I’ve always been anxious about money. I suppose that doesn’t make me odd – it puts me in the mainstream. What does make me odd is that I’m anxious about money when there is absolutely no reason for me to be, and I fear it’s actively been detrimental to my wellbeing.

My anxiety has caused me to take more time off work, and I couldn’t be happier. This is a refreshing change. Too often, this blog has become a catalog of instances when anxiety leads to hardship. Perhaps this is to be expected. But anxiety can, counterintuitive as it may seem, lead to valuable insights not often shared by those without it, as is the case here when I took some time off of work to handle my anxiety.

Suicidal thoughts have a strong relationship with anxiety. Understanding the nuances of this relationship can help save lives that might otherwise be tragically lost. September is Suicide Prevention Month because the more we know and understand, the more equipped we all are to talk to each other about suicide. The more we talk--reach out and connect--the easier it will be to give and receive help, hope, new perspectives, and life. This look at suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and relief can help you understand what you are experiencing if you're having suicidal thoughts and it can help you recognize suicidal ideation in someone you care about. 

I’ve consigned myself to the fact that my anxiety will never go away. Part of it may be due to genetics –- another part may be due to how my brain is wired -– but another part, and one that we need to talk about more often, is that American society itself creates anxiety symptoms.

Accepting my functional limitations of anxiety is challenging. In a previous post, I challenged readers to participate in a simple exercise: if someone tells you they have anxiety, imagine they’ve lost a leg. I introduced this scenario specifically for the benefit of those without anxiety – if they can frame mental health issues in terms of physical ailments, then perhaps they can learn to become more empathetic to the mentally ill. I want to reintroduce that exercise, but this time direct it towards people with anxiety, as I think it can be useful in dealing with a serious problem: accepting your functional limitations with anxiety.

Social media anxiety is real. Claims of social media being bad for us have long passed into common parlance, but as it turns out, such claims actually have a basis in fact. Research proves that heavy social media usage can wreak havoc on one’s mental health – not only is it linked to anxiety, but also depression, loneliness, paranoia, and even attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For those of us already prone to anxiety, such demands we take an active role in regulating our social media usage. Though seemingly difficult, here are some ways to avoid social media anxiety.

Is summer anxiety a real thing? The effects of winter weather on mental health have been researched, and it's widely accepted that winter can cause seasonal affective disorder or seasonal depression. But how about the summer? Can the sunny, cheery season negatively impact mental health and anxiety? Countless online conversations indicate that summer anxiety is, indeed, real and can be disruptive to wellbeing. Knowing how summer weather can worsen anxiety will help you reduce and even prevent summer anxiety flare-ups. 

The mean world syndrome is real and it's nurturing your fear and anxiety. Mean world syndrome is an apt term, perfectly describing what it is. It refers to the belief that the world itself is a mean place. Although it's called a syndrome, it's not a diagnosis; instead, it refers to a phenomenon that can cause tremendous fear and anxiety. Where does this belief in a mean world come from?

It's natural to seek the causes of anxiety. Anxiety is miserable--life-limiting and ruthless. When we feel like a prisoner in our own mind, of course, we want to know why. How did we become trapped like this? What caused this plight? Sometimes, knowing the causes of anxiety can help lead to a solution to beat anxiety. Think of food: if we know something causes us to become violently ill, we won't eat it. Likewise, if we knew what caused our anxiety, we could take action to do other things instead. In the spirit of addressing the causes of anxiety to overcome our worries, fears, and avoidance, here are 10 primary causes of anxiety.