How I’ve Learnt To Heal My Anxiety

Anxiety is a complex thing, and I began to understand this more when I began the journey to heal my anxiety. It effects everybody differently, and thats what makes healing it so hard. It’s not one single approach, usually it’s down to each individual. And what works for one person, might not work for another.

I remember having anxiety as a child. Of course I had no idea what it was. it was this big scary feeling that I did everything to avoid if I could. It was a pit in my stomach at the thought of leaving my parents. It was thinking about life away from my comfort bubble in my home. As I got older though, and learnt to understand my anxiety more the feelings changed and got worse. I have spoken about my anxiety and me before on my blog, and about how life really at one point revolved around my anxious thoughts and feelings. But this post is different. I had a realisation the other day, that my anxiety is no longer a major factor in my life. It doesn’t consume me anymore. It’s part of me, but it isn’t me.

This is going to sound silly, so please bare with me. I watched a Tik Tok by a therapist. And if you’re familiar with Tik Tok, it was one of those put your finger down games. So the questions would be, put your finger down if you worry and get anxious about the future. One of those kind of things. I was sat there, ready and prepared to have no fingers still up once the video was finished. One finger was down. ONE. Immediately it made me reflect and think about my anxiety. I couldn’t think of a moment where I had felt anxious or worried. Honestly I even struggled to come up with a date or time when I had my last panic attack. I had been living life anxiety free for months and didn’t even realise it. And it felt amazing.

In this post, I want to share and reflect on some of the techniques and things I have done to really dim down and almost eliminate anxiety from my life. As I said in my intro, this isn’t a one size fits all approach. These things helped me, but that doesn’t mean they will help everybody. So take this advice however you want to. I just hope that maybe sharing my own experience I can help others.

REMOVING MYSELF FROM A BAD JOB

One of the main driving forces of my anxiety and depression was a job I was in. I worked in a call centre, and if you’ve ever worked in one you know how bad they can be for your mental health. I worked there for just under a year, and if I could have left earlier I would have. Call centres are high stress jobs. They require alot from you, with little to no incentive or reward. Talking to upset customers all day long, being yelled at. Constantly having to perform to their standards with substandard equipment to do it.

Shortly after completing my job training and taking to calls solo is when I realised I hated the job. I knew I had to stick it out, but it really wasn’t going to be pretty. I had panic attacks daily. Walking into work and pretending I was fine was the hardest thing I ever did. I began to dread the thought of going out anywhere, especially to work. And work should never feel like that. For a whole year I became the most anxious and depressed I have ever been. So much so, that even when I left the job it took me months to get back to my normal self. It was tough, so so tough.

AFTER I LEFT

There was light at the end of the tunnel though. I knew what trigged this intense anxiety and depression, and I knew eliminating it would help. And it did. I left and honestly, it was the biggest breath of fresh air ever. Here in England you’re supposed to work a 4 week notice. I worked one week and told them I was leaving and thats what I did. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Removing myself from a bad job to heal my anxiety worked. I became a new person again. So, my advice to you is. Remove yourself if you can from what is making you feel this way. It might not be immediate, like me. I stayed in that situation for nearly and year because I had to. That might be the same case for you too. But make progress to removing yourself. Don’t think you have to be there forever, whatever the situation is.

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EXERCISING CHANGED MY LIFE

When I sat there after I watched that Tik Tok and really thought about how I hardly got anxious anymore, I began thinking about what had changed in my life. What was I doing differently now than I did before? Then I realised, one of the main differences and what I think really helped in my journey to heal my anxiety was that I started exercising. And it’s no lie that exercise and looking after your physical really helps your mental. Before I started my weight loss journey, I ate terribly. I didn’t look after my body and I really put some of my anxiety down to how I was mistreating myself. You are what you eat. If you eat terrible food and abuse your body, of course you’re going to feel awful mentally too.

Dieting and exercising has really helped to open up my mind. It’s like I see the world differently. Don’t under estimate the power of being able to change your mental through what you physically do. I had no idea that exercise could make me feel so powerful.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Healing anything takes time. Whether it’s a physical ailment or a mental one. I want to add here that there is no shame if you need to heal your mental health with medication too. However you can make yourself feel better, you should do it. Who knows in years to come, my anxiety could get triggered again by something else. I could find myself back to square one. The difference is now though, that I have learnt coping mechanisms. I know how to get myself better and I have those bits of self help advice in the back of my mind whenever I need them.

So, you’ve heard how I have learnt to heal my anxiety now I want to hear from you! Do you feel like you can heal your own mental health? What are your thoughts on this more natural approach?

This post was really something I had been wanting to talk about for a while. I really wanted to share any tips I could on how I began to heal my anxiety. And I really want you to see from my perspective how you are able to heal yourself. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s worth trying!

Olivia x 
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