5 Daily Habits That Might Be Making Your Anxiety Worse Not Better
Anxiety is something the best of us experience. Unfortunately it is becoming an increasingly common mental disorder.
The level of anxiety experienced differs from person to person. Some people suffer from crippling anxiety that effects their day-to-day living, while others find it is something that creeps in to their life from time to time. Either way it is a nasty thing to experience.
Events such as the recent pandemic have caused a surge in anxiety among people. While it is a difficult disorder to fully comprehend, there are certain daily habits that actually can be making your anxiety worse.
We are detailing 5 of them and some of them might surprise you! That second coffee you love to have? Turns out it mightn’t love you quite as much!
Now everyone is different, so there is no sure way of saying if these habits are having a definite impact on your own anxiety but research has found they can increase anxiety levels in those who suffer from the disorder.
Have a read of the list below and maybe consider adapting one or two things in your day to day living if you are looking for ways to ease your anxiety!
Constantly scrolling through social media
While we love TikTok and Instagram and convinced they are sources of joy for us, they actually can have a really negative impact on your mental health, in particular anxiety.
Spending a large amount of time on social media stops you from being fully present and this prevents you from being mindful of who you are. Social Media time is not real time. I’m sure we can all agree that 20 minutes of TikTok feels like 3. This can increase anxiety as it can prevent you from getting the things you needed to get done, done, leading to an increase in stress levels.
On top of all that, social media can lead to anxiety about our own accomplishments in life as it causes us to compare ourselves to others and their achievements. Regardless of the fact the social media is a highlight reel and depicts little truth about people’s actual life.
Drinking too much caffeine
Caffeine has been proven to have negative effects on anxiety. Caffeine can make you feel jittery and on edge. If you already suffer from anxiety, this is the last thing you need to be adding in to the mix.
While caffeine can be great for giving you energy and helping you think better, too much can actually work against you and slow progression.
Coffee is such a huge part of our lives; it might be hard to cut it out, but for the sake of your mental health it might be worth trying decaf or even tea instead of that second or third coffee during the day!
Spending too much time alone
While it is good to spend time alone and learn to enjoy your own company. Spending too much time alone can cause a lot of anxiety sufferers to overthink and feed in to their anxiety.
As well, too much time alone can lead to you getting used to a comfort zone which the longer you stay in can be harder to leave. When it does come time to socialise it can be more difficult to motivate yourself to as your anxiety will be worse.
Try find a balance between making time for yourself and going our and socialising.
Being too busy
On the other hand, being too busy and not giving yourself any time for yourself can lead to increased levels of anxiety.
Being busy all the time can actually become a way of avoiding your anxiety as you are distracting yourself, rather than dealing with the matter at hand. While this may work in the short term, it does catch up to you eventually. The pandemic is the perfect example of this.
No need to worry though, balance is key in this situation. Try to block off a few hours a week just for yourself to gather your thoughts and check in with how you are feeling.
Poor sleep schedule
Some people are early birds and some people are night owls. What matters is if you are getting your 8 hours or not. Too little or too much sleep can wreak havoc on your anxiety levels.
A poor sleep schedule can make it hard to get to sleep which can lead to overthinking in to the early hours of the morning. As well if you aren’t getting the recommend hours of sleep it can caused heightened levels of anxiety the next day.
It might take a bit of getting used to but try some of these tricks to help you get a better night’s sleep!
Anxiety effects everyone differently. If you are experiencing higher than normal levels of anxiety at the moment, maybe try adjusting some of the areas mentioned above.
We’ll get through it together!