In my last post, I touched on music for anxiety relief. I want to do the same today, albeit from a different direction. My previous post focused exclusively on the impact of one specific song. This time, I want to talk about the impact of music for anxiety relief in a more general sense.

Feeling anxious and busy--too busy--seems to be an epidemic. Feeling strapped for time negatively impacts a lot of lives. Sometimes this is a signal that big changes are needed; however, sometimes changing what is overwhelming is either impossible (at least immediately) or is undesirable ("busy" doesn't always mean "bad") There are ways to deal with anxiety and busyness without giving your life a major overhaul.

A few weeks ago, I outlined why I think American society causes anxiety. I want to revisit this topic again, but this time focus on one particular social plague: what Medium’s Gabriella Rackoff calls: "the cult of the entrepreneur."

Can we avoid holiday anxiety? After all, it’s ingrained in our culture that the holidays are a stressful time. It’s such a cliché that it seems as though every major holiday film and TV special, from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to "Die Hard", is predicated on some kind of anxiety.

If you pause to listen to your anxiety, you might find that it has something helpful to say. Something called cognitive dissonance, a conflict within us, is a part of much of our anxiety no matter what type of anxiety we're dealing with. Together, these two forces can shout painfully at us, but behind the shouts is often a whisper of wisdom that, if we listen, we can use to quiet both cognitive dissonance and anxiety.

Holidays can be hard when you are living with anxiety and loneliness. Holidays can be stressful for anyone, but when you experience any type of anxiety, they're more difficult. Then, when you layer a sense of loneliness and isolation on top of anxiety, holidays can be quite upsetting. Anxiety can make you feel lonelier on a special day, and loneliness can exacerbate anxiety. Understanding what's going on with these misery-causing experiences can help you change your holidays for the better. 

I’ve always been anxious about money. I suppose that doesn’t make me odd – it puts me in the mainstream. What does make me odd is that I’m anxious about money when there is absolutely no reason for me to be, and I fear it’s actively been detrimental to my wellbeing.

My anxiety has caused me to take more time off work, and I couldn’t be happier. This is a refreshing change. Too often, this blog has become a catalog of instances when anxiety leads to hardship. Perhaps this is to be expected. But anxiety can, counterintuitive as it may seem, lead to valuable insights not often shared by those without it, as is the case here when I took some time off of work to handle my anxiety.

Suicidal thoughts have a strong relationship with anxiety. Understanding the nuances of this relationship can help save lives that might otherwise be tragically lost. September is Suicide Prevention Month because the more we know and understand, the more equipped we all are to talk to each other about suicide. The more we talk--reach out and connect--the easier it will be to give and receive help, hope, new perspectives, and life. This look at suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and relief can help you understand what you are experiencing if you're having suicidal thoughts and it can help you recognize suicidal ideation in someone you care about. 

I’ve consigned myself to the fact that my anxiety will never go away. Part of it may be due to genetics –- another part may be due to how my brain is wired -– but another part, and one that we need to talk about more often, is that American society itself creates anxiety symptoms.