I have always been an anxious person. I tend to get racing thoughts and have trouble sleeping, a lot of the time for no apparent reason. I was finally diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder at the beginning of 10th grade. After meeting with a psychiatrist for two years, we created ways in which I could cope with my anxiety.
First, we had to figure out what it was that made me anxious. I was surprised to discover that small things in my life affect me more than I knew. Most of these things are not that unique and make many people anxious, but the only difference for me is that my genetic makeup makes me unable to deal with the anxiety that arises from them. Among these things are the tidiness of my room, test taking, and loud noises when I am trying to focus. The anxiety that I feel from these things can be overwhelming sometimes. I always notice when it hits me because I start to feel nauseous and dizzy, and it feels as if a cold shutter is running through my body. Then I tend to get shaky, and pick at my nails. Once identifying the sources of my anxiety, we moved on.
Next, we worked on coping strategies. I had to figure out how to prevent situations that made me anxious, and learn to cope with them in case they did happen. The tidiness of my room was an easy one until I got to college. Maintaining a clean room is tough when my living space, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen are all in a tiny square. On top of that, I share this square with a roommate who says that “things affect us differently” when I confront her about her messiness. As for test taking and loud noises, there is no way of preventing that, so I had to learn to cope quickly.
No coping strategy is perfect and these strategies are all different for everybody, but over the past few years, I have been able to figure out what works for me. I practice yoga as much as possible in order to relieve physical tension through stretching and mental tension through meditation and breathing exercises. I have also taught myself to reevaluate a situation when it makes me nervous. Anxiety stems from a feeling of lack of control, so when a situation makes me anxious it is because I feel like I am not holding any control over it. For example, if I notice my room is too messy and start to feel anxious, I pause for a moment and reevaluate the situation. I assure myself that the mess is not a huge deal and I can clean it, giving myself control over it. This control then makes my anxiety subside. When it comes to test taking, in order to feel in control I just have to make sure I am well studied and well rested. Procrastinating always causes me to feel nervous, so I try to avoid that. I have not yet figured out how to deal with my problem with loud noises other than to just relocate myself.
While my Generalized Anxiety Disorder is caused by a physical chemical imbalance within me that I cannot change, I have learned that it is something that can be mentally overcome through my coping strategies. The disorder may be something that I have for the rest of my life, but that does not mean that I have to let it affect me. As I hone my coping strategies over the next few years, I know that it will only get easier to deal with.
sashafierce 