Adventures with anxiety: Take time to recover
Anyone who has anxiety will know that it is absolutely exhausting. Feeling on edge, worried and apprehensive saps your energy quicker than a blast of cardio. Understanding that you will need time to recover after you’ve had a bout of anxiety is the start of really getting to know your own mental health. Taking the time that your body and mind needs after a spell of anxiety is as important as rest and recovery after a physical exertion such as a run and, just like they say in the physical sense, is an important part of “training”.
The recovery period that you need will vary massively depending on how anxiety has affected you recently, how tired you may be, any other life factors or stresses such as work or family, your diet and – for women – whether you are on your period. All of these things can play havoc with your hormone levels and your ability to cope in certain situations. If you’ve been through a huge event like an anxiety or panic attack that has really knocked your confidence your recovery time is likely to be longer than someone who has experienced a short burst of anxious energy.
What to do to “recover”
Recovery is different for everyone. Some people will need to rest or sleep for a long period of time to reset their equilibrium. Others may feel the need to read, watch TV or exercise – distracting their mind for a while. Spending time with friends and family can really help during this period, especially if you can talk openly to them about your experiences and needs, and as long as they will provide you with comfort, not judgement.
It would be wise during this time to honour your body and mind – nourish yourself with good quality healthy foods, take time to stretch and do some gentle yoga, journal and do some meditation, have a bath or pamper yourself in some other way. Reacquainting with yourself in these fundamental and basic ways are vital to grounding back in.
Self soothe but don’t wallow
During this recovery time, you will need to learn to self soothe. This means looking after yourself and prioritising your needs without relying on others to do it for you. If you are in a relationship then it is important that you communicate to your partner what you are doing and why so that they don’t feel pushed away.
Self-soothing is a skill that will serve you well throughout your life once you’ve learnt how to do it effectively. It is a way to regulate your emotions and manage any distress that you have felt, from anxiety or any other experiences. The act of calming your nervous system in this way is something that you can take with you anywhere and can use when anxiety hits you out of the blue. You can try listening to music, breathing techniques, low lighting, aromatherapy, incense/candles, positive self-talk, physical contact with others or simply allowing yourself to have a good cry.
Wallowing in your emotions is quite different to self-soothing. Wallowing is the act of allowing yourself to linger in certain emotions or a state of comfort or relaxation in an effort to hide from the world and your place in it. The emotions may be negative, and you may find yourself over-thinking those things that have already passed – words, actions, situations. Self soothing, however, is the act of attempting to understand your emotions in an enlightened way.
It's best to move past the wallowing stage – don’t get me wrong, you are entitled to allow yourself to do what feels best for you in the moment, but once you feel you’ve sufficiently sat with an emotion, do not linger there – and get to the self-soothing as quickly as you can to improve your resilience to anxiety.
The more frequently that you try out techniques and decide which ones work best for you, the quicker you will be able to defer to them as a recovery kit.
And this recovery kit is exactly what’s going to help you acknowledge and move past any bouts of anxiety that crop up for you.