I’ve discussed my love of music on this blog a couple of times in the past. Though my tastes in music can be somewhat wide-ranging, without question, my genre of choice is metal. That may take some readers by surprise – metal seems like a kind of music that someone with anxiety would hate, given its reputation for being angry and abrasive. In this post, I want to go into a bit of detail with regards to why I like it and why metal helps my anxiety.

Thinking about the past is a major cause of anxiety. Ruminating over past situations, conversations, things we did or did not do or say, and anything else that has already happened can be incredibly anxiety-provoking. When we don't let go of the past, the mind can run wild and make problems and difficulties grow. Reliving thoughts and feelings can keep us anxious, stressed, and stuck. However, the past does have a place in reducing anxiety. When you look to the past to identify things that have gone well and cultivate gratitude for what is good in your life, you take steps to reduce anxiety.

Working on anxiety is a difficult journey. Anxiety is an exhausting burden that disrupts life. For some people, it comes and goes. For others, it can last for a long time, sometimes years. Either way, it can seem to wreak a lifetime's worth of havoc. The good news is that anxiety isn't who you are. It's something you experience. This means that you can reduce it and minimize its effects on your life and wellbeing. Despite how hard it is, you've got what it takes to tackle it. Here's why and how.

As of late, I’ve been looking for small, everyday things I can do for myself in an effort to keep my anxiety under control. From that, I’ve been focusing a lot on the sense of touch and realizing how deeply a simple thing like touch can impact my anxiety.

Anxiety can make people feel inferior and erode self-confidence. The harsh, self-critical, judgmental voice of anxiety can also distort the way we see ourselves, causing us to ignore our positive qualities and exaggerate our very human flaws and foibles. If anxiety ever makes you hard on yourself, keep reading. You don't have to take anxiety's word at face value.

One of the things I’ve done to relax, for literally as far back as I can remember, is rewatch movies that I consider to be favorites. There are a handful of movies that I’m guessing I’ve seen 100s of times because, for whatever reason, they make me feel relaxed when I watch them.

Mindful breathing is a simple and powerful tool for enhancing mental health and wellbeing. While this may seem strange, mindful breathing can help anxiety in two opposing ways: It can calm the nervous system, so we feel less anxious, and it can also lead to increased energy. Breathing mindfully can both calm us down and pep us up, countering two frustrating effects of anxiety. Add these four mindful breathing exercises to your daily life for positive, anxiety-reducing benefits.

Yesterday, I woke up in the middle of the night with bad dreams. The dreams were such that I was unable to fall asleep for the rest of the night (it was 4:00 A.M. when I initially woke up) and spent much of the rest of the day in a negative state of mind. Because this tends to happen frequently, I want to take the time to discuss it in a bit more detail.

Anxiety is absolutely exhausting. The many negative effects of anxiety plus the nature of anxiety itself (the worries, the fears, the what-ifs, the worst-case scenarios, and the heightened stress) take a toll on us mentally and physically. It depletes the body and overfills the mind with clutter. As a result, it makes sense to feel drained and exhausted. Fatigue is a common effect of anxiety, and for a good reason. Here's the thing, though. You don't have to remain at the mercy of anxiety. Here's one incredibly simple tip to regain your energy and even reduce your anxiety in the process.

In a recent post, I discussed how anxiety impacts how I experience the passage of time. This is a huge topic to tackle, and so I didn’t even attempt to tackle it all–I focused exclusively on artificially depriving myself of sleep to make time appear to move slower. In this post, I want to focus on other ways time plays into my reactions to anxiety.