Dealing with Stress & Anxiety. What to do, What not to Do

How people cope with stress & anxiety will determine whether or not they become crippled by their stress & anxiety or find relief from stress & anxiety.

The wrong way to handle stress & anxiety:

1. Do nothing and allow yourself to wallow in it.

2. Use drugs and alcohol as a crutch.

Both these options are terrible. 

I've written before that some philosophers of previous generations believed that anxiety was a result of inaction. You can agree or disagree, but, sitting around and not taking any action – including avoiding taking action about what's causing you stress & anxiety – is a guaranteed way to make that stress & anxiety worse. You must do stuff. 

Drugs and alcohol are the absolute worst. Not just in this scenario, but in general. They cause so many issues and while you think that getting high or getting drunk (or, as you may tell yourself, "I'm not getting drunk I'm just enjoying a drink") will relax you, they're actually just poisoning your brain and your body and making the stress & anxiety 10 times worse. I've said it before and I'll say it again: drinking alcohol is a mainstream habit that literally everyone would be better off without. But, drinking alcohol is especially dangerous for people that are dealing with stress & anxiety. Just don't do it, or at least don't do it while anxious or during stressful times. It only makes things worse, it makes the brain dumb, and it makes the body fat. That sounds dramatic, but it's true. I challenge many of my clients to eliminate alcohol for 1 month and they consistently report back that they feel more energetic, alert, and lose weight without changing anything else. And that's just what to expect during 30 days without drugs or alcohol. The body and mind do better without 'em.

Here's the correct way to handle stress & anxiety:

1. Get outside AND do something active outside. Just getting outside and being inactive is not nearly as effective, but it's better than stewing around inside and also being active.

2. Go for more walks. This could be lumped in to the above option, but walking, specifically, deserves its own number.

3. Exercise. Study after study supports the same conclusion: "exercise is good for you." Quit finding excuses. Instead, find 20-30 minutes to exercise. Many-a-depressed, recently heartbroken, 20 year old have found exercise and pumping up the muscles silences the angry and sad voices in their heads. Those activities help all stressful situations.

4. Hang out with good people and socialize, but do so in a way that doesn't encourage or rely on the use of drugs or alcohol. If this sounds challenging, you need to either reconsider the people you surround yourself with or consider whether you're capable of being someone that leads by example or follows the crowd of sad, out of shape "normies."

Choose wisely, friends.