How do you express your anxiety? (With Practical Tips on Navigating Mental Health)

The words anxiety, mental health, or therapy are now becoming more integrated in our regular activities and conversations. It shows in the way we try to normalize these conversations through social media or when we initiate awareness campaigns nationwide – or even worldwide. 

But even with this sense of acceptance or awareness on mental health, do we already have the confidence to navigate our way through managing this struggle? Have we already found our confidence even in talking about it in our own circle, like our significant other, child, or close friend? 

I know these matters can still put us to a test when it comes to our own mental health, so I’m very glad to be able to talk about this matter more with the host of That Gives Me Anxiety Podcast, Patrick Jones. 

In this blog, I’m going to share nuggets of wisdom surrounding anxiety, which I picked up from our conversation. Let’s get started! 

1. Talking to people about our mental health struggles, given the right context and platform, bridges us to one another. 

   When someone opens up about their experiences on anxiety or depression, they also put themselves in a vulnerable position where their listener can affirm and empathize with them. This response opens doors for more meaningful conversations and deeper understanding of the other person’s worth and value. 

2. Talking with others about their anxiety provides insights on tools to navigate these situations. 
   Patrick shared about his podcast guest who talked about a strategy of overcoming anxiety by pinching her own arm. While this did not necessarily work long term for Patrick, the realization that there are different ways to cope with anxiety was empowering. According to Patrick, it felt like he was gathering tools that he could either use for himself or share with someone for when the time comes that these are needed. 

3. Talking to another person about anxiety can be therapeutic in itself. 
   While it is important that we need to connect with licensed mental health practitioners for these struggles, the ability to open ourselves up to another person can reduce the emotional impact of the negative feeling upon ourselves. It could truly feel unburdening when we open up about our feelings and be accepted for the human rawness that we are. 

So how can you navigate around mental health? 

Here are actionable tips that Patrick learned from the many conversations he has had with his different guests: 

• Ensure to include mental health or anxiety as part of a normal conversation, without feeling fearful about what the other person might think about you. 

• Recognize that anxiety and excitement have the same physical manifestations, so when you are trying out something new, and you start to feel anxious, remind yourself that you are just being excited. This acknowledgement shifts your perspective and emotions. 

• Truly appreciate how low you were of what you are dealing with. This means giving yourself the time to feel the emotions of that moment, without demanding yourself to get over it right away.

• Acknowledge that when someone shares about their own mental health struggles, you are in the same space of vulnerability with them,  and see this as an honorable space to be in. With this, you can truly appreciate our humanity, and find more meaning in the other feelings that you go through. 

This podcast episode has truly been an enriching moment for me so I invite you to listen to the rest of the episode here. I believe that like me, you would also open different chests of wisdom in navigating through our mental health challenges in life. Let’s keep on moving forward!