Humans are biologically programmed to feel anxiety.
It's important. It can keep us alive. But it can also be a huge issue.
There's 7 million people diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder
which means that they feel excessive anxiety more days than not for six months.
We have not been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and we do not think that we have it
but we still feel anxious - as does everyone -
so these are the ways that we deal with our anxiety.
If I'm really anxious I can often look back on two particular substances, which are caffeine and alcohol which tend to affect my mood.
So, alcohol - you know, if I've drank a lot on the weekend
we call it 'the Sunday blues' because you're often hungover
and I tend to, you know, when I'm hungover I get more anxious.
And so, sometimes A) Not having the alcohol
or if you are just knowing that that may happen, and when it does happen you can acknowledge it, is really helpful.
Caffeine - for me, I find if I am too caffeinated
even if nothing is going wrong
I just, like my heart's racing - it just makes your blood pump
and it makes you have adrenaline and for me that interprets in my mind as like "You're anxious! Something's going wrong! What's happening?"
The substances you eat and drink do affect you
and so it's a good place to think and start when you're feeling overly anxious.
This one's super easy, and it's to breathe deep.
I go to yoga and they do deep breathing there where it's like breathe down like into your like ankles or whatever
I don't know what they exactly say, but I picture it like breathing deep down into my butt.
And so I breathe really, really deeply in and I hold it and I breathe out in yoga
and I do that in life when I'm feeling really anxious and it actually increases the relaxation processes in your body.
There's a scientific aspect and it can decrease that fight-or-flight response that you're feeling when you have anxiety.
Going on a walk, or simply getting out of the space that you're in or right now, I also find is so crucial.
It doesn't necessarily fix everything, but getting out there and doing some sense of like physical activity
and escaping the space that might be associated with your anxiety helps me a ton if I'm feeling really anxious.
Just get up, go out, walk - even for 10 minutes - can help to sort of ease that anxiety.
Something that is super beneficial for all aspects of my mental health is therapy
and there is a huge stigma around therapy
as if it's something that you only go to or need if you're feeling weak or down or vulnerable.
And yes, in many cases, that's why people go. That's why I went.
Our life is very stressful.
This job can be very stressful.
And so I decided to go to therapy
and it was really scary at first
and it's an interesting thing that it has such this connotation with being weak
when really it takes a lot of strength and a lot of courage to even go there in the first place
to admit that maybe something's wrong.
One way of thinking about therapy is like going to the gym for your mind.
Your mind is obviously really important
We all go to the gym and eat healthy for our bodies
our mind controls every way that we perceive the whole world around us
so why would we not want to work that out?
If you have the means to go to therapy
or if it's covered, for example, by your work or something like that
just do it.
It does not mean that you're weak.
It would help and benefit everyone.
It would really help with any anxiety that you have around your life.
I always try to identify what is making me anxious in the first place.
Sometimes there's just a lot going on
you're just feeling anxious for a variety of reasons
But every now and then this weird thing happens where a specific event gives me anxiety
and then the day goes on and I kind of forget that it triggered me
but I still have anxiety, I'm just like 'I don't know why I feel this way'
I just feel crappy.
So now I can start to think about
are there any steps I can take to fix that?
Make my anxiety go away better.
But simply knowing that that is what's causing it often gives me a sense of... autonomy.
This next one was taught to me by my friend Jess
and it is so helpful
when you're having anxiety you think HALT.
Are you hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?
Because honestly every time I'm feeling anxious
a lot of time I can clock it up to one of those things.
If I'm hungry, it helps make something I can actually do
like make a sandwich, and then I feel better.
And one that I always sort of disregard
but happens a lot
is being lonely.
Sometimes you're working a lot
you're at your computer
You're doing lots of tasks in the day, and you're feeling anxious
And you realize you just need to hang out with someone
whether it's laugh, whether it's just, like, get a coffee
even just call someone
it can make you feel so much better
and you're also then building relationships in your life
which always feels good.
I call this next one 'micro tasking your day'.
So, for me, I find if I'm anxious
it's often because there's just a lot going on
and I don't really know where to start
and so if I take something like editing video
it's actually for me, like, tons of little steps of things I have to do
that don't require a lot of mental energy
but take up a lot of time
so in a sense I'm just doing tons of little micro transactions for my mind to distract me
where instead of thinking big, where you're like "oh gosh, everything's so overwhelming!"
try to find a task that you know is simple enough for you to do
that will take some time just so you can distract your brain from it.
This next one that I do when I'm anxious is really important to only do when you're anxious
because it can also cause anxiety
and that is to zoom out and look at the big picture
and realize how insignificant we actually are.
As someone who believes and loves science
I do think of myself as just an organism
of a bunch of trillions of atoms
that is very complex and amazing
but I have a finite amount of time to exist
in this sort of physical capacity
and so in many ways
if I'm having a lot of anxiety
to zoom out and to think that I'm just this insignificant thing
on this tiny little planet
in this giant expansive universe is helpful
because that situation then becomes very small
and that issue then becomes a lot easier to deal with
but there are also other times
especially if I'm a little bit stoned
where I think about these things
and then I have a panic attack.
So, you know, do this one with like a bit of measure.
Just don't beat yourself up.
Not all anxiety can be gone in a day
These tips may not work for you
You might have to experiment with yourself
Sometimes I find, you know,
let's just get a good night's sleep
and wait for tomorrow.
That doesn't always solve it either
but in general just accept that people, you know, go through hard times
sometimes they're going to have ups and sometimes they're going to have downs
and so don't beat yourself up for just
you know, feeling a very human way in the first place.
This last one is really challenging, especially for me
and that is that if you're having anxiety
be vulnerable and talk to someone about it
I think there's nothing that I have not realized more
from therapy and from learning about myself
that I find really hard, which is to be vulnerable.
I spent a lot of my life, you know,
trying to appear as a very strong person.
I am a strong person
I've always... I've had to build up resiliency
because I've just been like a flaming kid forever
I think it's one of the main reasons
and so I have a resilience within me
and I always, you know, act
and want people around me to be having fun
and I want people to perceive me as fun
but being vulnerable and being weak
those are the times when people really connect with you
and when people really see you.
Thank you so much for watching, as always.
If you want to leave your tips of how you deal with anxiety
in the comments below, we'd love to check them out.
I'm sure other viewers would also love to see other people's strategies
of how to deal with both short-term and long-term anxiety.
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Peace.