ANXIOUS FEELINGS: There will be moments in your life where you will experience anxious feelings. There are many reasons for feeling these emotions, and it is for you to work out WHY you feel anxious. Some of the reasons that people may feel anxious is due to exams, interviews, life changing experiences (in and out of our control). When you begin to understand why you feel those emotions and are able to draw on the symptoms that it creates for you, it enables you to deal with the current situation. It is challenging and difficult to go through high pressure moments, it will make you physically and mentally rely on your discipline to get through that. When you look at the event as being a lesson it will enable you to gain more from what you are experiencing. For instance, you can see how you respond to high pressure moments enabling you to challenge yourself in the instance and reflect on your reactions. It tells you a lot about your self. In order to understand your anxious feelings you should begin to learn how to manage them. Through managing your feelings it will enable you to challenge them in the future. You will gain more control over your body, as well as understanding why you react in a certain light. The importance in management can be seen through responding in a calm manner, benefitting yourself and those around you. When you are feeling under pressure or stressed you begin to become agitated or reserved when surrounding yourself around other people. When you know you have something coming up which will make you doubtful you can think about coping mechanisms to get you through. However, when there are unexpected events and you begin to feel anxious you can rely upon breathing exercises and taking a moment to yourself to get through the feeling of anxiousness. In learning how to adapt is important in challenging your anxious feelings. When they come to your body uncalled for you will begin to panic and feel overwhelmed. Through coping mechanism recently outlined you will be able to challenge the emotions that you do not have ultimate control over.
PRIVILEGE: In some regards it can be seen as a privilege to experience these emotions. You can show yourself how you can handle these emotions when you feel like the world is falling apart. As a result you can develop healthy and meaningful strategies to deal with the most overwhelming experiences. You are allowed to feel overwhelmed and challenged at times, feeling these emotions will enable you to deal with it when the event of stress has occurred. The sooner you face your emotions the sooner you are to deal with it.
SETTING TASKS TO COMBAT FEELINGS: In regards to creating strategies it is important to shift your mindset. Instead of holding a victim mindset, constantly thinking about yourself in the situation, accept it. Through accepting your emotions you are allowing yourself to reflect on the experience you are going through. You will be able to challenge the negative thoughts that overtake your mind and understand what your limits are. A realistic mindset will enable you to accept the positive and negative experiences you will endure. In understanding the experience you will begin to understand yourself, your reactions and your process. This is important in dealing with high pressure moments because you can begin to develop methods and tactics that can help to deal with the more negative experiences. It will enable you to establish and maintain boundaries with yourself and others as well as ensuring that you are reaching your ultimate goal. There are various healthy ways to cope with emotions and deal with overwhelming emotions: take care for yourself, exercise, focus upon one task, and practice mindfulness. Therefore, when you encounter another high-stress situation again you will be able to undertake one of these takes (prior, during or afterwards) to calm your anxious and overwhelming feelings.
High Stress Situations:
FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE: In an intense situation your body naturally releases hormones to deal with the situation before yourself. There are three stages to this process
1. ALARM STAGE = Central nervous system is high, preparing your body to fight or flee.
2. RESISTANCE STAGE = Body attempts to normalise and recover from the initial elevated fight or flight response.
3. EXHAUSTION STAGE = Upon repeated cycle of the two previous stages, it can cause your body to feel exhausted and begin to break down.
This psychological theory naturally prepares your body to perform under pressure, either facing what is before you or escaping from it. The stress that is endured during this time can be seen in a positive light, as it can help you to actively move during the experience endured. In some serious circumstances it can determine your survival. However, it becomes an issue when you have a lot of trigger points. Sometimes the body begins to react to something before the trigger plays into an event, causing unintentional stress and emotions. Whereas, constantly feeling this stress can increase the risk of depression, headaches and migraines because your body and mind are constantly in a state of survival mode.
TRIGGER MOMENTS: There will be certain periods of your life that will result in you facing anxious moods. As you become more aware of your personal growth you will begin to understand what are your trigger points. This does not mean that you can completely avoid these events occurring but you are able to prepare yourself prior, during and after the event.
TECHNIQUES: Through recognising the physical signs that result in you becoming tense will enable you to figure out why you have a triggered reaction. Is it a particular person, the way it is expressed or when you become stressed? You should think about what causes your triggers, how you feel upon occurrence and how it interrupts your previous emotions. You should begin to try to pace your breathing to enable you to regain clarity of the present. If possible, immediately change the atmosphere or get some fresh air. Irrational thoughts lead to an emotional reaction, it is important to think about positive and realistic thoughts. Over time you will be able to stabilise your mindset to enable you to handle your own thoughts and feelings.
Slowing the process down:
MODERN WORLD SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSIS: Due to the progression of the Western world there has been an advancement in research and acknowledgement of diagnosis's. It has been made more easier and accessible for individuals to attend doctors and hospitals to be seen and treated. As a result of this, it is important that these symptoms are spoken about with professionals to understand whether further help can be assisted. However, it is also important to not rely upon medication that will likely affect moods and reaction rates. In getting a diagnosis does not mean that you can be restricted from still completing your goals, sometimes it will enable you and others to recognise that you need further support. A positive approach adopted will support yourself to accomplish your goals and network with others.
DEVELOPING CALMING TECHNIQUES: There are many calming techniques that has been proven effect scientifically. An example of two include meditation and breathing exercises. Meditating enables you to create a calm mind and balance your thoughts. It will enable you to reassess your environment and emotions by taking the time to sit in silence and reflect upon your journey. There are many sounds that can be used in the background that can help you to remain concentrated or you can decide to sit in silence. Otherwise, the breathing exercises that can be worked up enables you to create a calm mental environment in a chaotic physical environment. Taking into consideration your feelings during the event you will be able to think about techniques that will help you to challenge the overwhelming thoughts and reactions.
ACTION PLAN FOR SELF IMPROVEMENT: In recognising that overwhelming thoughts and triggers can have a negative impact on yourself you will be able to assess what methods would work for yourself. Through journalling your thoughts you will be able to take into consideration what your feelings are, the consequences of this and how you can better manage your feelings. It will enable you to see how your emotions have an impact upon your actions and everyday activity. Journalling also enables you to understand your triggers because you can directly see the effects and causes. In assessing this over a period of time you will be able to create a pattern of what and how it impacts you.
Always remember that it is a high pressure moment not lifetime.
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