Month: December 2020

We can get reallyyy existential with our thoughts sometimes. We might think: What is my purpose? Does my life have meaning?! The world is sooo big, and I’m so small… With all of the news stories, world events and natural disasters we’re exposed to on a regular basis, all of our day to day worries can feel so unimportant. Heck, even looking up at the stars and remembering that we’re just one piece of a whole universe can be, well, pretty mind boggling! Feeling insignificant can be a weird, scary thing to experience.

Don’t worry, you’re not the first person in the whole world to feel this way. With 7.5 billion people on this planet, most thoughts you have are probably not original in any way, shape or form. No? Not helping? Sorry… Anyway, let’s talk about feeling insignificant and how you can get through this significantly uncomfortable emotion!

A Deeper Look at Feeling Insignificant

What does it mean to feel insignificant? Let’s see… Dictionary.com has a few definitions of insignificant, including: “adj. too small to be important; of no consequence, influence, or distinction; without weight of character; meaningless.” Ouch! Who wants to feel like they’re ‘too small to be important’ or ‘meaningless’? It’s safe to say no one, but feeling like this isn’t your fault. You’re human, after all!

We might feel insignificant for lots of different reasons. For one, we don’t really talk about this feeling with other people. Even though everyone struggles with their purpose now and then, we tend to keep it to ourselves and try to navigate this feeling on our own. Maybe we’re afraid of sounding weird, or admitting that we don’t always know what we’re doing. And that can be really isolating!

For most people, we place all of our life’s purpose into milestones. It usually goes something like this: graduate college, settle into a career, get married and start a family. Sound familiar? Yeah, that’s how society tells us our lives are supposed to go. Like we’re following a recipe or something. But life is not like baking a cake! It’s okay to throw in different ingredients into the mix. Are we making sense here? Or just making you hungry?

How Feeling Insignificant Shows Up Mentally

Feeling insignificant can obviously mess with your head, big time. Here’s a few mental signs of feeling insignificant that you might be experiencing:

– Low self-esteem

– Fear of failure

– Feelings of guilt or worthlessness

– Loss of interest in things you usually enjoy

– Lack of motivation

When we feel insignificant, we can lose sight of what matters. We forget to appreciate the little things and be present in the moment. It’s okay to get off track sometimes, but it’s nice to remind yourself of all the things you DO have and show gratitude. Worry less about what your purpose is and instead, live in the now.

How Feeling Insignificant Shows Up Physically

Feelings don’t just exist in our heads and hearts; they show up in our bodies as well. Feeling insignificant can show up in a variety of ways but here are the most common ones you’ll see:

– Heavy, dull pain in the body

– Panic attacks

– Difficulty sleeping

– Becoming lethargic

– Restlessness

In more extreme cases, feeling insignificant can be a symptom of anxiety or depression. If this feeling persists, or you feel the urge to harm yourself or engage in other harmful behaviour like abusing substances to cope, please seek the help of a mental health professional.

5 Ways to Cope with Feeling Insignificant

You didn’t think we were gonna leave you to fend for yourself during an existential crisis, did you? Who do you think we are?! We’ve got you covered. Here are some expert coping strategies you can try on for size whenever you feel insignificant:

1. Engage in compassionate self talk

When you feel insignificant or like your existence is irrelevant, pause. Redirect your self talk and remind yourself that you DO matter. Say it out loud: I might only be one person out of 7.5 billion, but I matter. My existence matters. I have people who care about me. I care about me. 

2. Reach out to a support person or connect with a friend

You might feel small, but you don’t have to be alone. Reach out to someone you can trust to be there for you. It can be really helpful to confide in them and get all of these wild feelings off your chest! We all deserve to have our feelings validated. And your loved ones will remind you how significant you are to them, too!

3. Give yourself a pep talk or utilize a helpful statement

It can be hard to get through the day when you feel like you have no purpose in the world, huh? Sometimes, we gotta give ourselves a little pep talk in order to turn those negative thoughts around. I feel insignificant right now, but I can get through this! I’m not the only person who has felt this way, and I won’t be the last. Everything is gonna be okay!

