How Are You Maintaining Your Anxiety?
It seems like everyone is talking about anxiety these days. No matter where you go, there's a blog post or article discussing the subject (some of them are even surprisingly helpful). But what do you do about it? It's important to understand how your anxiety manifest and provide for it in order to be able to take care of yourself.
The answer to this question is varied for different people and for different situations, but one thing is for certain - all anxiety is not created equal. There are many types, each with unique characteristics. In order to get the most out of this article, it's important that you understand how your anxiety manifests. We'll discuss general symptoms, but if you'd like more specific information on the content of your anxiety, you can talk to your doctor or therapist about it further.
In general, anxiety manifests as a fear of anxiety. The person experiencing the anxiety is afraid that they'll experience these symptoms, and this fear can be overwhelming. The fear can cause the person to consciously avoid situations that could trigger the symptoms - for example, you may avoid situations in which you could possibly feel nervous, or where you might feel social anxiety.
When participating in social situations that are important to you (e.g. work, school, dating, etc.) you need to understand how the situation is going to go before it actually happens in order to be confident that you'll be able to handle it. As an example, this could look like going shopping with a friend. You realize that you're feeling anxious (and therefore afraid of what might happen), so you notice that your stomach is getting in knots and pull out of the situation.
As well as avoiding social situations, you might also avoid thinking about these situations or trying to prepare for them - if possible. If you're going to be meeting your boss for lunch next week, you'll spend time thinking about what the day is going to be like, but in a very controlled way. You may start getting anxious if things feel out of control, so you'll try to just focus on the important parts (e.g. will he be there? Will I know what to order?)
This kind of anxiety over your anxiety can make it difficult for you to meet people and have fun with them. You may feel like you're not really enjoying yourself if you can't stop thinking about the anxiety, and you may miss out on all sorts of opportunities because of it.
When it comes to having fun, not enough people understand that they have to actually enjoy themselves when they're doing something that they're going to enjoy. That doesn't mean that you're at the party and you're sitting on the floor drinking a beer as soon as you get there, but it does mean that if you can't stop thinking about how anxious you are, then it's going to be difficult for you to enjoy yourself.
In short, this fear of your anxiety can make it difficult for you to maintain friendships and relationships, while also limiting your ability to have fun. You may find that friends avoid the situations where they know they'll get anxious (e.g.
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