During the pandemic, I experienced an anxiety attack. I happened to be shopping at a large grocery store in town and the first thing I noticed was how crowded the store was. This wasn’t my favorite place to shop for my groceries in the first place. I had a handful of groceries in my cart, as I was trying to navigate all the other shoppers while trying to breathe with the mask on my face. It became too much for me. I felt nervous and my heart was racing which made it difficult to think clearly. In my stubbornness, I couldn’t decide whether or not to finish my list or just call it a day and go home with what I had in my cart. I finally went with the latter.

Until recently, I didn’t want to admit how much anxiety was affecting my life. To be honest, I have been struggling with anxiety and getting easily stressed out for a long time. I wasn’t honest with myself because I knew that I would need to talk to someone about it-did I mention I can be stubborn. I believed I could handle it myself. I am aware that some anxiety, while not fun, is normal and good. Stress that is out of your control happens too. But I needed tools to deal with it. I have faith in Jesus, and prayer is beneficial, yet it is okay to get help from others and have other ways to work through the stress and anxiety.

I also want to say that I am no counselor. I encourage you to talk to a professional like I did, so you can do something about it. But here are some ideas that have helped me and maybe they can help you too.

Talking it out

I started seeing a counselor this past year when my anxiety was getting out of control because of various things going on in my life. I was reluctant because I was anxious to talk about my anxiety! My family encouraged me nonetheless and I begrudgingly started to talk to a counselor. It has been the best thing for me right now. I feel like my stress and anxiety level have lowered significantly.

Deep Breaths

My husband knows that I struggle with anxiety, and he has learned how to calm me down. One afternoon I called him because the keys were stuck in the ignition of my car and I couldn’t get them out. One of my automatic reactions is to hold my breath, so he had me take a few deep breaths and walked me through what to do. Afterward, I gained the ability to function again.

Remember What Triggers You

One thing I have learned about myself is that I can panic in situations where I don’t know what to do or when I am in a nerve-racking (for me) situation. For example, I was leaving a meeting one night and I had my son’s car. I hadn’t driven his car at night in a while, so I was not familiar with where the lights were located. I felt my heart start racing again and my breathing became irregular. I don’t know if anyone can identify with this, but it is like your mind is wiped. I literally could not figure out how to get them on fully, yet I drove anyway.

My negative thought processes began whispering to me in my head. My counselor calls these mind reading or fortune telling when I wonder what other people will think of me. For example, since I didn’t have my headlights I assumed other drivers were thinking bad things about me and I just knew there was going to be a cop pulling me over and I would be mortified. These thoughts and more raced through my mind as I was driving. I made it home and almost held my breath the whole time. Fortunately, our house wasn’t that far away. I pulled into our driveway and breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as I turned off the motor, I found where the headlights were.

In addition, a new situation or going somewhere new can bring on anxiety and stress. I have used tapping a little, which has helped me when I am going into a new situation. If you aren’t familiar with tapping click here for a demonstration.

Know what you can handle and what you can’t. Having those fight-or-flight responses often is not good for us. Even scrolling through social media or certain games can trigger a stress/anxiety response without us being aware. This certainly is true of me.

What can cause you stress and anxiety? Recognizing when it happens and knowing what to do is a huge step. It is a process I am continuing to work on, but I am making progress. Remember some stress and anxiety you can be prepared for, and some you can’t. But having a way to recognize the feelings that come with it and tools to cope can help.