4. Comfort yourself like a friend

If you don’t have anyone who can be there for you at this moment, that’s okay. You can be there for yourself! Think about how you would want a loved one to comfort you in this moment. Give yourself a pat on the back, treat yourself to some junk food, cuddle up on the couch with a warm, fuzzy blanket and binge your favourite show on Netflix. Be the friend you need right now!

5. Journal

This isn’t like homework, we promise. Write down exactly how you’re feeling, even the dark and twisty thoughts you don’t wanna confront. That way, you can gain the clarity to reframe and counter those negative thoughts. Jot down all of the things you love about your life to remind yourself how much meaning it really does have! You’ll probably fill pages and pages, trust us.

That’s all for now! Remember, your existence is important. You matter. Even if you feel insignificant sometimes, you have a whole team at DiveThru rooting for you!

If you’re anything like us, you probably have some sort of mental health struggle. Anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, PTSD, or anything and everything else under the sun! These likely have caused you some kind of emotional turmoil and seriously impacted how you live your life and view yourself. Ya, us too! But in this moment, you feel none of that. You’re feeling peaceful.

You accept every part of your mental and physical self, and your life. There is no struggle inside of you. No war. Nothing! Just calm, love, and acceptance.

That’s the kind of state that feels like pure contentment and bliss. Nothing can get to you. Why? Because right now, you feel peaceful. 

A Deeper Look at Feeling Peaceful

Peacefulness is something that a lot of us probably strive towards achieving. Who wouldn’t want to feel at peace? It’s calming, welcoming, loving… all the good vibes happen when you feel at peace. It sounds a bit cliché and overdone as a topic, but it’s actually a very important and lovely emotion. Some might scoff at the idea of finding peace, but let’s get real, we all really want to feel that way within ourselves and our lives.

This feeling can look different for everyone. It could come after meditating, listening to chill music, or spending an evening cuddling with your partner or pet. Some people find peace in the woods while hiking, some find it in their homes, or some find it in places of gathering. 

Some might think that feeling peaceful means that there is nothing wrong in your life. There are no problems, there are no struggles to face. But that’s almost impossible! Everyone has some kind of challenge they have to face. When you feel peaceful, you accept the challenges and face them with a newfound resilience. 

Generally, people think that peacefulness comes from a lack of conflict – this is just how peace shows up in society. Feeling peace within yourself is totally different! There can still be conflict outside of us or unrest in our lives, but there is still an opportunity for us to feel peaceful.

When you’re at peace, you feel calm, safe, and relaxed. Even if there is stress, you are protected from it by this sense of security and safety that brings about stillness. Regardless of the challenges you’re facing, you still have an outlook on life that allows you to see opportunity and abundance around you.

Feeling at peace creates stability within your life in areas like relationships, work, family, and friendships. It adds a level of stability to our lives that soooo many of us need.

How Feeling Peaceful Shows Up Mentally

Our minds are full of stuff! Stuff that causes us happiness, stuff that causes us turmoil, stuff that causes us anxiety, stuff that brings us joy, anger, every emotion! Peace can accompany allll of that shit when you accept it. When we feel at peace within ourselves, we are then able to experience so many more positive emotions! 

This is because peace impacts other aspects of our lives, which then allows us to experience a wide range of positivity and loveliness. This might not be true for everyone, but when a person is at peace, they feel like they’re moving through life more mindfully and with more intent than before. Each action is felt, each emotion is felt, and gratitude naturally starts to slip in. Feeling peaceful can show up as acceptance, happiness, and mindfulness. 

How Peacefulness Shows Up Physically

When we are at peace, we aren’t clenching our jaws, our shoulders are down and away from our ears, and we are relaxed. There is no pressure for us to look or be one way because we are truly relaxeddddd. We don’t have to look like a pile of jelly, but we can be relaxed enough where holding ourselves doesn’t hurt or strain. 

When we are at peace, there is no rush to go anywhere. We revel in the small moments like driving our cars, eating really yummy ice cream, or the beautiful moment of cuddling with our animals. To quote the wise Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.” 

5 Ways to Find Peacefulness

If you’re having a hard time finding peacefulness in your life, try these tips to bring a little pocket of serenity into your life:

 1. Journaling 

If you’re having a lot of negative thoughts running through your head, try and journal what you’re feeling and thinking at that moment. Then try to reframe and counter the negative thoughts that you have written down.

