What Is V. What If: Reframing My Anxiety

Sometimes, stating the facts can help ease your anxiety over the millions of possibilities your mind is thinking about.

If you’re like me and have social anxiety, then you can understand how hard it can be to be social like going to school functions, dating, etc.

My anxiety gets bad in social situations. I always think people are going to talk about me, think I’m weird or just flat out reject me. This social anxiety started in elementary when people would say I was strange and what not. It definitely left a mark on me as a child.

This social anxiety stayed with me through middle and high school, but at this point, I accepted the fact that I was different and to just avoid people unless they talked to me first. I hated feeling anxious at school dances or football games thinking everyone was talking about me. In reality, they could care less.

As a young adult dealing with anxiety, I’ve done a few things to help ease it. In college, my doctors told me exercising would help so I started working out before morning classes. I’d still feel like everyone would say my question or comment wasn’t smart enough, but it started to not matter to me as often.

Sometimes, I have to throw myself out there. As a journalist who relies on networking, I have to meet people constantly. I still worry, but I’ll say to myself “shut up and just do it” and make myself act like I’m not worrying about a million things like if my outfit is ok or if I’m making sense.

The more I’ve been open about my anxiety with friends, the more I’ve found out it’s not just me who struggles with it. I now love being open about it and sharing the crazy thoughts that are going through my head at events or other gatherings. The more we talk about anxiety and mental health, the more we’ll get comfortable with it.

Recently, I came across a video by Lo Bosworth on Youtube where she discusses her anxiety. She talks about saying “what is” versus “what if”. I tried it out the there day when I was worrying about something and it definitely helped a lot.

For example, If you’re freaking out about that guy texting you back, saying “what is” like “I know he loves me” or “he always leaves his phone in his bag” might help ease your mind when you’re waiting for that response.

Anxiety will always be something I struggle with, but day by day I am doing things like this to help me get my life together.

Tools You Can Use To Overcome Anxiety Right Now - #MindMatters

youtube.com / Via YouTube

Hi guys! The video I created sharing my story about depression and anxiety has inspired me to create a new series #MindMatters on my channel. In today's video I'm talking about the tools you can use to overcome anxiety, like, RIGHT NOW.