Anxious thoughts can be overwhelming, crushing, and exhausting. Cognitive behavioral therapy and other similar therapies teach that anxious thoughts are frequently more problematic than an actual anxiety-provoking situation. Problems do exist--we aren't making them up--but what causes us great stress and anxiety is how we think about the problem.

Last week, I made an introductory post about the fire that struck my apartment last month, and what to do to keep your anxiety at bay if such a catastrophe were to happen to you. I mentioned that there would be no way to contain all I would want to say to one post; this is my first continuation of that theme.

You can beat anxiety long-time no matter how strong it is or how much it is interfering in the quality life you want to live. While there are things you can do to feel better immediately when anxiety strikes, such as practicing mindfulness in the moment, visualizing something calming, deep breathing, using movement like yoga, brisk walking, or other exercises and more, there are other strategies you can adopt as part of your regular perspective and behavior to beat anxiety long-term. The following three strategies are effective ways to lower your anxiety and keep it out of your way for life.

Why is a schedule an important part of coping with anxiety?

I feel like there's never enough time, so I don’t understand how anyone ever feels bored. By definition, being bored suggests you don’t have any idea how to spend your time. I feel literally the exact opposite: on most days, I feel like I never have enough time to do even a fraction of what I’d like to do.

I'm working through grief because, very recently, I lost someone in my family to whom I was always very close. Having been lucky enough to not have to deal with this kind of death very often in the past, it hasn’t been the easiest to find my balance.

Dealing with anxiety-provoking people can be incredibly stressful and nerve-racking, but you can reduce your anxiety while you're interacting with others in any situation. This tool for handling anxiety-provoking people is an acronym. To remain calm in any interaction, be a BLOBB.

Music is one of the most important parts of my life and a playlist of calm music is one of my necessities. I’ve written about it before on this very post: "Music as Anxiety Relief." Today I want to revisit a very specific facet of this topic.

Overcoming social anxiety can feel impossible. With social anxiety, people often want to form friendships and interact with others. Anxiety, however, boxes people in and keeps them trapped. You don't have to remain isolated, stuck in anxiety's prison, though. There are ways to overcome social anxiety, including finding a mentor and/or becoming a mentor to someone who could use some support. 

In my last post, I discussed why being an introvert is beneficial for the management of my anxiety, and how it could be beneficial if others adopted introverted traits for the management of their anxiety. In that post, I fear I may have made the adoption of those traits an easier thing that it really is.