2. Practice deep breathing

Deep breathing is a great way to calm the nervous system! It brings people such a lovely sense of calmness and tranquillity because of its relaxing effect on the body. Deep breathing is actually a fantastic thing to pair with meditation too if you want to go the extra peaceful mile!

3. Engage in something creative

This can be anything that you enjoy! Art, calligraphy, photography, painting, drawing, sketching, writing, scrapbooking, poetry, blog writing, singing, playing an instrument, crocheting, knitting, ANYTHING! They help relax your mind and bring you joy in ways that you normally don’t experience in your every day.

4. Practice meditation

Meditation can be a fantastic way to create peace and tranquillity in your life. It helps create mindfulness and forces you to sloooowww dowwwn for just a few minutes. If you are new to meditating, don’t dive head first into an hour-long meditation. Try 5 or 10 minutes at first and work your way up!

5. Practice gratitude

You can try gratitude journaling to get you started on this path. Being grateful for what you have can bring about so much happiness! You’ll start to love and appreciate everything around you–every small moment, and every tiny detail of your life.

We are so glad that you are feeling peaceful right now, in this moment! We certainly are after writing this! It’s a lovely and warm space to sit in. Now, we’re going to go and ride this vibe and meditate. Byyyyeee!

When you’re feeling worthless, you might feel like you don’t deserve love…  Like something is wrong with you…  Like you have no purpose…  Or like you add no value to the lives of anyone around you… Like you’re not enough… Like you’re just not. worth. it.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up. First of all, we’re here to tell you that none of that is true. AT ALL. And if you feel like you’re the only one who has ever felt this way, we have some news for you: you’re not! It’s common to have feelings of worthlessness at some point.

We face so much pressure to determine what our value is in life thanks to societal norms, media, yada yada. It’s super common to place all of our self worth into things like our job title, how we look, who we hang out with, our lifestyles and how we compare to other people. Over time, the pressure to understand our value and where it comes from can really weigh on us and become overwhelming AF. But we’re here to tell you that you DO have value, always. And we’re gonna help you overcome this feeling, ‘cause guess what?! You are 100% worth it!

A Deeper Look at Feeling Worthless

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of worthless (adj.) is: “without worth; of no use, importance, or value; good-for-nothing.” Wowww. With this definition in mind, would you ever want one of your loved ones to think of themselves as worthless? It’s safe to say the answer is probably: HELL NO. Buuut we do tend to be harder on ourselves than we are with the people we care about. At times, we can be sooo critical of ourselves, struggle with low self-esteem, and question our value as a person. And obviously, feeling worthless just makes us really fucking sad. 

Why do we feel worthless sometimes? Wellll, pretty much whenever we’re faced with something that makes us question our own self-worth. Maybe you feel worthless after losing your job. It could be that you’ve been dumped or rejected by someone. Or maybe you grew up with an abusive or neglectful parent. There could be a past trauma that you’ve struggled to overcome. So many things can affect how we feel about ourselves, but it’s important to remember that no matter what, you. still. matter!

Look, we know overcoming this feeling is easier said than done. When we feel worthless, it’s hard to see the positives in life or recognize the value we have. We don’t treat ourselves with the self love and respect that we truly deserve. Again: don’t be hard on yourself. We all deal with this feeling from time to time, and it’s totally possible to get through it!

How Feeling Worthless Shows Up Mentally

Feeling worthless can defs impact our mental wellbeing in negative ways (well, duh). It can cause us to have nasty thoughts about ourselves, like how we’re not good enough or that we have no purpose in life. We might have less interest in life altogether, because feeling worthless makes us think that nothing we do matters. Our motivation might seriously be lacking, too.

It’s also common to withdraw socially or develop social anxiety when we’re feeling worthless. We might start to blow off plans with friends, avoid family gatherings, or seclude ourselves at work. And it’s not just because we want some alone time. The thought of being around other people and having them potentially judge us (or think any of the negative thoughts we have about ourselves) might be too much to handle.

When we feel worthless, our thoughts can turn pretty dark. If you ever experience suicidal thoughts, you should seek professional help. Feeling worthless can be a symptom of depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions. And you don’t need to face that alone!

