Speaker: 00:03
YNA is a podcast that focuses on mental health and other aspects relating to what goes on inside a person's head. We are by no means professionals in this field and only aim to make these conversations about mental health easier for the listener. Nothing we say or talk about is professional advice unless explicitly mentioned. If you seek professional advice or experience symptoms of an actual mental health disorder, please contact a professional or visit your closest center for behavioral health. You are not alone.
Speaker 2: 00:30
Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to You Are Not Alone, Episode 3, Anxiety. Cheyenne, this is your topic today. Yes, yes, definitely a lot of things uh to go over uh about anxiety. So let's start with the initial question. What does anxiety feel like to you?
Speaker 1: 00:48
Anxiety is like this overwhelming feeling of nervousness, something that's got you over the edge, uh, and something that can in turn kind of affect you physically, you know how you feel throughout the day. Maybe you have so much anxiety, you feel sick, but mostly a mental kind of barrier that stops you from being how you want to be happy uh throughout the day.
Speaker 2: 01:14
Do you have an example of a time where anxiety really took over and like kind of rushed you or pressured you or kind of hurt the art or work that you were creating and you felt like you could blame it on anxiety?
Speaker 1: 01:28
Well, a lot of the things I could circle back on relating to anxiety would be kind of self-doubt, or if you have been in previous situations that kind of give you that PTSD that kind of leads to anxiety uh in the future. Like let's say something bad happened to you in the past. Now, when something similar in your life happens again, then you kind of have this nervousness and you're you're just kind of on the edge of your seat, like, oh, this is gonna happen. And in turn, it gives you negative thoughts, feel kind of uneasy.
Speaker 2: 02:03
When anxiety comes at you in a battle, I would say in your head, do the negative thoughts take over and you feel as like it could ruin an entire day? Or do you battle through the anxiety and the day just gets better, or does anxiety affect you like in a long-term daily deal?
Speaker 1: 02:28
I think that um sometimes it can affect your whole day, uh, especially when you're just starting to realize the anxiety that you have and how to cope with it in a sense. Sometimes it can get out of hand, it can really get away from you. And the more experience that you get with it, then the better you can cope with it and go about your day and kind of be happier in the end. It's not so much a long-term thing, but for me, it's always been short spurts of anxiety, I would say. So it could be triggered by anything, really, by some something bad happening, or maybe I overthink something, and then it kind of triggers this mental effect. I kind of like curl up, not not physically, but mentally, where you try to block everything that's coming in, especially when you're just uh learning how to cope with it. It can definitely have some negative effects and affect you horribly throughout the day. But now I think I'm in a little better place and I know how to cope with it even better than I did before by keeping myself busy, doing all these other things. But yeah, it it really just depends on what happened to you in the past or how you feel about something, if you have a positive view on things, a negative view on things, but really it could happen to anybody at any time.
Speaker 2: 03:53
Right. And I'm the type of person, you know, who explains to someone there's a difference between sadness and depression, and there's a difference between feeling nervous and there's a difference between anxiety. And I felt nervous in a lot of points in my life. However, I don't ever feel like I felt the pressure of anxiety on me, or I'm not sure if I've ever just taken the step forward of being like, maybe you do have anxiety, but with someone that's kind of got the experience in my side, how do I help someone like you in an anxious or anxiety episode? Like when you have an episode.
Speaker 1: 04:29
I think there are there are like two different types of things that you can do to help somebody in that way. And sometimes they need to be left alone. But that's just if it's like a minor case. Because sometimes when you talk to somebody who's going through a sort of episode of anxiety, maybe you could set them off even more by making them continue to think about it. Because once they get that anxiety attack, then they're kind of dead set on the negative feelings getting progressively worse. Uh so it could be a trigger to kind of continue the conversation with them about it. And then on the other hand, if it is a serious thing, uh, sometimes you just need to do at certain activities with the person, like, you know, just go out, go shopping, listen to music with them, in a sense, be there with them and kind of give them their space, but also lead them in the right direction to having a better day. So whether that means hanging out or giving them something like food or taking them out to eat or just just little things. Like when dealing with anxiety, you don't want to do anything too big because really it depends on the person and how they'll react to the anxiety kind of episode that they're going through. Uh, and sometimes it's serious, sometimes it's a little bit less on the serious side. So it's a case-by-case thing, but those are the two main things that you would want to do for somebody going through that.
Speaker 2: 06:03
You know, the thing that I have the hardest thing of doing is understanding when to give that person the right amount of space. How do you determine the right amount of space to give someone without feeling like, oh man, like I'm like on top of this person? Like, how do I give you the space that you need to make sure that we can get you over this?
