Tip #: Incorporate Spirituality
You dont have to be religious to incorporate spirituality and positive thought into your life. Spirituality is defined in many ways, but at its core, it is about your connection with others, the world around you, and where you find meaning. Studies have shown that individuals who consider themselves more spiritual tend to have higher psychological well-being and better mental health than those who dont.¹³
Some ways that spirituality can help with stress include:
Sense of purpose
Whether through religion, meditation, or positive affirmations, getting in touch with your spirituality helps you gain a greater sense of purpose in your life. It leads you to answer essential questions about what is meaningful and insignificant, which can remarkably reduce stress over trivial issues.
Connection
Cultivating your spirituality can give you a greater sense of connection with nature, your community, and the world around you. Finding a spiritual connection in yourself can eliminate loneliness even in times of solitude.
Relinquishing control
Through spirituality, you can come to a greater acceptance of the issues in your control and those that arent. Sometimes, letting go of the things that you cannot change is one of the best ways to let go of stress as well.
Support
Health
As noted above, individuals who feel a strong sense of spirituality benefit health-wise as well. They experience less stress, anxiety, and isolation than non-spiritual people, whether alone or in a group.
Pay Attention To Sleep
Some people have a hard time going to sleep even at night, because of too much stress or worry. Sometimes, such worry or stress leads to sleep disorders. On the other hand, a sleep disorder may come first, and result in anxiety in the long run. Having said that, research has found out that sleep deprivation may contribute to the aggravations of anxiety.
Moreover, a lack of sleep also increases your risk of developing heart disease or heart failure. Some may also increase their risk of having high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and irregular heartbeat. These are just some of the reasons why you should pay attention to your sleep pattern.
On a much deeper view, disrupted sleep is almost present in other mental health issues like depression, affecting your daily living. For instance, it can negatively impact your work performance, academic performance, cognitive ability, and increases the risk of physical injury. Surely, these health problems that may arise in the future may create additional worries. Therefore, it is better to take care of your sleeping pattern as early as possible.
Tip #: Avoid Unhealthy Vices
It may be cliché to reach for a drink when times get stressful, but turning to vice to quell anxiety is common and troublesome. Since the COVID pandemic began, unhealthy drinking habits have risen by over 14% among adults over 30, and many individuals have reverted to smoking after years of cessation.¹
The problem with vices like smoking, drinking, and over-caffeinating is that they only exacerbate stress while temporarily delaying the symptoms.¹ For instance, if youre stressed about an upcoming exam and start drinking coffee or sodas religiously as you cram, youre inevitably going to hit a wall and come crashing down. This often leads to more significant anxiety in the long run.
The same applies to alcohol, cigarettes, and recreational drugs. These forms of self-treatment may temporarily dull your anxiety, but soon you may face more stress as a result. Consuming these substances can also lead to long-term physical health problems that only contribute to stress levels.
Your best bet for overcoming anxiety is to practice mindfulness, gratitude, and mind-centering activities rather than self-medicating or relying on vices. Many resources online discuss quitting smoking, and online support groups can help with substance abuse issues.
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Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation involves relaxing all the muscles in your body, group by group. To practice, you can start with a few deep breaths.
Then, practice tightening and relaxing each muscle group, starting with your forehead and moving down to your toes.
With practice, you’ll learn to recognize tension and tightness in your muscles and you’ll be able to relax more easily. Each time you practice, however, you should experience a feeling of relaxation sweeping through your body.
Whats The Treatment For Anxiety In Pregnancy
Your midwife or GP will talk to you about all your options and the pros and cons of each treatment. Whats best for you will depend on things like:
- how bad your symptoms are
- what has help you in the past
- what services are available locally.
Anxiety, phobias and panic attacks are usually treated using self-help treatments based on cognitive behavioural therapy .
I didnt think CBT would work but I found it so helpful. I had a little guide book so if I was feeling anxious at work or at home, I could refer to it for tips and pointers to get me through certain situations.
If you need more help you may be referred to a specialist mental health team for pregnant women. You may also be offered therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness and applied relaxation with a professional therapist. You may also be offered medication, such as antidepressants.
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Focus On The Things You Can Control
Were in a time of massive upheaval. There are so many things outside of our control, including how long the pandemic lasts, how other people behave, and whats going to happen in our communities. Thats a tough thing to accept, and so many of us respond by endlessly searching the Internet for answers and thinking over all the different scenarios that might happen. But as long as were focusing on questions with unknowable answers and circumstances outside of our personal control, this strategy will get us nowhereaside from feeling drained, anxious, and overwhelmed.
