HOW TO MANAGE ANXIETY

Let us talk about anxiety. I am sure a lot of us have felt anxious or have heard our friends  say they are feeling anxious about something or someone. Well anxiety is actually a pretty normal feeling to have but it can get to levels where it affects a person's life and how they function. This is where we jump into the realm of anxiety disorders. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having an anxiety disorder so never be ashamed if you have one and there so many healthy ways to deal with anxiety which will be mentioned and highlighted on here.

But first we will delve into what is normal anxiety and what is an anxiety disorder.

WHAT IS ANXIETY

Anxiety is a very normal and healthy emotion.It can be generally defined as an unpleasant feeling where an individual may have fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen. One may feel restless and some people may start sweating, palpitations,chest tightness and sometimes may even get an upset stomach. A majority of us have experienced these feelings and they are pretty uncomfortable to have. These symptoms are a response from your nervous system when the body perceives any form of danger or uncertainty in some situations, one becomes fearful and as a result of this, anxiety is your body actually taking into account that there is  potential danger or discomfort which may be either physical or emotional.

Some causes of this normal type of anxiety are:

• Taking an exam/test
• First day of school
• Moving to a new area/ neighbourhood
• Changing Jobs/schools
• When getting married
• Coping with an illness

Those are just but a few of the causes of normal anxiety. You can make a personal decision on whether these anxieties of life may make you or break you. This is because,depending on how we choose to deal with these anxieties,the choices we make will determine how stable we will be emotionally. For example, changing schools. One can choose to always be stressed and worried that they may not fit in, that they may not have any friends in their new school or even,they may choose to always focus on the negatives. This can then escalate leading to serious mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders which could be avoided if only we try to deal with these emotions of anxiety well. This does not mean we suppress or ignore these emotions but instead, we should embrace them as being a normal part of life and deal with them well.

The following are some tips and tricks that may help you deal with your emotions of anxiety so that they may not fester and take over your life.

• Always remain calm. This is a very crucial thing when it comes to dealing with anxiety because not being calm will cause an individual to panic and this panic will in turn, cause them to make irrational decisions and may even cause harm and distress. This is something I'm still working on as I tend to panic a lot when faced with a difficult situation.My best friend once told me her favorite quote 'This too shall pass' so whenever I feel like something is causing me to panic, what do I do ? I remember this quote and it may calm me down as I think of how that situation will not matter in the next few days/months/or even years. You could also try listening to some calming music or do something you enjoy doing in order to make you calm. When you are calm, you should be able to carefully assess the situation and if it is in your control, you should be able to find probable solutions. If it is not in your control, you can definitely ask for help or even pray about it ! 
• Accepting that you're anxious. It is important to accept it as any other feeling and accept the reality as it is. By doing this you will be able to benefit as you will try to find a way to deal with the situation that you are i.
• One should question their thoughts. This is because,when an individual is in a tight situation,they tend to have unrealistic ideas which may heighten the level of anxiety. For example, when giving a speech and you have an unrealistic idea that you may die. Think to yourself, has anyone ever given a speech and died while giving it? The answer is a definite no. We should always challenge our thoughts by asking ourselves if the worry is realistic(and if it is really likely to happen),and if the worst outcome was to happen, what would be so bad about it? Another question to ask yourself is how exactly you will prepare yourself for whatever may happen.
• Be Positive It is very important that we learn how to try and stay positive no matter how hard it may seem. Try to make an effort to replace all the negative thoughts with positive ones. This is normally easier said than done but the more you practice how to think positively,the easier it gets as you will get accustomed to this and will have no room for negative thoughts which in turn will definitely benefit your situation.
• One can also try to stay healthy by exercising and eating well balanced meals.
• Learn your triggers For instance, a student may be getting anxiety during examination days. This may often lead them to panic a lot. This student can then identify why exactly they panic during the exams. This may be due to inadequate preparation which will definitely make one to panic before an exam as the feeling of worry of not having enough content takes over them. This anxiety can be turned into good anxiety where the student may decide to start preparing and revising well in order to be less anxious during their examinations.

The global pandemic that is currently ongoing may cause  feelings of uncertainty and cause a lot of anxiety to many. One way of reducing this anxiety is by following all the rules and taking all the precautions necessary to avoid getting infected. By doing this, you have some sort of satisfaction or rather surety that you are not infected. It is also very necessary to be there for one another giving words of encouragement in order to help individuals deal with their anxieties.

ANXIETY DISORDERS

When can Anxiety be a Problem ?

Normal anxiety and having an anxiety disorder differ in many ways. It differs in the source and the intensity of the experience. The source of normal anxiety may be expected since it is actually based on life events and situations while anxiety disorders tend to be chronic and may actually interfere with normal daily activities such as work. The source of this could be thoughts in the mind that have now become excessive worry and also could be physical responses to anxiety such as palpitations. When one has excessive,intense and continuous worry and anxiety on certain matters and events of their life which disrupts their everyday lives,they may have an anxiety disorder as this involves episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety that are repetitive and may reach peak in just a couple of minutes hence causing an individual to get panic attacks. These intense feelings may be difficult to control and thus require treatment.

There are the major types of anxiety disorders:

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder-where a person experiences extreme worry and is tensed even when there is nothing to provoke these emotions.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P. T .S. D) -this type occurs when an individual may have been exposed or experienced a terrifying event where they may have been harmed physically or emotionally.
• Panic Disorder-an individual may experience shortness of breath,chest pain,heart palpitations,dizziness or stomach upsets due to intense fear and normally occurs repeatedly and not just once in a while.
• Social Anxiety Disorder-when persons tend to have high/excessive levels of fear and anxiety while interacting with other people and may try to avoid social events or situations due to their self-consciousness and may even have concerns of how people will look at them or view them and have a major concern about being judged negatively by others.
• Substance-induced anxiety disorder- this is the anxiety disorder which is caused by excess anxiety and panic from misusing drugs or even withdrawal symptoms of drugs.Certain medications may also cause this as well as someone being exposed to a certain substance.
• Anxiety disorder due to a medical condition-at times,health problems may cause intense or excessive anxiety.Some of these medical problems could be heart disease,thyroid problems,respiratory problems,withdrawal from alcohol,diabetes among others.Anxiety may be a side effect of certain medications that are used to treat some illnesses.

Some symptoms of anxiety disorders are:

• Hyperventilating (breathing rapidly)
• Sweating
• Trembling
• Feeling weak or tired
• Feeling restless, tensed and nervous most of the times
• Having trouble sleeping
• Having difficulties in controlling worry( excessive worry)
• Having trouble concentrating or thinking about other things that are not the present worry
• Always panicking and having a sense of impending danger
• Feeling irritable most of the times
• Having irrational fears

Having an anxiety disorder may do more than just make one worry but may also make someone get other mental or physical conditions such as depression,drug and substance abuse,Trouble sleeping,Social isolation and in some cases even suicide. There's uncertainty when it comes to predicting if someone is developing an anxiety disorder since it may arise from different situations and could even be caused by an underlying medical condition.

We could try and avoid complications when it comes to anxiety disorders by trying to seek help immediately we can. This will definitely help us lessen the symptoms and manage our feelings in those moments when we do feel anxious all those who may be going through this can continue living healthy lives and they may continue with normal activities throughout their day. It is very necessary to get help as early as you can. That is why we, as Royal Footprints have members who are always willing to listen to any concerns whatsoever and we will get through this battle together !