Speaker 1: 06:29
What you really just need to do is just kind of like throw things out for them. And and what I mean by that is just reach out to them, and sometimes they they won't respond, sometimes they'll say something, but basically what you want to do to help that person uh without being too invasive, reach out to them, be like, hey, you want to get food, or hey, you want to do this, or hey bud, how how you feeling today? And it's not in a sense so overwhelming to that person because really it's it's this whole mental thing, and they're going through what whatever they're going through, and it's it's really up to you to not send them over the edge, but it it's also not in a sense, because anxiety is something that's a little bit uh one of like the less serious topics that we're gonna go through on this podcast, but it is still a touchy mental subject to kind of walk around. So, really is it's one of those things where you you don't have to be so cautious, but also don't try to go into fix-it mode. Sometimes, you know, you just need to say simple things to the person, you know, like, hey, let's go for a drive, instead of like, hey, I think that you should go do this to get your mind off of it. That it's really not that helpful for you. It's just like asking one question or something like that. And sometimes the person won't reach out to you or respond to you if you say these things, so it it really depends. But for you, in your case, I think the best thing would just be to throw out like a reel for them and then you kind of fish them in.
Speaker 2: 08:12
Yeah, slowly. Yeah. How do you I don't want to say treat any anxiety, but how do you deal with it with someone listening that goes through anxiety and doesn't know how to take care of it? Not even take care of it, but try to help them get through harder days.
Speaker 1: 08:33
I think the sooner you find the things you enjoy in life, the more you can kind of go out and do these things, and you'll find that doing what you really like to do, spending time how you want to spend it, is really one of the best things that you can do while having anxiety. And also another thing, too, is surrounding yourself with people who make you happy, people who bring you up, kind of distance yourself from any negative energy, whether it's from a person or it's from an activity that you don't like to do. I am a hundred percent believer in just doing the things that make you happy, and it really improves your mental health, uh, whether regarding anxiety or any other mental disorder for somebody.
Speaker 2: 09:23
Do you feel as if anxiety can ruin some things in life for you? Or do you feel as if you can live with anxiety and it could even better your life in the future?
Speaker 1: 09:37
I feel that if you're somebody who doesn't necessarily know how to deal with anxiety very well, it could definitely make you make bad choices in life. It can have you overthinking to the point where you just kind of sit there and do nothing and in turn almost make no progress in what you try to accomplish in life or throughout your day. So it it definitely can be uh a stopping point in your day, in your year, or you know, it it just really holds you back from that kind of freedom that you should have mentally to think freely, to do things without having this sort of negative light in the back of your mind constantly there, or that voice in your head that's just kind of telling you negative things too. Like, I think that's also a big part of how anxiety can make your day worse than any better.
Speaker 2: 10:35
Right. And you would say that quieting that voice in your head that makes you overthink, gives you those thoughts, forces you into that place really. I think the way that if you can find a way to quiet that voice and to really show passion and to do things that you enjoy to do without opinions and criticism, because I feel that can cause a lot of anxiety as well. Do you feel as if opinions from other people and criticism can truly push you to the point to have those kind of episodes?
Speaker 1: 11:10
Yeah, yeah, I I I definitely think that people surrounding you are just like negative input uh on who you are as a person can definitely lead to you having worse anxiety or anxiety in just in the first place, you know. Maybe it stems from somebody like that. But it again, it's one of those things where you need to know and also kind of find a way to surround yourself with the positive people. Because if you have a negative group of people around you, like whether whether they're just not in a sense vibing with you, or if they're always just saying something terrible or negative, or they're putting you down, you just need to have the heart to just step away from from them and also realize that being with such negative people can really bring you down as a person, like almost down to their level.
Speaker 2: 12:08
Right. Surrounding yourself with good people can change everything because it's what you see, it's what you hear, it's those opinions you take to heart. I take Shine's opinion to heart a lot because we've been friends for so long. Again, but if you're in a group and you can tell that maybe the vibes are a little off, or you can tell that that person is usually when you when you come out of that situation with that person or out of hanging out with that person, you feel a little bit more negative than usual. And you shouldn't feel that around your friends. I think you should be able to free feel free, feel happy, and allow positivity to to really grow in friendships. Because again, it's all about the people you surround yourself with. So if you're surrounding yourself with people that are very negative and very downful, you're gonna have those kind of negative experiences.
Speaker 1: 13:02
It it'll definitely lead to these episodes of anxiety because at some point, like for an example, you you'll get to hanging out with these groups of people, and in a sense, you'll be nervous, you'll have this kind of anxiety, like, oh, are they gonna say something about this? Are they gonna make fun of this, or are they gonna kind of put me down in a way? Whereas if you surround yourself with good people, you just kind of think of the good times that you've previously had with them, or you guys plan like a little field trip to go somewhere, then that then that's what you're thinking about. Right. Not not being on the other end of that scale with things that kind of weigh you down and really bring your mood down throughout the day.
Speaker 2: 13:49
Stay positive, everybody. You're going through a battle that nobody knows about. You are not alone. Please, please, please, please take the time to focus on your mental health, focusing on bettering yourself, and we will catch you in our next episode.
Speaker 1: 14:07
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: 14:08
How does that sound, Shannon?
Speaker 1: 14:09
Sounds great. Thanks everybody for listening and tune in for our next episode. Awesome. Talk to you guys soon.