10 Tips for Anxiety Sufferers | #AnxietyTalks

Mental health is something I have wanted to introduce to my blog since I started Chapters of Kat really. Having been diagnosed with anxiety and depression from the age of 14, I wanted to finally speak up about it and start a sort of mini series, #AnxietyTalks.
As I reached my late teens, anxiety became the main focus of my life and pretty much took over every aspect of it. I lost many friends, my independence and became a shadow of myself. Anxiety can be brought on by various factors and is different for every single person. For instance, my anxiety is triggered by feelings of being overwhelmed, being surrounded by large groups of people and low self esteem.  But anyway, enough with the rambling! The aim of this post is to share some of things I have found useful over the years for those days when you need a little pick me up or you feel like things are just too much. 
+ Don't Hide Away Probably something I should do less of. When anxiety looms over you, the easiest answer to it is tucking yourself up into a duvet burrito and not leaving your bed for hours. Go for a walk, interact with your family, go for lunch with a friend! Being around people is a huge mood booster for me, especially those that will sit and listen to me babble on about my brain for hours.
+ Exercise The dreaded word, exercise. It may be daunting but once I've worked out I feel so much better. When I'm going through a low period, I think back to how good I feel after exercise and do a workout. At the moment I'm really enjoying the Blogilates YouTube channel and couldn't recommend her videos enough.
+ Self Care One of the most important but easily forgettable things is to actually stop and take time for yourself. Treat yourself to some new skincare, a bath bomb and set a little pamper night up including lots of goodies and movies. 
+ Make Future Plans Believe it or not, my planner really eases my anxiety. I look ahead to the future and find a reason to be excited for them, whether that's a shopping trip or a holiday. I enjoy looking at the monthly overview of my planner and seeing what positive things I have to look forward to. I don't know how but for some reason, it makes me feel calmer.
+ Avoid Caffeine Caffeine increases blood pressure, meaning it can trigger anxiety, which isn't exactly helpful when you can't function in a morning without the stuff. Instead of having coffee in a morning, I've switched to having a cup of decaf tea. 
+ Buy a Colouring Book Adult colouring books are all at the rage at the moment and come in really handy for those who may struggle to relax. Time flies as you sit and colour all the intricate designs, who knew colouring would be so soothing?
+ De-stress/Calming Apps There's an app for basically anything now. The ones that help me the most are apps that play soothing and relaxing sounds. I go through periods of suffering from awful insomnia, a side effect of my anxiety and the apps help to ease it and do a world of wonders. Ones that offer yoga techniques are apparently great too, something I'd like to get into in the future.
+ Balanced Diet It's been proven that junk food = low moods. I do have days where I just want to sit and scoff pizza and trust me, those days do happen regularly but I've also learnt about balance. Eating better and an increased water intake helps my overall mindset, meaning more anxiety free days.
+ Breathing Techniques Pretty self explanatory and maybe obvious to some but this is something I only discovered in the past year or so. Whenever I feel panicked, especially when out in public, I take a minute to stop, breathe slowly and block everything out around me. Concentrating on taking sips of water also soothes any panic I may be feeling.
+ Don't Be Afraid to Talk About It Be open about your anxiety! If you don't want to tell a person, tell a diary or what the heck, put it in a blog post. Anxiety leads to overthinking and honestly, I always feel so much better when I've spoken to someone about it.
If you, like me, also struggle with anxiety, what techniques do you find most helpful? This post was quite personal to write so I hope you liked it! Feel free to let me know if there's any particular posts on anxiety you'd like to see? I can't wait to get started on this series.
bloglovin • twitter • instagram • pinterest