I have been pretty open about my struggle with anxiety on social media. It started after I had my youngest daughter, almost 3 years ago. I didn’t realize it but I was suffering from postpartum anxiety and I let it get so out of hand that it turned into a generalized anxiety disorder. Over the years I have learned a handful of ways to handle my anxiety and I get emails daily asking for advice, so I thought it was time to share.
- Seek professional help. If you broke your arm or had a nasty cold you would go to the doctor, it should 100% be the same when it comes to your mental health. I get it, it’s scary! I had myself ( or my anxiety did) convinced that if I told my doctor what was going on in my head I would be locked inside a padded room. That’s not what happened. Instead, I was treated with respect and felt this wave of relief wash over me that I now wasn’t fighting this battle alone. My doctor referred me to a counselor who I see every 2 weeks. In counseling, I’ve learned coping techniques, stress management, and so much more. The best part is just having an unbiased sounding board to listen to me or to tell me when I’m in the wrong. I see a lot of post on blogs and social media about natural ways to treat your anxiety but I am here to tell you that if you are truly dealing with anxiety then please get professional help!
- Pay attention to what I watch, read, and listen to. I learned long ago that these things played a direct role in my anxiety. That’s why my tv is usually set to something lighthearted like the Hallmark channel. Don’t get me wrong I love a good true crime show but I know that if my anxiety is high I’ll have to wait and watch it another time. Same with the news, if I’m anxious I don’t even turn it on. Another thing I like to do is listen to some of my favorite Christian music and or podcasts. Here are some of my favorite things to listen to and watch.
- The Sounds Fun Podcast. Love this podcast! Annie F Downs is an amazing Christian author and speaker and has the best guests on her podcast. She releases two episodes a week and I love to listen to them in the car.
- Made For This Podcast. This podcast I actually just started listening to and I LOVE it! Jennie Allen is a bible teacher and her series on friendship is changing my life!
- CBD oil. Okay stop rolling your eyes, I know CBD is the latest fad sweeping social media but hear me out. My husband, a pharmacist, bought me a very expensive bottle of CBD when my anxiety was really bad. It did nothing at all so I wrote it off for about a year. One night Matt came home and said I needed to give it another try because people were raving over it at his work. We found a local grower and I never looked back. I take it daily and twice a day when my anxiety is really high ( typically that correlates with my cycle FYI). CBD is NOT regulated by the FDA so there are sadly a lot of fakes out there trying to take advantage of people. When buying CBD I always tell people to do these things.
- Buy local from a source you trust
- Make sure it’s organic. Hemp is one of the heaviest sprayed plants.
- Start with a low dose and work your way up
- Give it a chance, finding your dosage takes some trial and error.
- Remove certain things from your diet. I am not about to preach about eating super healthy, while I do believe it helps it’s hard and I’m eating a pop-tart as I write this. I do know when I eat clean I feel the best but life is life and that’s not always possible. There are however certain things I avoid at all costs.
- Alcohol! Guys when people email me or stop into my shop to talk about their anxiety I always ask if they drink alcohol first. If you are drinking alcohol this is going to contribute greatly to your anxiety. I wish I could shake this into people.
- Caffeine. Yep go ahead and cry, I LOVED caffeine…I was a junkie but I had to give it up. I really love coffee so I do drink decaf (this typically contains trace caffeine but it doesn’t bother me too much). Other than that it’s water or maybe some juice. Once you get through the with-drawl you are golden though I swear!
- Find your people. Anxiety can feel very lonely if you are walking it alone, trust me. I was terrified to let people know what I was going through, I refuse to be seen as weak. However, when I started talking about it to people who mattered it started to help. I started to see that they were cheering me on and willing to help any way they could. Once I got past telling them I was able to open up on my social media to let other people know they weren’t alone.