An Anxious Girl In A Scary World

Well, this past week has been so taxing!  Everything was chaotic because of Halloween and now Christmas is right around the corner. There has been so much activity at work that I am just mentally and physically drained. And to top it all off, my district manager was supposed to make an appearance at our store. I was definitely not looking forward to that. I have actually successfully avoided being at work when he comes to visit and I thought my luck was about to run out. But, once again, luck was on my side... Until next week!! But, up until I found out he wasn't coming, I was freaking out! I was coming up with so many scenarios in my head of how I would be a complete and utter failure at my job and I was having complete conversations in my head about how he would tell me I'm doing my job wrong and that he was disappointed in my performance. Ugh! I was losing it! Thankfully, I was able to avoid meeting with him so I worried pretty much for nothing. But isn't that how thing...

Good Morning!  I'm a little late but I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Halloween!  Now, I had hectic few days at work because of Halloween and my goodness I am so happy that it is over. Halloween day was so ridiculously busy that I don't even know how I survived! Like I suspected though, I got super overwhelmed by all the chaos that I had to excuse myself to the restroom so I wouldn't burst into tears in front of customers. After doing some breathing, I collected myself and returned to the store.  I know that sometimes it's hard to not panic when you are in a position like that but if you do start to become too overwhelmed there is absolutely nothing wrong with excusing yourself for a moment to gather yourself. All it takes is just 1 minute to come back strong and conquer the task.  Helpful Hint:  1. Excuse yourself.  2. Go someplace away from the noise / chaos.  3. Take some deep breaths. In through the nose and out through ...

In the past few days I have seen articles and photos circulating Facebook about what it's like living with depression and anxiety. Every time I see one I do a little mental cartwheel because it's so great to someone advocating for us. Yet, it also saddens me that people have to go to such great lengths just to get recognition for our illness because people don't think of that way.  Over 40 million people in the U.S suffer from anxiety and that number is only going to rise with the demands and expectations that society places on us young adults and teens.  Anxiety and depression have no bias. It doesn't matter if you are 16, 21, 40. Anxiety  is not like some virus that can be cured with antibiotics and a few sick days. It takes time, therapy, and medication. And even then, it doesn't go away. It's always with you, you just get better at managing it.  To those of you out there fighting the good fight, I support you. Together, we can change the world. Wit...

Morning my sunshines!  Today is going to be a long day for me! I have a lot going on at work today because we are getting ready for the HOLIDAYS!  This is kind of a stressful time for me because when things get hectic I get overwhelmed really quickly and I'll start to worry excessively, then panic will set in, and then I'll shut down. (And most likely cry. It's what I do when I become overwhelmed). Now, I'm not even 100% sure if it IS because of the anxiety or if I just don't do well under a lot of pressure. But I'm going to say that it probably falls into the anxiety category only because of the "excessive worrying" part. I overthink everything and I begin to catastrophize and then I assume that I will mess everything up horribly.   My therapist used to ask me, "what's the worst that could happen?" In my head I was thinking, "well, I'd probably die." In reality though, the worst that could happen was that I'd do somethi...

Morning Bloggers! So, yesterday I had a bit of a weird/bad day. I felt like I couldn't do anything right at work. I was frazzled, my mind was thinking of everything else in the word besides work. I had to recount someone's change over and over again because I kept miscounting. I was very little help to customers who had questions because my head wasn't on straight. Then, when the store got busy, it felt like there weren't enough of me to compete with the amount of customers. I felt like an idiot yesterday. I apologized to my assistant manager like 100 times over the silliest things; I bumped into her like 10 times, I stood in her way, I even forgot her name once or twice, and I would forget things she'd say just moments after she'd told me. Ugh! On days like those, when it feels like you just aren't there or you make silly mistakes, you start to tell yourself things like, "I'm such an idiot", "I can't do anything", and "I f...

Hey Guys! Just wanted to let you know that I created a new page, "Did You Know?" Find out which celebrity you share a common anxiety disorder with! Learn some new and interesting facts you might not have known before! *Just click the link on the left hand side of the blog* With Love & Support, Anxiety Girl - xoxo

Morning everyone! This morning I thought I would share some techniques with you that I learned while I was going to therapy. I learned about "Mental Mistakes". Mental mistakes are the negative things you tell yourself about an uncomfortable situation that actually hinder you from moving past the issue. They are also known as the "Automatic Thoughts". A lot of times, the mental mistakes that one makes has to do with ones self-esteem. Because a majority of us with Anxiety suffer from a low self-esteem, it makes it that much harder to stay clear minded because we begin to believe the things we are telling our selves. Some of the most common Automatic Thoughts I use are: Catastrophizing: telling yourself that something is SO horrible and we are to feeble to cope Assuming: assuming the worst without testing the evidence Labeling: giving yourself a label as if it describes a person completely Dwelling On The Negative: focusing on the negative aspects (of a situa...