How Feeling Worthless Shows Up Physically

Feeling worthless can show in other ways, too. Physically, you might feel a heavy, dull pain in your body. You might feel tired or lethargic all of the time, and deal with constant headaches. Maybe you don’t feel like taking care of yourself, like making sure you have something to eat or showering. It might seem pointless, or you just don’t have the energy or motivation.

5 Ways to Cope with Feeling Worthless

So when you feel worthless, how do you overcome it?! Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Here’s some ways you can cope with feeling worthless!

1. Reach out for support

Your loved ones are there for a reason! When you need to talk through how you’re feeling, lean on the people you trust. Sometimes just having someone to listen to us and validate how we’re feeling makes all the difference.

2. Comfort yourself like a friend

If you don’t have someone around who can be there for you right now, be there for yourself as best as you can. Remind yourself that everything will be okay, and that this feeling is temporary.

3. Engage in something soothing and comforting

Spend time with your pet by cuddling them or taking them on a walk. Touch something comforting like your fave cozy blanket. Brew some tea or your drink of choice. Do whatever makes you feel calm and safe!

4. Find a positive distraction

Pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read for a while now. Watch an episode of a show that always makes you laugh. Clean out your closet. Listen to a podcast. Finding something that can take your mind off things can be so helpful!

5. Practice meditation

Meditation is a method that’s been used to relieve stress and improve mental clarity since, like… forever. This practice allows us to slowww down and shift our mindset. If you’re not sure how to meditate, start out with a guided practice. Hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere!

We hope you find these tips helpful and that you feel a little bit less alone. It’s not always easy to overcome feeling worthless. But we know you can do it! And remember: you are 100% worth it.

When we’re feeling inferior, it’s usually a result of comparing ourselves to other people and feeling like we don’t measure up. And let’s be real, it happens all. the. damn. time. You could be scrolling through your Instagram feed, notice a new picture of someone you follow and think: Wow, how do they always look so perfect?! No amount of filters will make me look like that! Or maybe you show up to a party and you quickly realize you’re in a room full of accomplished people with exciting lives, and the thought of introducing yourself sends you into a panic. Suddenly, you’re glancing at the door and wondering what your best escape plan is. You could be meeting your partner’s family for the first time and you’re worried that you won’t fit in, or that they’ll think you’re not good enough. You might feel easily intimidated by other people and constantly obsess over what they think of you, even though it’s beyond your control.

Feeling inferior messes with your head, big time. It affects our self worth and makes us question our abilities. Not to mention, it can make us feel really alone. But we’re here to tell you that’s not the case! You’re not the only one who feels inferior now and then, and we’re here to help you work through this emotion.

A Deeper Look at Feeling Inferior

What does it mean to feel inferior? Well, Dictionary.com has a few definitions. The one that relates closest to feeling inferior includes: “adj. less important, valuable, or worthy.” Yeppp, they hit the nail on the head, wouldn’t ya say?

We can feel inferior for lots of reasons. Maybe a coworker gets the promotion you really wanted, and you start to question your skills and abilities. Or when someone breaks up with you, it can make you wonder why you weren’t good enough. You might compare yourself to a sibling who seems to get all of the praise from your parents, and you feel like your achievements aren’t as important. But is it because we’re ACTUALLY inferior, or is this just what we tell ourselves as a sort of sick punishment for not meeting our own expectations?

You’ve probably heard of a superiority complex before, where people think they’re better than everyone else. But did you know there’s also an inferiority complex? It’s true! When we have chronic low self-esteem, we can develop an inferiority complex where you feel that all of your negative self-talk and self doubt is totally justifiable. Even at your lowest point, this complex causes you to pick yourself apart and obsess over any shortcomings. Yeahhh, not the best complex to have!

When we feel inferior, sometimes we experience something called a self-fulfilling prophecy. You critique yourself to the point where you actually expect to fail, which only leads to more disappointment. It becomes a vicious cycle that’s hard to break!

Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Remember this quote whenever you feel inferior to help reframe your mindset. You get to be in control here, no one else! Isn’t that empowering?!

