Life
The panicky jitters that seem to come from nowhere, the twisted knots in the stomach, that one niggling thought that just keeps playing over and over in your head like that time your mom's Neil Diamond cassette melted in the car, and you had to listen to "America" every morning on the way to school. Anxiety can be an absolute beast to deal with, and learning how to talk yourself out of anxiety is key. I have struggled with it myself over the years, and am always on the lookout for new tips and insights on how to not gnaw through a night guard.
I reached out to David H. Rosmarin, a clinical psychologist, about some powerful ways to disrupt anxiety, and get it under control. Rosmarin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the founder of The Center for Anxiety. So it's fair to say he knows a bit about the nail-biters and paper bag blowers of the world. I actually found myself feeling a smidge anxious chatting with him, he's such a smarty. Perhaps I should have had him talk me down pre-interview? Though he might have sent a bill... Which would have made me extremely anxious. No matter. He knows what you're going through, and he has some tips on how to stop those anxious thoughts right in their tracks and send them packing. But it's more than just asking yourself to relax.
4
Self-Care
While we tend to think of anxiety as directly related to a larger cause — like an illness or injury or work or relationship issue — sometimes, you might just need some water and a KIND bar. "People tend to be over anxious when they’re tired, or when they’re hungry." Rosmarin says it's important to be aware of those kinds of general self-care factors.
That said, if you really are dealing with a larger problem, he says to be sure to "give yourself a little leeway if there’s sort of a higher baseline of stress."
He did touch on one issue that made me laugh: people who get stressed on vacation. I have experienced this myself, and had a friend texting me about this very issue recently. She was all, "I'm at the beach with my family! What is wrong with me?" Rosmarin says this is common, and happens for a very simple reason: your routine is interrupted. "You don’t have the same diet, or the same exercise routine. Or you're waking up in a different time zone, the weather is different…" He says whatever it is that's triggering your vacay jitters, to again try and practice self-care, and pay attention to what might be feeling off for you.
In short — while having a KIND bar handy may help, the main thing to remember about anxiety? Be kind to yourself.
This article was originally published on