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So you want to improve your anxiety? You’ve come to the right place! Grow through it with Britt provides a wealth of helpful information and resources regarding anxiety management.
Just how common is anxiety?
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates 31.1% of adults experience any anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, while the statistic is similar for teens at 31.9% (that’s close to 1 out of 3 teens!).
To think about this on a more practical level, if you were in a classroom of 24 people, about 8 people in the room would have potentially diagnosable anxiety. That’s a fair amount! Suffice it to say, you’re not alone if you experience anxiety, and frankly there is nothing “wrong” with you.
Even though lots of people deal with it, experiencing anxiety can be quite challenging. In fact, it often becomes problematic when it starts to interfere with daily activities and quality of life. While this website will provide educational resources and tips, it’s always encouraged to seek professional help if you are concerned that you may be dealing with anxiety.
How does anxiety show up? What causes it?
Anxiety can manifest in many different ways, including physical symptoms like increased heart rate, sweating, and trembling, as well as emotional symptoms like fear, worry, and panic.
The causes of anxiety are complex and varied. Genetics, life experiences, and brain chemistry all play a role. Trauma, chronic stress, and major life changes can trigger or exacerbate anxiety symptoms.
It’s important to note that anxiety is not a personal failing or weakness. Louder for those in the back- THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANXIETY! Anxiety affects people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds.
How can I make anxiety better?
One thing that can be tricky about dealing with anxiety, is that what helps to manage it can go against what we might believe. We often think that we need to get rid of anxiety in order to lead a fulfilling life. We think we need to work on “coping strategies” to make it barely noticeable or eliminate it all together! We are hopeful a professional will tell us all of the magical tools to stop being so anxious already!!!!
Hate to break it to you, but I’m not here to tell you that you will get rid of anxiety if you have the right coping tools. Or that it is effective to focus on controlling it. Or that if you just think more positive you will become less anxious. Nope, nope, nope.
In fact, we actually have to re-frame how we approach anxiety management all together to have a good chance at our strategies being effective. It’s much more helpful if we approach anxiety management with recognizing that a certain level of anxiety is normal, and unavoidable. There are going to be times where it is not possible to reduce anxiety. We can work on getting better at tolerating some discomfort and doing what’s important to us anyway.
We can also work on learning that we can do what we want to and need to do, even if we are anxious. We can come up with plans to work through our anxiety rather than get away from it. We can use realistic thinking to help us manage anxiety and be willing to face it.
Resources you’ll find for anxiety on this website:
1) Tools for anxious thinking
Anxious thoughts tend to be catastrophic (worst case scenario), exaggerative, and underestimate our ability to cope with situations. On this website, you will find tools to deal with worry, overthinking, and rumination (going to the past). We will focus on directing you towards more realistic thinking about anxiety itself as well as anxious triggers.
2) Tools for taking action and facing anxiety
A huge part of managing anxiety is learning to face our fears. However, we can do this gradually and with help and support to find ways to make it more manageable. At Grow Through It with Britt we will find ways that you can be more in line with your values and do what’s important to you even when you feel anxious.
3) Calming, relaxation, and self-care tips
Integrating regular relaxation and calming practices into our life can help our overall levels of stress. We are less likely to have anxiety raise to the level of panic when we are incorporating relaxation practices. You will find resources for relaxation on this website as well as general self-care tips. There are some general lifestyle factors that can either heighten or reduce our anxiety that we will focus on.
4) Ways to have a different, more accepting relationship with anxiety
Although it may seem odd at first, an acceptance-based mindset towards anxiety is almost always part of successful anxiety treatment. Focusing on “controlling” anxiety often leads to disappointment due to the inevitable experience of not being able to control either the emotion itself or the situation. You will find mindset-based tools on this website grounded in practices from evidenced based therapy: Acceptance and Commitment Based Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and mindfulness/self-compassion practices.
So come along! Let’s grow through our experiences with anxiety by working on realistic thinking, taking action to face anxiety, using relaxation and self-care, and changing our relationship with and mindset towards anxiety. You can have a fulfilling life and do the things you want to do when you experience anxiety. Challenge accepted!
Keep Growing,
Want to learn more?
Here’s a link to all our posts about managing anxiety