So you’ve tried backing off on your caffeine intake, and you’ve even tried drinking green tea and meditating, but each day still feels like you’re running through a gauntlet of anxiety. This could mean only two things: the first is that you have completely lost your mind, and the second is that you have not yet identified the sources of your anxiety triggers. Assuming the case is the latter, here are a few of the most common sources of anxiety that go overlooked.
1. Your attitude
The most easily identifiable factor that could be affecting your anxiety levels is your mindset, or more specifically, your attitude. Your attitude can profoundly affect the way you perceive things that happen to you throughout the day, consequently changing the way you react to them. For instance, a pessimistic person would be much more likely to interpret things as being negative, which would increase the chance of their anxiety being exacerbated. Neglecting to change your attitude will not only make you more prone to anxiety, but will put you at an increased risk of panic attacks since you will most likely react to anxiety with even more anxiety and negativity.
2. Your religion
I’m not saying to spend your Friday nights from now on burning down churches and writing prayers to Satan in blood on your walls, but to at least re-assess your beliefs and ask yourself if you truly believe in what your religion says will happen to you for certain transgressions (for example, anxiety about being punished for sinning). Try to work on finding a balance between your spirituality and your religion, and hopefully you’ll be able to come to terms with lingering issues of guilt, reducing the likelihood of certain thoughts or actions triggering your anxiety. Next time you do something that your priest would frown upon, take the rational approach and ask yourself, “Do I really believe I’m going to burn in hell for doing this?”
3. Facebook
Believe it or not, social networking sites can exacerbate your anxiety. A study was recently conducted on participants who have been clinically diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder, and the results suggest that although internet use and social networking sites initially seemed to be reducing anxiety (due to the subjects having a wider network of social support as well as access to online resources for support), the amount of anxiety that they experienced in real life social situations turned out to be higher. Basically, spending more time on facebook will increase your social connections online while ironically ruining the ones in real life.
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