If you have an anxiety disorder and are paranoid, is your anxiety real? Most people with anxiety are intimately familiar with the statement, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you.” It has been said to the people around us to explain that, while we fully acknowledge our anxiety issues, it doesn’t mean that what we are worried about isn’t worthy of anxiety. Anxiety isn’t just a disorder; after all, it serves a purpose. But when you do have an anxiety disorder and are paranoid, how do you decide if your anxiety is real?

You have anxiety. What does anxiety say about you? When we live with anxiety, we worry--often a lot. We can experience great fear, both rational and irrational. Do you ever worry that your anxiety is obvious to the entire world and that the entire world is pointing and judging? That's actually a fairly common concern among people who experience anxiety. Perhaps, though, the worry about what anxiety says about you is a worry you can put to rest. 

Last week’s Anxiety-Schmanxiety blog post was titled, Five Ways to Relieve Anxiety You’ve Never Thought Of, and included unique suggestions like playing with Play-Doh and teaching yourself to juggle. When I originally made the list of unusual ways to relieve anxiety, the list included eight suggestions, not the five that made it to print. Leaving those three suggestions off just didn’t feel right to me, so here are three additional ways to relieve anxiety.

If anxiety were a person, it would likely have narcissistic personality disorder. Anxiety shares many traits with narcissism, making it a card-carrying narcissist. To be sure, both anxiety and a narcissist are difficult to deal with, but they have other characteristics in common as well. Knowing what they are and how to deal with them can help tame narcissistic anxiety. 

It seems like every time anxiety strikes in the presence of others, helpful folks offer the same advice. Take a walk, get some fresh air, or count to 10 are quickly raised as solutions, with the person offering the advice thinking this is the first time we've ever heard that suggestion. Speaking from my own experience, I do the same things over and over. If your methods to relieve anxiety aren't boring you and are working, then there is no need to switch it up. But if you are looking for other ways to relieve anxiety, I offer five ways to relieve anxiety you've (probably) never thought of.

When someone lives with anxiety, it can seem that life is anxiety. It often feels that anxiety is the rule and that there are no exceptions to anxiety. It can be overbearing  and consume our entire being, creating anxious thoughts and anxious emotions and restricting what we do. While this feels very real, the truth is that anxiety is not always as strong as it wants us to believe. There are exceptions to anxiety, times when our anxiety isn't as intense as it usually is. 

There are many facts about anxiety that we can use to our advantage. Anxiety has become a household word in our society, and for good reason; together, the anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental illnesses. Indeed, in the United States alone, approximately 40 million Americans live with an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety facts are important for these millions of us to know.

Americans love to eat. We have foods to celebrate, comfort foods, and even foods for specific events like popcorn at the movies, cake at birthdays, and is there really anyone among us who doesn’t feel pizza just tastes better during our favorite TV shows? Considering our culture of food, is it really a surprise to discover we are eating to relieve anxiety? Have you ever stopped and wondered why we eat to relieve anxiety?

Sometimes, we experience anxiety because of an anxiety trigger.  People can be diagnosed with different types of anxiety disorders, each with specific symptoms and causes. Additionally, people can experience situational anxiety where something in particular causes anxiety symptoms to flare. A student might experience test anxiety severe enough to negatively impact performance or a parent's anxiety might become heightened and nearly debilitating when he/she thinks about the various harm that could come to the child. The anxiety that is triggered by something can be painful, limiting, and downright awful, especially when one can't avoid anxiety triggers.  Equally painful, limiting, and downright awful is when anxiety strikes without a cause whatsoever. 

  You've just had yet another stressful day and you're anxious. Your mind is reeling as it ruminates over the myriad of blunders, problems, and challenging interactions. Anxiety rages, and "what-ifs" and worries are spinning out of control. Your stomach churns; your head pounds. You throw your things onto a table or couch and head right for the kitchen. Do you rummage for healthy food or do you do what a vast majority of us do--seek out the junk food? Is your food making your anxious?