When you feel yourself getting caught up in fear of what might happen, try to shift your focus to things you can control. For example, you cant control how severe the coronavirus outbreak is in your city or town, but you can take steps to reduce your own personal risk , such as:
- washing your hands frequently with soap and water or a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- avoiding touching your face .
- staying home as much as possible, even if you dont feel sick.
- avoiding crowds and gatherings of 10 or more people.
- avoiding all non-essential shopping and travel.
- keeping 6 feet of distance between yourself and others when out.
- getting plenty of sleep, which helps support your immune system.
- following all recommendations from health authorities.
Use Your Relaxation Techniques
If you start to get anxious during your test, consider using some relaxation techniques you used before the test.
Some gentle deep breathing exercises, grounding techniques, or quietly counting down to ease your mind can relax your body and calm your mind so that you can turn your focus back to your test.
Spending some time before the test practicing techniques to reduce anxiety quickly can help you implement them easily during the test.
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Tip #: Take Up A New Hobby
When stress gets overwhelming, having a hands-on hobby like knitting, drawing, baking bread, or painting can help to ease your mind and reset your body. These activities give your mind a new direction and help take the focus away from the cycling thoughts that come with anxiety.
Studies have shown that individuals who regularly engage in enjoyable leisure activities experience the following health benefits:¹
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced body mass index
- Higher levels of positive psychosocial states
Offer Yourself Forgiveness And Compassion
Forgiving yourself for procrastinating in the past may help reduce the chances youll procrastinate again in the future.
Just like the forgiveness you might offer someone who wronged you, self-forgiveness allows you to let go of past events and move forward.
So, instead of giving yourself a hard time, tell yourself its all right:
Waiting to do that project didnt turn out so well, but its OK to make mistakes. Now I know what not to do next time.
Self-compassion can also go a long way toward easing the harsh criticism and self-blame that tend to trail in procrastinations wake.
Instead of focusing on how you messed up , offer yourself some words of comfort.
If it helps, consider what you might say to a friend:
- It sounds like youre struggling right now, but I can tell youre doing your best.
- That assignment sounds really stressful. I know you want to do the best work possible, but its just a first draft, right? You can always improve on it later if your team has any suggestions.
Dont you deserve that same kindness?
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Create Obstacles And Rewards
If you tend to pick up your phone when youre supposed to be working, turn off your phone and put it somewhere out of sight before you get started with the day.
Make sure to reward yourself for your efforts, too. After you get a good chunk of work done, take a break to watch a funny video, catch up with your friends, or swap selfies with your partner.
Thinking in terms of rewards rather than punishments can help you encourage yourself, too.
- Instead of: If I dont work out tonight, I cant watch the next episode of Lucifer.’
- Try: Ill go for a jog after work, and then Ill watch an episode of Lucifer before bed.
If youre a long-time procrastinator, breaking the habit may require a little extra support.
Connecting with a therapist may be a good next step when procrastination:
- affects your performance at school or work
- creates problems in your personal relationships
- leads to feelings of stress, anxiety, or depression, or makes existing symptoms worse
A therapist can help you identify and explore possible emotional triggers. They can also provide more insight into any underlying mental health concerns contributing to procrastination.
In therapy, you can also learn strategies to challenge negative self-talk and reframe unhelpful thought patterns.
Go For A Walk In Nature
Learn more about how nature enhances our wellbeing and resililenceAs the new field of nature-based therapies shows, being in nature reduces fear and anxiety and increases pleasant feelings. Looking at a scene of natural beauty, people describe their feelings with words like calm, beauty, happiness, hope, and aliveness. Being connected to nature not only makes people feel better emotionally, it reduces blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormonesall signals of stress and fear.
So when you are fighting feelings of fear or anxiety, find a park or greenspace and go for a walk or run. In addition to the restorative effects of nature, the physical exercise will also help your mood.
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Strategies To Cope With Stress Anxiety Or Distress
When many things feel uncertain or out of our control, one of the most effective ways we can manage stress and anxiety is to focus on the actionsthat are in our control. Here are some ways you can take intentional steps to look after your physical and emotional wellbeing during this challenging time:
Learn how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. The Australian Department of Health has recommended important actions we can all take to protect against infection and prevent the virus from spreading including practising good hygiene, self-isolation, and social distancing.