How Feeling Inferior Shows Up Mentally

Feeling inferior can take a toll on your mental wellbeing. Here’s a few signs you might notice mentally as you’re going through this emotion:

– Low self-esteem

– Feeling insecure, incomplete, unworthy

– Comparing yourself to others

– Easily hostile, irritable, frustrated

– Feeling highly competitive

– Difficulty accepting mistakes or failure

– Perfectionism and sensitivity to criticism

This feeling can come and go. It’s something we all experience from time to time, especially if we’re in a new group of people or a situation that’s unfamiliar to us. Usually, it passes as soon as we feel more comfortable or learn ways to cope with our feelings of inferiority. But if you’re struggling to get through these feelings on your own, getting help from a mental health professional can be really useful! We don’t want these negative feelings to hold you back or affect your quality of life long-term.

How Feeling Inferior Shows Up Physically

Just like it affects your mental health, feeling inferior can show physical symptoms, too. Here are some ways you might experience:

– Withdrawing socially

– Unable to complete tasks

– Difficulty sleeping/insomnia

Feeling inferior might make us more closed off, which only ends up in us isolating even more. We might have a hard time getting through our regular routine but we won’t ask for help from others. The stress and overwhelming feelings can also lead to a weakened immune system, chest pain and muscle tension. If these symptoms persist and are difficult to manage, they could be a sign of anxiety, depression or other mental health disorders. We recommend seeking the help of a mental health professional if your daily life becomes impacted. 

5 Ways to Cope with Feeling Inferior

Don’t worry! We have some coping strategies for you that will help you work through your feelings. Try ‘em out and see for yourself!

1. Engage in compassionate self talk

When we feel inferior, we tend to pick ourselves apart and be really hard on ourselves. Don’t fall into the trap of being your own worst critic! Instead, build your self confidence and self esteem by saying some positive things to yourself which resonate with you: I’m feeling inferior right now, but I know my worth. I’m not defined by my credentials, my possessions or my appearance. I am whole.

2. Reach out for support or connect with a friend

Just like the Beatles song goes: I get by with a little help from my friends! Reach out to someone you can trust and who will be there for you. You might feel inferior now, but it doesn’t mean you have to navigate it alone! Get all of those negative feelings off your chest. Having someone there to validate our feelings can be so helpful!

3. Give yourself a pep talk and utilize a helpful statement

Comparing ourselves to other people just brings down our mood and makes us feel like garbage. Sometimes, we gotta give ourselves a little pep talk in order to turn those negative thoughts around. I feel inferior right now, but I can get through this! I’m not the only person who has felt this way, and I won’t be the last. Everything is gonna be okay!

4. Comfort yourself like a friend

If you don’t have anyone who can be there for you at this moment, that’s okay. You can be there for yourself! Think about how you would want a loved one to comfort you in this moment. Give yourself a pat on the back, treat yourself to some junk food, cuddle up on the couch with a warm, fuzzy blanket and binge your favourite show on Netflix. Be the friend you need right now!

5. Journal

This isn’t like homework, we promise. Write down exactly how you’re feeling, even the dark and twisty thoughts you don’t wanna confront. That way, you can gain the clarity to reframe and counter those negative thoughts. Try jotting down all the things you like about yourself, or what sets you apart from others (in a good way). You’ll probably fill pages and pages, trust us.

Well, there you have it. We hope this helps you work through feeling inferior and reminds you that you’re not alone! ‘Cause we think you’re pretty awesome as you are.

Everyone feels sad sometimes. But it’s important to distinguish feeling sad and feeling depressed, ‘cause there’s a key difference! When we have a bad day or feel sad, we might go home and have a much-needed pity party with some ice cream and trashy reality TV. Then, we get over it. The sad feeling eventually passes. Depression isn’t like that. It just keeps dragging on… and on… and on and you wonder if it will ever go away. You might have a hard time even remembering what it was like before you felt depressed. It’s almost impossible to think of the future because right now, you’re just counting down the hours until you can go back to bed and disconnect from everyone and everything. It’s this heavy pit in your stomach, or a weight on your shoulders you can’t seem to shake off. It starts to take over your life and keep you from functioning like you normally would. And it’s really, really hard.

