How to Manage Anxiety

Do you ever get tired of over-thinking and the tension it creates?

Or have you experienced other people getting down on you for over-thinking or over-analyzing?

Let's be honest. People usually mean well when they try to tell you, "don't over think it!" but that command rarely helps anyone. If it were just that easy, you wouldn't be searching up 'how to manage anxiety'! That's because most people don't really understand anxiety.

I'm here to tell you why I don't really believe in over-thinking and how you can respond to your anxiety in a more helpful way that actually leads to improvement, not just more shame about it.

Let's reframe what anxiety really is.

Here’s the truth about anxiety:

It’s not bad. 

If you experience anxiety, you're not broken.

It’s your mind and body trying to help you.

Anxiety is a natural, adaptive response. It’s your brain looking ahead and scanning for danger—trying to keep you safe. 

But in today’s world with endless news cycles, pinging devices, and simply too much information—the mind and nervous system gets overloaded.

And when your mind gets bombarded with lots of seemingly threatening, confusing, or overwhelming messages, the body starts sending out more alarms than necessary. Especially if there's past trauma. 

The body and mind are simply responding to the environmental cues to try and prevent future pain.

Anxiety is unspoken fear.

It’s un-named fear.

It’s your imagination doing its job: looking ahead, picturing what could go wrong, and trying to prepare you for it.

This part of your mind is actually brilliant and what makes you uniquely human. But it gets a little overzealous sometimes.

If you’ve ever been through something scary, unpredictable, or overwhelming, like a parent yelling, the loss of a job or home, not making rent, a sudden loss of a loved one, a car accident, or growing up in a household where you never quite knew what version of someone you were going to get, then of course your mind would scan for danger now. 

There would be something wrong if it didn’t.

Anxiety isn't something to pathologize (don't get me started on diagnoses...)

Anxiety is something to understand. 

The mind adapts. It learns from lived experience, imagined threats, even what you’ve watched in a movie or on the news. Your nervous system doesn’t know the difference between what's real, what's imagined, and what's on the screen. 

If an experience felt threatening, your body logged it as real.

Let that sink in for a moment.

And sometimes, your brain reacts to things like social rejection the same way it would to physical danger (because humans are social mammals and we need supportive relationships to survive and thrive).

That’s why social anxiety can feel so big and paralyzing; it's why anxiety can lead to depression, isolation, loneliness, and even suicidal thoughts. Especially when people don’t feel safe or seen.

Here’s what I want you to really know:

Anxiety doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. It means your mind adapted to perceived threats. And perhaps those threats are no longer relevant or present (or maybe they are!).

When you understand what it’s doing, you can stop fighting it (or blaming or shaming yourself), and start responding to it in a more helpful way. 

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Here are a few ways to respond to anxiety with care:

• Name the fear—put it into words

• Check the facts (is this actually happening?)

• Respond to yourself with acceptance and nurturing care.

• Take action to mitigate an actual threat

• Go for a 5-10 min walk

• Long-term: Minimize consumption of processed foods and substances

• Reach out for support if you need help managing anxiety.

You’re not weak for feeling anxious.

You’re human. And your system is amazingly wise and adaptive.

Struggling with Anxiety?

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