Anxiety is defined as A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. You’re not alone if you suffer from anxiety. 1 in 13 globally suffers from anxiety. The WHO (World Health Organization) reports that anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide.
Does anxiety creep into your life and interrupt your daily routine? Do you rearrange schedules and commitments due to anxiety? Do you find yourself stressing over upcoming events and things you have no control over? Do you have a difficult time sleeping at night because your worried?
My personal experience with anxiety seems to creep up on me when we plan a road trip. Any lengthy amount of time in a car is difficult for me, especially in stop and go traffic. We recently traveled on a nine-hour trip one way to visit with our son in North Carolina. To make the trip more bearable for me and my husband, who ends up driving most of the trip, we split the eight-hour drive to our destination by getting four hours behind us the afternoon we leave, and the remaining five hours the following day. On our way home we planned to make the entire trip in one day. We left on Sunday morning to return home because traffic would be lighter, and it would be less stressful on me. Making plans like this has become a normal part of our preparations when taking a trip.
When we are in heavy traffic or caught in stop and go traffic, I experience a few physical reactions to my stress. My palms sweat, my heart races, I constantly look in the rear-view mirror to make sure everyone is stopping. I can be short tempered and not much fun to be around when I am in these situations. I also recognize that if I am stressed over work, children, schedules, etc. my anxiety increases when I am put into these trigger situations.
Stress and anxiety controls many of us, whether we recognize it or not. I would like to start a conversation about the stress in your life, and the anxiety that you may experience daily. How often do you deal with anxiety, and the symptoms that you experience when experiencing your anxiety?
Are you able to function throughout the day with anxiety? What coping skills have you learned so that your able to function with the anxiety? For example, for me driving on days when traffic is less congested, helps to reduce my anxiety. Can you identify what increases your anxiety? I know stop and go traffic is a trigger for me because we have been rear ended in several car accidents.
What would you like to learn from others that also experience anxiety?
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