Acknowledge your feelings. Whatever you are feeling right now, know that its okay to feel that way. Allow yourself time to notice and express what youre feeling. This could be through journalling, talking with others, or channelling your emotions into something creative . Mindfulness meditation exercises can help us stay grounded in the midst of an emotional storm. You can learn how to witness and let thoughts and feelings come and go in their own time, without getting overwhelmed by them.
Maintain your day-to-day activities and a routine as much as possible. Having a healthy routine can have a positive impact on your thoughts and feelings. Go back to basics: eating healthy meals, physical exercise , getting enough sleep, and doing things you enjoy. Even if you’re in self-quarantine, or working from home, there are many ways to develop new routines and stay healthy.
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Being Liked In The Age Of Social Media
Social anxiety in teenagers is linked to the desire to fit in. Its natural for adolescents to want to be accepted by their peers, but the pressure to be liked is twofold when you live in the age of social media.
You worry about how you present yourself to your peers in person, and you worry about how you present yourself on your social media accounts. It is a task many cannot rise to. Assessing your worth by the number of likes and followers isnt the only reason why social media can cause anxiety.
It seems that depression and smartphones are inextricably connected. If you spend more time gazing at your phones screen, you are more likely to experience anxiety and depression. At the same time, if you suffer from feeling lonely and inadequate, you tend to seek solace in your phone. Its a vicious cycle that you can break only if you acknowledge it and make conscious steps toward changing your habits.
Social media is also detrimental to your mental health because it allows anyone to say anything. As a high school student, you are susceptible to letting other peoples opinions about you affect your self-esteem. Its nothing to be ashamed of, yet it can be hazardous if you dont learn how to pay no attention to the comments on your social media posts.
Tip #: Shift Your Perspective
The reality of happiness, stress, and mental health is that its all connected by perspective. If you have ever talked a loved one out of a state of anxiety or depression, you likely know how much perspective dictates the situation.
Shifting your perspective involves looking at your situation from another point of view. Try answering some of the following questions:
- If you were your best friend, what advice would you give?
- Would you see things as dire from an outsiders point of view, or would you have more sympathy?
- What options are available that you may not have seen from within your microcosm of experience?
- What are some positive aspects of your situation?
Sometimes stepping outside of yourself allows you to think outside the box and find new solutions.
Shifting your perspective about a situation is not always easy, but its one of the most imperative choices you can make to help quell anxiety and stress. Incorporating some of the other tips in this guide can help change perspective, like taking a step away from the situation to immerse yourself in nature or talking to a friend or therapist.
Even taking a break to do a simple art project, like sketching a drawing, can give your mind a reprieve. This could help you re-envision your situation, options, and potential to overcome the stressors in your life.
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Social Anxiety In School
Teens with social anxiety find school extremely challenging. Sometimes referred to as social phobia, social anxiety disorder is when a person is overcome with fear and worry in social settings. Therefore, this type of anxiety in teenagers negatively impacts a teens everyday activities, including time in school.
Typically, a person with a social phobia experiences intense anxiety that leads to deep feelings of embarrassment and fear of being judged by others. Consequently, a teen with social phobia often withdraws and avoids contact with peers and teachers. Thus, social anxiety can be paralyzing for teenagers in school.
Subsequent difficulties caused by social anxiety symptoms arise in school, at work, and in personal relationships. Therefore, teens who experience these symptoms for more than six months are often diagnosed with social anxiety.
Additional social anxiety symptoms include
- Feeling nauseous
- Fear of having to talk or perform in front of a group.
Procrastination As A Contributing Factor
Heres the thing about procrastination: The negative emotions you associate with a given task dont go away when you avoid that task. They feed on themselves and grow, rapidly.
Say you put off creating a work presentation. You want to impress your boss, but youre worried about meeting their high standards.
Of course, the more you delay, the less time you have to do the work. As the deadline approaches, you dont just doubt your ability to create a successful presentation. You also feel overwhelmed about the amount of work involved, and youre stressed at the thought of not getting it done in time.
You know youve created a sticky situation for yourself, but you care more about the peace of mind that avoiding the project provides. Its this fleeting peace that generally reinforces the procrastination loop.
Ask yourself: Do you actually feel calm? Probably not. Youve likely noticed an undercurrent of anxiety rippling through your waking thoughts.
And therein lies the rub. Procrastination creates a cycle thats difficult to escape, because the temporary reward of putting something off reinforces your desire to do it again even though it creates more problems.
A procrastination habit can eventually complicate the emotional concerns that triggered it in the first place.
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