Journaling – The Fastest Way To Get Rid Of Anxiety?
In a world full of social media, ‘swiping’, and ‘clicking’ – it can be easy to forget about one of the oldest methods of self-reflection – journaling.
Journaling is one of many ways to help naturally reduce your anxiety. Writing is a form of therapy where you can focus on getting all of your thoughts out of your head.
This helps you create clarity and gives you a different perspective on your thoughts. Usually, when we’re so wrapped up in our thoughts, we lose sight of what’s real from what isn’t.
Your thoughts form your reality. That’s why writing everything out in a journal is a great way to get out of your head.
But what do you journal about? What questions do you ask yourself? Where should you direct your focus?
Well, there’s no ‘packaged’ answer – everyone’s different. But, there are a few journal prompts you can use to combat anxiety both in the short-term and long-term.
There are some surprising things that cause anxiety. Of course, there are more than a handful of triggers for anxiety.
It all depends on the person and what personally effects them. You may have a different trigger for your anxiety.
There are many common triggers like public speaking, a job interview, or starting the first day of school.
But, what about the lesser-known causes? The ones that we aren’t even aware of trigger our bodies to feel anxious. And are you aware of them?
7 Surprising Things That Cause Anxiety
The answer to this question lies in the moments when you think you’re going crazy. You feel insanely uncomfortable but aren’t sure if anxiety is the cause.
For example, my main trigger is large crowds of people. Whether that’s the grocery store or a traffic jam. It just makes me feel really vulnerable and uncomfortable.
It might just be that you’re overthinking or something else.
Or maybe someone else is telling you that you’re just overreacting and it’s not a big deal.
Well, luckily here are a few triggers that may answer those questions. So, if you ever encounter the moments below and feel weird on the inside, it could be a result of an anxiety trigger. This may give you peace of mind the next time you encounter these moments.
Just remember, anxiety can pop up in the most random moments in your life. Even if what you’re experiencing isn’t on this list doesn’t mean it’s not a symptom of anxiety.
Listen to your body and dig deeper into how you’re truly feeling. Why is it making you feel uncomfortable?
Ok, now let’s dive into these triggers you may not know of.
Here are 7 Surprising Things That Cause Anxiety
1. PMS
Just another fun item to add to the list of symptoms of PMS. The hormones you experience during that time of the month can have an effect on your anxiety.
The stress hormone, Cortisol, increases before your period even starts. Causing you to become a worried mess and make you feel like you’re going crazy.
If you find that you can normally handle your anxiety most of the time, but find it unbearable at times, check your calendar.
If you notice your date approaching, there are a few things you can do to reduce these anxiety symptoms:
- Change your diet. Drink a lot of water and focus on eating stress-reducing foods.
This will level out your cortisol levels, reducing feelings of panic.
- Go on more walks. Walking really helps reduce anxiety anytime you feel it coming on.
Take a quick 20-minute walk, even a few times a day.
This will help you focus on the present and feel less overwhelmed.
- Take multiple rest days.
There’s nothing worse than having a full work/school load during that time of the month. Plan ahead and try not to schedule anything too stressful beforehand. This is the best time to stay in your comfort zone and focus on taking care of yourself.
2. Your Parents
How your parents treat you can have a direct impact on your anxiety. Whether or not they are intentionally doing it.
If you have parents who cater too much to your needs and worry about everything you do, this can rub off on you. Causing you to worry or stress out.
If you don’t have a good relationship with your parents, this can also cause anxiety. Seeking approval, or feeling distant from your parents can make it difficult to know how to be a functioning adult.
If we aren’t taught the right skills we need as kids, learning those things as we’re older becomes difficult. If you realize that your parents have a big effect on the way you live your life, you can work on changing it. At the end of the day, you are your own person.
You have to learn how to live your own life for yourself. There are ways to move past what our parents have taught us and to learn new things to reduce anxiety in your life.
3. Anxiety Causes Anxiety
If you’re aware you have anxiety, you could make it worse by bringing on more anxiety. Thinking about a time when you felt anxious can cause you to start feeling anxious again.
It’s a crappy cycle to be in. Anxiety can build onto itself if you allow it.
The best way to break the cycle is by working on worrying less, facing your fears, and practicing self-care to reduce the anxiety you’re feeling.
Worrying is just like fear, because it’s False Evidence Appearing Real. The more you believe in it, the more power you give it.
That’s why you have to work on getting over your fears and seeing that not everything is as bad as it seems.
4. Smoking Weed
This seems odd, right? After all, weed is supposed to make you feel calm and relaxed.
Smoking weed doesn’t always have positive effects. It can also possibly magnify your anxiety, causing worse thoughts than you’ve had before. Even panic attacks!
If you’ve been considering it to relieve your worries and anxiety, I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). Take caution with this, if you already experience anxiety in your life.
Often, one or two puffs are all you’ll need to get the relaxing effects, without the anxiety.
5. After Eating Food
We all know the feeling. We ate way too much than we were supposed to. But, did you know that it can also affect anxiety? There are reports such as chest pains, heart palpitations, lightheadedness, and indigestion.
Experiencing any of these symptoms can make you feel worried, causing your anxiety to spike. The solution to this is to eat a well-balanced meal and eat slowly.
Focus on foods that lower stress levels and that keep you feeling full. So you don’t feel the need to have to eat two servings.
6. Nothing at all
The chemical imbalances in our brain can randomly set off waves of anxiety, for what seems like no reason. Maybe everything in your life is going fine, but you still feel anxious.
It can honestly feel like nothing is causing it, but you just feel it. It’s most likely something inside your body, that is impossible to pinpoint unless you went to a doctor to run some tests.
If you feel like nothing is causing your anxiety, take a step back and work on taking care of yourself.
During the times when you have no idea what is causing it, just go easy on yourself. You can even say, “I feel anxious right now, but I’m ok. I’m not in any danger, I just feel off today.”
Then practice being mindful and work on some breathing techniques to help calm you down.
I’ve personally felt this myself and it’s not fun to go through. I mentally go through everything in my life to see if anything has been stressful lately.
When I come up with nothing, I get discouraged. I like to pinpoint a specific cause of my anxiety. But, it’s actually completely normal to not have anything cause your anxiety.
You just feel it. And that’s nothing to disregard. During these moments when you can’t identify a specific problem, just focus on helpful calming strategies to push you through it.
7. TV
Watching a lot of crime television and news causes anxiety. Even if you can watch it without a problem, you could experience anxiety effects later on.
Let’s say you hear on the news someone was murdered downtown in an alleyway. The next time you go downtown and see an alleyway, the image instantly floods into your brain.
Causing a little fear and anxiety.
The best option if you get scared after watching TV is to avoid those channels. Most of the time, the news focuses on the bad because it’s more exciting.
They want to get the best story, but it doesn’t mean the whole world is a crazy scary place. And you have to balance that news out with the good, or it can lead to a lot of worry and anxiety.
With these in mind, you can work on getting rid of the triggers that bring on anxiety. No matter what is causing your anxiety, there are ways of dealing with it that will help reduce it.
7 Surprising Things That Cause Anxiety – Conclusion
While just implementing one of the above strategies can have a tremendous effect on your motivation, it’s important to note that this isn’t just a one off thing. Consistency wins the game here.
But it can be done. Finding motivation when you’ve got anxiety can be super hard, and there will be easier days than others.
If there’s one thing you take away from this post is that while you do need to make some changes in your life trying to do too much, too soon, is a fast way to burn yourself out. So, take step-by-step, get clear on the direction you want to go and commit.
You got this 🙂
