It’s not uncommon for a person to become anxious about certain events in life. Taking a test, a job interview, public speaking, and even making new friends can cause some anxiety. Naturally, your body responds with increased heart rate, high blood pressure, sweating, shaking, etc. After a while, however, those feelings subside. For someone who is suffering from mental illness, however, anxiety can feel a lot more severe and even cripple their lives.
Anxiety is best described as a mental illness that is brought on by feelings of fear, worry, or tension. There are a number of symptoms one might experience including shaky speech to panic attacks. When the body remains under this kind of pressure for too long, it can wreak havoc on your physical and emotional wellbeing.
Identifying Triggers
While talking to your doctor about medications and therapy are ideal, a big part of keeping your anxiety at bay revolves around your ability to identify your triggers and learn how to treat them. Below are some of the most common:
Negative Mindset
Much of your anxiety is brought on by your thoughts. When you think negatively about certain situations, it causes the body to jump into fight or flight mode triggering your anxiety.
The best thing you can do is try to change your way of thinking. Every negative thought you have, think of something positive to counter. It can take some time but if you can get out of your head, you can control your anxiety much more effectively.
Finances
Most people struggle with money matters. That being said, when your finances become so out of control that you’re stressed about it, it can trigger anxiety.
Gaining control of your finances can essentially help to lower your anxiety. Create a budget, start savings, and begin paying down your debts. Depending on how much debt you have, it can take some time, but every step you make in a positive direction is one step closer to relieving your stress and anxiety.
Smoking Cigarettes
Though most smokers believe that having a cigarette is a great method for calming your nerves, the opposite is in fact true. The nicotine in cigarettes can actually trigger anxiety symptoms. As your body withdraws from nicotine you might experience a slowed heart rate, irritability, and jumpiness all of which can resemble and/or trigger anxiety. Essentially, smoking is believed to relieve anxiety because when you smoke your body is no longer going through withdrawal.
In this situation, smoking cigarettes is bad for your health all around. It would be ideal to quit. If you are having a hard time doing that on your own, there are solutions like chewing gum, patches, and vaping which have proven to be effective in helping people to quit smoking. Keep in mind, however, that if you choose a vape juice with nicotine in it, vaping may trigger anxiety.
Social Gatherings and Events
For those who suffer from a common anxiety disorder known as social anxiety, being in large social settings can trigger your anxiety. Often driven by insecurities and fear of judgment or observation, social anxiety makes being in large groups very difficult.
Since being in large social settings triggers your anxiety, it may be best to stick to more intimate gatherings for a while. You can also try to overcome your social anxiety by speaking to people regularly (to get comfortable with speaking to strangers), work on your self-esteem, and gradually immerse yourself in social settings.
Caffeine
You might enjoy drinking coffee throughout the day. You may even believe that it’s necessary to sustain your energy levels. However, too much caffeine can trigger your anxiety. Caffeine can cause jumpiness and jitters, rapid heart rate, and high blood pressure. For someone who already struggles with these symptoms from anxiety on a regular basis, the caffeine only intensifies what they’re experiencing.
You have to cut back on your caffeine intake. It is recommended that you drink no more than 400g of coffee every day. Try to find other ways to boost your energy like exercising, taking CBD oil, or getting more sleep at night. Also, find alternatives to coffee like decaffeinated tea or smoothies which you can pack with ingredients that improve your physical and mental wellbeing.
Anxiety is a natural response to life’s circumstances. Too much of it, however, can cause a number of physical and mental problems. The best way to try and combat your anxiety is to cut back on the things that can trigger symptoms. After making significant progress with the changes, if you don’t see much improvement, consider talking to your doctor for other treatment options.