How To Cope With Anxiety? - The Sheeples

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1	What We Have Learned By Dealing With Anxiety
2	This is a crowd-sourced document curated by The Sheeples. This is a public document where anyone with a link can come and write about their experiences with anxiety and what they learned through their experiences. Ways to cope with anxiety and anything else that can help their fellow Sheeples.
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4	What is Anxiety?
5	Anxiety is what we feel when we are worried, tense or afraid – particularly about things that are about to happen, or which we think could happen in the future. Anxiety is a natural human response when we perceive that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations.
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7	You can learn more about Anxiety and it's effects right here: https://bit.ly/what-is-anxiety-sheeples
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9	Looking for Professional Help? Follow this link to find someone near you: https://bit.ly/therapist-list
10	You can also find us on the following platforms: Insta: https://www.instagram.com/sheeplespeople/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sheeplespeople Reddit: r/thesheeplespodcast YouTube: The Sheeples
11	Link to The Sheeples podcast on Anxiety: https://bit.ly/anxiety-hidden-pandemic
12	My Experience with Anxiety	My Ways of Coping With It	A Positive Message You Want To Leave	Name (You can be anonymous as well)
13	I had severe anxiety issues as a kid, mainly being an introvert, I was very scared of public speaking, events and so on. I have caused myself to fall sick because of the stress I used to take due to anxiety and have had many panic attacks as well. The fact that I used to feel alone even though I have amazing friends, bless them they are genuinely some of the best people, I just couldn't help it. My brain at times goes places I don't ant it to go but its a journey I have to take. I might get overwhelmed at times but I have dreams that make me feel like even if I am getting overwhelmed, I don't mind it cause I want to do what I love and thats what pushes me ahead.	1) Learn to be able to do things badly, there is no need to be perfect on the first try and we can make mistakes.	It is never too late, no matter what you want to pursue, just know that you will move at your own pace and the destination might take it's time to arrive, at the end of the day, the journey will be worth it! :)	1000Minus7
14		2) Give myself the leeway and room to grow, allow myself to learn from my own mistakes and have the ability to accept my own flaws.
15		3) Start to believe in myself and my own abilities more, be able to have more confidence in myself and to know that I am not alone.
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18	I've probably only recently realised what anxiety is and how it affects my body. I commonly mistake it for a physical illness and shove it under the carpet. Shortness of breath, the feeling of skydiving for eternity, thoughts rushing in my head at the speed of light, wanting to rush to the bathroom and weep, not wanting to get out of bed, were just a few things I now know are my response to 'anxiety'	1) Weirdly the more I tried to fight it, the stronger it got. It was like every punch I landed on it made it bigger and badder. The only relief came when I submitted to it. (NOT saying that give into negative or self-destructive thoughts)	Your physicalities are temporary, but your soul is immortal. Even when all is lost, the tiniest thing shows up to make you smile. And if it doesn't? Invent one darling :)	Zee
19		2) Being gratituous or keeping a gratitude journal DID NOT help. I wanted to punch every person who told me stuff like 'look at all the things you have' , 'there are people who have nothing at all, you have so many things' , 'you come from a family that gives you a house to live in and food on the table, how can you be depressed?'. Stuff like that is TOXIC and you need to distance yourself from people if this doesn't make it better for you. There are no universal solutions for anxiety and/or depression. Don't try to fit in someone elses clothes and feel weird about feeling weird.
20		3) If you can afford to, just lie in bed, just drink coffee/chai, watch shows, whatever you feel makes you a little warmer. Don't let the 'productivity culture' get you down. The people of the world could be achieving the horizons, but that doesn't mean everyone has to. Atleast not when your mind has got you down. You can achieve all you want once you're better. But for now rest up lil one, take all the time you need you beautiful soul :)
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23	I have always found it difficult to express myself, especially when it's an unpleasant situation. Whether it's being misunderstood by a close friend, or being treated wrongly at work or an impending break-up, it's my own overthinking that doesn't let me sleep. Not wanting to sleep as it feels like taking a plunge, waking up crying and knowing that something is not right, gaining weight despite not having the appetite and the desire to have food but ending up eating like a monster. The feeling of immense restlessness while at home or at work or at college and wanting to escape to the next part. Almost like wanting to skip that ONE difficult mission of any GTA series, but still having to do it 100 times inorder to proceed ahead. Despite having known the coolest bunch of people who have always treated me like family, I could never thoroughly enjoy myself as my mind had always been in a different place. I haven't been able to commit to anything long-term. It scares me when i hear stuff like "few months from now", "XYZ series has 15 seasons", "life in the next 10 years" etc.	1) By doing tasks that require a lot of concentration, I have been able to cope up with the restlessness. Chess, watching gameplays, reading philosophy bits, playing around with the 3x3 rubik's cube helped a lot.	All long-term goals begin with short-term goals. Tread one step at a time. While doing so, you might as well add some humour to it.	GP
24		2) Watching webseries, listening to music and focusing on the lyrics, the repititive sequence of guitar chords, drums, beats etc. also provided a relieving experience
25		3) Joining the gym and being regular was my first step to recovery. Wanted to build a routine which I knew would be certain and constant.
26		4) Just when i had thought i was doing fine, social media started getting absurd and toxic. The herd-mentality, scapegoating and toxic productivity on various topics started taking a toll on my mental health. Cutting myself off for few weeks was a great temporary solution.
27		5) Writing Poems also helped me to find that momentary escape from reality
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30	-	-	Realise that anxiety is ever present. It is good to have the jitters. Buiding a toolkit to conquer is paramount rather than eradicating anxiety which is an exercise in futility.	-
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