If this is how you’re feeling, you’re not alone! Depression is a long-term mental illness that can happen to anyone. It’s nothing to be ashamed of or afraid to talk about, which is why we’re here to help you navigate this feeling. We wanna be here for you, friend.

A Deeper Look at Feeling Depressed

What does it actually mean to feel depressed, though? Well, APA Dictionary of Psychology defines depression (n.) as: “a negative affective state, ranging from unhappiness and discontent to an extreme feeling of sadness, pessimism, and despondency, that interferes with daily life.” So basically, it’s a state of sadness that’s so persistent, it can throw your life and mental wellness completely off balance. Sounds amazinggg, doesn’t it?!

First of all, it’s not your fault you feel this way. At all. Depression can happen for so many reasons, whether it’s from biology or life events. If your family has a history of a depression, there’s a higher chance you’ll develop it at some point in your life. Traumatic or stressful life events can also cause depression. Some medical conditions can also put you at higher risk for depression such as chronic illness, chronic pain, insomnia, or mental conditions like ADHD. In other cases, it just comes down to hormone changes or chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters acting up. Both can affect your mood and how you feel, which is totally beyond your control. This is why antidepressants might be recommended by your doctor or therapist to help balance those neurotransmitters and offset some of the other symptoms of depression.

How Feeling Depressed Shows Up Mentally

Since depression is a mental illness, it obviously has a major impact on your mental wellbeing. Most days (or even alllll the days) you’ll feel really down. It’s like your spark just kinda fizzles out. You might struggle to get out of bed in the morning, or randomly feel like crying for no reason. Normal day-to-day activities that are normally NBD, like showering or getting dressed, suddenly feel totally overwhelming. Even the hobbies you typically enjoy doing, like going for a run or playing guitar, don’t seem all that interesting to you anymore. You might feel super disconnected from everyone including your closest friends and family. No matter what you do, it seems like nothing makes you feel happy anymore. You’re just going through the motions of life, but something feels… off. It’s like you’re coasting through life on autopilot.

Other signs? You might feel super irritable or agitated. Maybe you’ve noticed that little things set off your mood more than usual, causing you to snap at people or get frustrated. You could also feel restless, like you can’t relax or focus on what you’re doing. It can also be hard to make decisions. Your schedule feels way less manageable than it usually does, because you keep dropping the ball. And your behaviour makes you feel sooo guilty or completely worthless. To put it simply, you just aren’t feeling like yourself!

Feeling depressed can take your thoughts to a really dark place. If you start to have suicidal thoughts, thoughts of self-harm, or think a lot about death and dying, please reach out to a professional for help.

How Feeling Depressed Shows Up Physically

While depression obviously can take a huge toll on your mental health, it can also affect your body in different ways. Here are a few physical symptoms you might notice when you’re feeling depressed:

• Fatigue
• Difficulty sleeping
• Headaches
• Body aches
• Digestive problems
• High blood pressure
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Getting sick more frequently
• Lower sex drive

Clearly, depression can put your body through some shit. It weakens your immune system and makes you more susceptible to health issues in the future. Definitely consult a doctor if these many of these symptoms hinder your ability to function on a daily basis. These are not things you should have to live with! You deserve health and happiness.

5 Ways to Cope with Feeling Depressed

One last thing! We have some coping strategies for you, recommended by our in-house mental health professional. These are simple yet effective ways you can manage your feelings of depression. Try ‘em out!

1. Journal

Feeling depressed can be really tough to work through. Try writing out exactly how you’re feeling and where you think it’s coming from. Maybe you’re dealing with a lot of stress right now or going through a difficult personal situation. Taking the time to journal our thoughts can give us the clarity we need to move forward!

2. Find a positive distraction

Pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read. Watch an episode of a show that never fails to make you laugh. Clean out your closet. Listen to a podcast. Do whatever takes your mind off things and sparks a ‘lil joy! You deserve it.

3. Reach out to a support person

Your loved ones are there for a reason! When you need to talk through how you’re feeling, lean on the people you trust. Sometimes just having someone to listen to us and validate how we’re feeling makes all the difference.

4. Visualize your happy place

It could be a cozy bookstore on the snowy mountainside with a crackling fireplace. Or maybe it’s the beaches you sun-bathed on during your last family vacay. Whatever your happy place in your mind is, go there. Picturing something that makes you feel warm and at peace can help lift your mood.

