sick for a while after and have a headache from the adrenaline your body has produced but not actually used. You'll  also feel very fatigued. I normally find after I get a sense of relief like it's almost out of my system but again that depends on if this panic attack was building up for a particular reason or just came out randomly when your shopping in Tesco and you suddenly feel the fear whilst looking for a can of baked beans! 

It's ok to have anxiety. I was embarrassed for years about having this and wondered what people 

would think of me but recently I just don't care. I have anxiety because of my bad health so I can't help it. It's a natural response to my body not working as it should and my brain not understanding why and fearing it.

Over the years I've learnt to cope better with it and prevent panic attacks as and when I need too. Obviously I still have the occasional sneaky panic attack that catch you unawares and makes you feel a little nervous it may happen again for a while but I've got my own little tricks to help me not to worry about that. 

Having anxiety of any form is horrible and I feel for anyone who suffers greatly with it. 

There's many different kinds, generalised being the most common. There's normally no organic reason for it, it's just a sense of constant and overwhelming unease and uncertainty about anything 

and everything. 

Generalised anxiety and social anxiety can normally be helped by seeing a cognitive behavioural therapist (CBT) where you can talk out your worries and fears with an inpartial professional and make a game plan on how to reduce your symptoms and get you facing your fears. Health anxiety however is a little more complex, there is generally a physical reason as to why 

you have this form of anxiety and although CBT can help its better to try and cure, come to terms with or reduce your symptoms of the illness to help relieve the anxiety, even if it's just a little.

Never let anxiety define you, it's not a weakness. In fact, to be able to deal with anxiety on a regular basis makes you a strong person and you should be applauded, so if your reading this and you suffer with anxiety give yourself a pat on the back because your are doing well! 

Tips to prevent a panic/anxiety attack.

Ok so I've got a few that hopefully you will find useful and can either help prevent a panic attack or help you during.

- Limit if not completely remove all caffeine from your diet as caffeine is a stimulant that will trigger panic attacks and aggravate anxiety. 

Limit alcohol too because that also has the same effect. 

- Get lots of sleep. If you stress your body out by having panic attacks or even just general constant anxiety you will find you become worn out and fatigued very quickly. 

Be kind to your body and get enough sleep I promise you it will help.

- Distract yourself. This for me is the most important when im feeling anxious or like I may have a panic attack. If your at home you can distract yourself by watching a film, reading a book, browsing the internet or even just by having a chat with someone. When your out obviously its a bit harder I find keeping a magazine or a puzzle style book in my bag is handy, when I get anxious i can then get it out and distract my brain by flicking through or doing a puzzle. If someone is with you chat to them about it or get them to tell you a random story even if you just make one up, it works! You could even count cars, anything where your not focusing on feeling anxious works.

- Get counting! This really works be it mid panic or even if your trying to prevent anxiety start counting. Count as high as you can until you start to feel calm again, it will distract your brain as it cant think of anything else.

- Meditation. I know most think its cliché and your thinking of a buddha in the "om pose" but there is many different ways to meditate and they can be done pretty much anywhere, although don't do it whilst your driving, safety first guys! It can be something as simple as closing your eyes, imagining your happy place and breathing correctly. I use the in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4 technique and this can help if your mid attack and hyperventilating too.

Also Andrew Johnson does an app called "relax +" that is a form of hypnotherapy to relax you and help you cope with stress and fears as well as anxiety. I listen to these almost daily as he has so many different programmes to listen too and his voice is really soothing and even makes me fall asleep sometimes!

- Exercise. Even just running round the block or a bit of dancing (maybe if your not in public?) anything that gets your endorphins going and you can also burn off the adrenaline in the process. I find jogging on the spot to be helpful or hula hooping.

- Take time out for yourself. A nice pamper session of facemask, candles and watching your favourite film or tv programme does wonders for anxiety levels. Do some yoga if your into it, paint your nails, listen to calming music or even take a nap.

- Write down your fears.If your feeling anxious just write it down. It doesn't matter where or even if you think the fear is stupid, to you its important and writing it down will get it out in the open and you can then decide if its a rational or irrational fear.

- See friends or family that cheer you up. Laughter as they say is the best medicine and it really is! Spend time with people that make you happy and laugh and if they bring chocolate that's a bonus.

- Realise you cant control everything. This for me was and probably still is a big part of my anxiety. I cant control my illness and being the control freak i am that's not on! Being a perfectionist wont help either, do your best and be proud of however close you get to it, no one is perfect. Put your stress into 

perspective and ask yourself regularly "are things as bad as you think?"

- Lastly, face your fears. Things or situations are never normally as scary as you think they are and the fear and build up of doing something is way worse than the actual doing. We picture scenarios or outcomes of how things will be and most of the time we have blown it way out of proportion.

If you've felt anxious or had a panic attack in a certain place before, go back to where it was and put yourself in the situation. You may feel anxious and worried there again but its likely your be ok and you've faced your fear so you can go back and do it again now. Every time you do this your be a little bit stronger and you can tell anxiety where to go!

I hope this was helpful and i didn't waffle on too long (i probably did!)

Until next time xo

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