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. 

Releasing anxiety and stress from your body is as important as letting it go from your mind.  Although we speak of "mind" and "body" separately, we're really one cohesive unit. When we're stressed, we're affected everywhere. When we're anxious, we feel it throughout our being. Therefore, working on the physical aspects of anxiety can have a positive ripple effect in your entire being, reducing physical symptoms as well as improving mood and thinking. Below, you'll find six ways to release anxiety and stress from your body. 

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.

What is interoceptive exposure and how does it help rid you of phobias?

I’ve been a pretty massive introvert with anxiety for my entire life. Compared to the population at large, my threshold for social interaction has always been exceedingly low; even after a simple night out with friends, I generally need at least a day of alone time to recover. Of course, I’ve struggled with severe anxiety for my entire life as well, and because of that, I thank God that I’m an introvert. I sincerely believe the fact that I’m an introvert with anxiety makes it easier to keep my anxiety under control.

You may have learned somewhere that anxiety is a mental illness. Anxiety is so much a part of the human condition that almost every one of us across the globe experiences it sometimes. Does this mean that the entire world has a mental illness? For part of Mental Illness Awareness Week, let's explore whether anxiety is a mental illness. 

No matter how intense anxiety is or how much it interferes in your life, you can shrink it, step over it, and keep going. However, doing so is a process; to have lasting positive effects, anxiety must be reduced gradually. To overcome anxiety permanently requires a gradual approach with a lot of patience, persistence, and perseverance.

All my life, I’ve struggled with stress -- similarly, all my life I’ve had a sensitive stomach. Occasionally, in what seems like the most random times, my stomach becomes upset for what seems like no reason at all. I had never really given it much thought until now, instead just accepting it as a random quirk of my body.

Teaching yourself to breathe might seem strange, especially as a way to reduce anxiety. You started practicing breathing even before you were born, and you've been breathing ever since. The respiratory system is hardwired to work with the brain and body to keep us functioning well. What happens, though, is that over time, we develop bad breathing habits (like bad posture habits, bad eating habits, and myriad other behaviors that don't do much for our wellbeing). The breath is essential in managing anxiety, and learning how to breathe correctly will help reduce your anxiety.

I’ve written about mental health disclosure on this blog several times in the past. In those posts, I’ve taken a strong stance in favor of the practice, because I am firmly committed to the benefits mental health disclosure brings to those who are mentally ill.