Anxiety caused by world events!
Do you ever experience this when reading online news or watching a documentary. This happened to me recently and it took me by surprise but triggered my thoughts relating back to COVID19.
We all remember COVID and how frightened we were, doing things that we would not normally do, isolating ourselves, preparing to watch every news bulletin, which then increased our anxiety.
Many of the clients I am seeing today can relate back to how their anxiety worsened during this period. For me I very much remember the anxiety of being told to stay at home, work from home, no clients face to face, just online work. It was a very difficult time for me, but I ploughed on, not wanting to think too much about how I was feeling. Until one day, my supervisor asked me how I was, and I burst into tears.
Thankfully, she had my back, she acknowledged how I was feeling, we spoke about the loneliness of working at home and how to manage my thoughts and feelings after work. She reminded me the strategies that I give my clients, which for whatever reason I was not using myself. I was probably caught up in the situation, the loneliness and anxiety of what was going on. Anxiety can make us think in circles, just seeing the negatives, unable to fine a positive, for me my supervisor broke the circle, and we broke down what I was worried about and what I could change to help me.
The main thing we agreed on was I restricted the watching and listening to the news. Exposing myself to constant daytime TV in between working was heightening my anxiety, and to be fair not much was changing. I agreed with myself to watch the news at the end of each day.
Such a simple thing and it worked for me, there are other very simple thing that I discuss with clients before we start any real work, as the helpful techniques below set us up with the right frame of mind to start work on ourselves.
Ensure you are eating well and exercising, (both have a huge effect on mood and help us rid anxiety
Drinking a glass of warm previously boiled water as this can soothe the nervous system or try drinking herbal teas which can be really helpful
Ensure we are drinking enough water throughout the day
Write a list of the worries, seeing things on paper helps put the worries into perspective, this could also be done in the form of journal writing
If you have hobbies keep them up, if not think about trying yoga, chair Pilates, colouring, drawing, writing short stories, reading a book, catching up with friends and family or anything that you have always wanted to try
At the beginning I mentioned world news and triggers. What did I do to ground myself when this happened recently
Positive Affirmations
This is just anxiety, nothing more, remember to breath
This feeling will pass
I am safe where I am
I am becoming calmer with each breath, and I remind myself to smile
I am back in control, and I am ok
I know it is difficult to learn how to reassure yourself in times of anxiety. It can be so easy to sit with those feelings of despair, but they are unhelpful and do us no favours!
By trying to use my techniques or others that you find helpful you are helping yourself to reframe and adopt more healthy thought patterns.
Please remember you are worth it and by loving ourselves and practising this self-love we are having a high regard for our wellbeing and happiness which allows us to process our emotions more easily.