Antidotes to Anxiety
Reframe. Humor. Alternate-nostril breathing. Action.
Note: I don’t have a clinical license to treat people with anxiety, but as someone with firsthand experience dealing with my own anxiety, I do like to share my advice.
Another note: I couldn’t think of a Britney Spears song to go with this piece. (Okay, okay. Maybe “You Drive Me Crazy” is something we all want to belt out to our anxiety. There, I referenced Britney again.)
Today is World Mental Health Day.
I wanted to address a mental health topic that affects our lives: anxiety.
Anxiety is an evolutionary response to a perceived threat. It’s a biological feedback mechanism that’s uncomfortable, but proves we’re alive.
In modern life, many of us are experiencing anxiety. The natural disasters and human-made disasters of the world, past and present, are cause for concern.
My own anxiety is deep-seated. (I might write a separate post about it.)
I’ve never taken medication for it, I just deal with it. Even on days when it felt like my anxiety was KILLING me, I prided myself on my “abstinence only” approach to medication. (But I understand and respect that medication is the right choice for some people.)
When people say I seem like I’m happy all the time… well, smiling and staying positive is just my way of coping most of the time.
That said, I believe anxiety reveals deep truths about what we actually need in life.
Why not make your biology work for you instead of against you?
Reframe.
Talk back to yourself.
In an episode of the Art of Charm podcast, Daniel McGinn of the Harvard Business Review recommends reframing your anxiety for what it really is: excitement. You can tell yourself, “I’m excited” in response to your anxious feelings that come up.
And I’ll never forget the Medium article I read a couple weeks back that offered some simple yet brilliant advice about how to deal with anxious thoughts. You can talk back to your thoughts by saying, “Thanks for the suggestion” and continuing on with your life.
You are not your thoughts. You are you.
And your thoughts need not control you.
Humor.
“…when the going gets tough, you just gotta laugh.” -Sallie Krawcheck
“Life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think.” -my all-time favorite quote
Humor is a coping mechanism that helps us put things in perspective. It’s healthy to laugh.
If and when you take a moment to pause and think about how things actually play out, and the timing of everything, you might find that life is a comedy.
My 77-year-old Grandma Judy said this weekend, “If you lose your sense of humor, it’s over.”
Grandma is definitely onto something.
Alternate-nostril breathing.
When I took up yoga seriously during my first semester of college, I was dealing with a particularly nasty and circumstantially-unprecedented bout of anxiety.
I practiced yoga three times a week with an instructor who introduced me to alternate-nostril breathing (ANB). It’s a technique where you control your breathing to neutralize the fight-or-flight response in the brain and body. It’s pretty easy to learn how to do.
James Hamblin uses a grudging tone in his recent article about ANB in The Atlantic, but he has a point about the placebo effect. “These sorts of rituals work because we believe they work,” he states.
Maybe ANB isn’t right for you, but meditation is. Or hitting the gym. Or spiritual practice.
Whatever works for you, put it into action. Speaking of action…
Action.
I’m a firm believer that “action is the antidote to anxiety”.
I’m an overthinker, so I constantly have to remind myself to STOP THINKING AND START DOING.
Send that email. Tackle that chore.
What’s the worst that could happen? You might get a “no” or a rejection. (Fun fact: I was recently rejected from a position I thought I was a great fit for. Not a good feeling, but I’ll survive. All part of the process.)
You can handle feeling uncomfortable while tackling something.
You’ll feel better when it’s over and done with, and you’ll be proud of yourself, too.
Alternate-nostril breathing and/or yoga count as action, too.
Remember, you are not your thoughts. You’re in control of your thoughts.
I hope you’ll practice “Reframe. Humor. Alternate-nostril breathing. Action.” as a way to healthfully deal with your anxiety.
-Er