5. Engage in something soothing and comforting

Spend time with your pet by cuddling them or taking them on a walk. Touch something comforting like your fave cozy blanket. Brew some tea or your drink of choice. Do whatever makes you feel calm and safe.

That’s all for now, friend. We hope this helped you better navigate feeling depressed, ‘cause no one should have to feel alone on this journey.

You’ve probably heard of the song ‘Supalonely’ by BENEE before. La la la la, la la la la, lonelyyyy. Super lonely! While it’s a pretty upbeat song, it talks about a common feeling we all have from time to time that nobody ever brings up. Loneliness. When we’re feeling lonely, it really drags down our mood and makes us feel sad as hell. There’s even a line in the song that goes: Now I’m in the sad club, just tryna get a backrub. Okay, #relatable.

But if this is a feeling we ALL go through sometimes, then why don’t we ever talk about it?! Wouldn’t sharing how we’re feeling with others make us feel, well… less lonely? When we’re feeling lonely, sometimes it’s hard to see any clear ways to overcome it. Maybe we think nobody will understand what we’re going through, or even care. We’re here to tell you that’s not the case! Let’s talk about feeling lonely, how it shows up mentally and physically, and how you can cope. Because guess what? We care. And we know you can get through this supa-lonely feeling, no matter how impossible it might seem right now.

A Deeper Look at Feeling Lonely

Okay sooo, what does it really mean to be lonely? APA Dictionary of Psychology defines loneliness (n.) as: “affective and cognitive discomfort or uneasiness from being or perceiving oneself to be alone or otherwise solitary.” Basically, feeling lonely happens when we feel like we’re alone, even if that’s not true. It’s a state of mind that obviously causes us to feel really, reallyyy down on ourselves and isolated from everyone else.

There can be a lot of different reasons why you might be feeling lonely. This emotion could be based on a situation you’re in right now. Maybe you’ve recently moved to a new city for work, or you work from home and don’t get to socialize much face-to-face. You could be starting college and don’t know anyone in your classes yet. You might also be dealing with the end of a relationship, whether romantic or not. It could even be that you’re dealing with the death of someone in your life. These are all common life events that can make us feel lonely and out of sorts.

A lack of social connection is another cause for being lonely. Even when you’re in a group of people, it’s still possible to feel lonely or to feel like it wouldn’t make a difference if you were there or not. Maybe we think that others don’t see us as worthy of their time or attention. Sometimes we grow apart from old friends and have a hard time forming new, strong connections with people. You might have a few casual friends or acquaintances at school or work, but no one you feel really close enough to hang out or talk to outside of those situations. If you’re the only one in a friend group who’s not in a relationship or starting a family, that can also make you feel lonely, even if you’re happy being single.

We get it: it can be really hard to talk to other people about how you feel lonely. Holding it inside, though, usually only makes us feel more alone. 

How Feeling Lonely Shows Up Mentally

When you’re lonely, it obviously brings down your mood and makes you feel sad. It can also make you feel kinda empty inside. You might feel like part of you is missing, but you’re not sure what it is. Maybe your brain feels foggy and you’re having a hard time focusing on anything. Feeling lonely can affect our self-esteem, make us doubt ourselves or feel worthless. We might think there’s no hope, like we’ll never come out of this slump. It’s also common to feel really anxious or restless when we’re lonely. Maybe you just wanna curl up in a blanket and binge watch Netflix all day, because that’s really all you have the mental capacity for right now.

Loneliness can lead to even more antisocial behaviour, and possibly develop into mental health problems like depression and anxiety. It’s important to seek professional help if your feelings of loneliness continue!

How Feeling Lonely Shows Up Physically

Feeling lonely can show up in other ways, too. Here are some physical symptoms you might notice when you’re dealing with this emotion:

– Low energy

– Difficulty sleeping

– Decreased appetite

– Getting sick more frequently

– Body aches and pains

– Increased stress levels

Loneliness can also lead to issues like abusing alcohol and drugs, and making other poor choices that can impact your health. Again, professional help is an important route to take if your loneliness persists. We don’t want these symptoms to continue and negatively impact your life!

