Weekly Quote:

‘ If it’s out of your hands it deserves freedom from your mind, too’

Hiya,

Thanks for joining me for our third week of unpacking our shared reality. In this article, I’ll be following up with what 5 years of suffering from anxiety have taught me about coping mechanisms.

Whilst attending therapy earlier this year, I was encouraged to analyse where my worries come from. Through this exercise, I gradually began to appreciate just how many factors contribute to my anxiety. For example, my incapability to deal with failure was a major source of anxiety. Being one of the oldest daughters of an immigrant family (surprise!) does that to you. Hence, a common theme of my 5 years of anxiety was the pressure to have it all figured out.So, now that I know that my anxiety is centred around fear of failure and not knowing which direction my life is going in, I can begin to take more positive steps to address these worries.

For instance, this year I have been actively trying to better my relationship with failure. ‘Failure is not a rejection but a redirection’.You’ve probably already heard this cheesy quote on Instagram and I used to roll my eyes when someone would say it. However, this saying is actually really powerful. I still have days where not being accepted for a legal role really does get me down. This is okay! Now I acknowledge my feelings of disappointment and sit with my feelings.

My first coping mechanism is journaling. I began journaling in March this year and I can attest that it has been really beneficial in allowing myself to address issues I didn’t know where there. Even writing more generally has been a massive tool for me to tap into my deeper feelings. It’s like emotional dumping of what I have felt the entire day. As an empath as well, I find that I can absorb other people’s conflict which further increases my feelings of anxiety. Therefore, journaling allows me to connect the dots and understand my emotions.

Also, exercise has been a way of keeping my anxiety in check.Especially working out in the morning, before work or uni, is the best time and reminds me that my health and wellbeings come first. It is usually the only time I did something purely for myself. Being parentified meant that I was always serving others. So exercising was my favourite part of the day where I was getting my happy hormones whilst focusing on my own individuality.

We recently conducted a poll on our Instagram asking whether our audience suffers from anxiety. We then asked for those who do to share their ways of managing their anxiety. We had a wide range of responses from listening to your favourite tunes to anxiety baths(you learn something new every day). It was really reassuring to see all the different ways that we look after ourselves. For those who didn’t know how to manage their anxiety, I hope this article has given you something to try.

If you’ve enjoyed this series or have feedback please let us know!

Until next week stay positive and put yourself first,

Sway

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