5 Ways to Cope with Feeling Lonely

Here’s some good news for ya. You won’t feel lonely forever! Right now you might be thinking: yeah, riiight. But don’t worry, ‘cause we’ve come up with some simple ways you can cope with this emotion.

1. Reach out for support

Your loved ones are there for a reason! When you need to talk through how you’re feeling, lean on the people you trust. Sometimes just having someone to listen to us and validate how we’re feeling makes all the difference.

2. Comfort yourself like a friend

If you don’t have someone around who can be there for you right now, be there for yourself as best as you can. Remind yourself that everything will be okay, and that this feeling is temporary.

3. Engage in something soothing or comforting

Spend time with your pet by cuddling them or taking them on a walk. Touch something comforting like your fav cozy blanket. Brew some tea or your drink of choice. Just do something that makes you feel calm and safe.

4. Find a positive distraction

Pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read for a while now. Watch an episode of a show that always makes you laugh. Clean out your closet. Listen to a podcast. Finding something that can take your mind off things can be so helpful!

5. Practice meditation

Meditation is a method that’s been used to relieve stress and improve mental clarity since, like… forever. This practice allows us to slowww down and shift our mindset. If you’re not sure how to meditate, start out with a guided practice. Hey, everyone’s gotta start somewhere!

Well, there you have it. Remember: just because you feel lonely, doesn’t mean you’re alone. We know you can get through this feeling. Try out some of our coping tips and see for yourself! We’re here for you, friend.

Sometimes, we get angry. Guess what? That’s totally normal! Anger is a natural response to any of the manyyy stressors we might be experiencing in our daily lives. Whether it stems from a demanding workload that takes up most of your precious time, or relationship challenges that are BEYOND emotionally draining, anger can actually be useful! It signals when we need to make some changes so that we can move the F on with our lives and become the best version of ourselves. And who doesn’t want that? But what about when we’re feeling really angry? Like… really, REALLY angry?

When we keep all of our anger inside and over time and it turns into something sooo much more intense, to the point we’re seriously having a hard time keeping this feeling under control?! Yeppp when we’re furious, it can be a lil’ bit harder to navigate than your everyday run-of-the-mill anger. But don’t worry, we’re here for you. Let’s work through this emotion so that you can manage feeling furious in healthy ways, like a champ!

A Deeper Look at Feeling Furious

What’s the difference between feeling angry and feeling furious? Dictionary.com defines furious as: “full of fury, violent passion, or rage; extremely angry; enraged.” Yikes. That sounds… intense.

But it’s true, our feelings of anger CAN be really intense. And when they escalate to full-on rage, that’s when we’re beyond angry. We’re FURIOUS. Feeling furious is that next level anger that does more harm than good. We might have a harder time getting this feeling under control, which can lead us to act out in ways that we normally wouldn’t. There are lots of reasons you might be feeling this way, from personal problems to traumatic events to the everyday bullshit we have to deal with as humans.

Maybe your partner keeps leaving their dishes on the counter after you’ve pointed out multiple times that the dishwasher is right there. But over and over again, you walk into the kitchen and see their plate sitting on the counter, even though the dishwasher is empty and literally .002 inches away. Suddenly, you’re FUMING. In the heat of the moment, you take that plate and smash it on the ground. Your partner rushes out to see what happened and looks at you like you’re a time bomb that’s about to explode. And tbh, you kinda feel like one! You’re not a violent person, but your emotions got the best of you. Now, you just feel like a complete asshole.

Pause for a sec. Remember when we said anger can be healthy? Well, this example is obvs not a healthy way of managing your emotions. Extreme anger can be a sign of something else going on in your life that needs to be addressed before it affects your life in extremely negative ways.

How Feeling Furious Shows Up Mentally

When we’re furious, things can get a little bit out of control. It suddenly becomes harder to keep it inside, so we might act out in ways that we normally don’t. Here are some signs that your feelings are actually a sign of an anger problem:

– Extreme anger that affects your personal relationships

– Feeling like you have to hold your anger inside

– Difficulty controlling your feelings of anger

– Negative thoughts that are constant or fixating on negative experiences

– Getting into arguments more often which only escalates your emotions

– Feeling more irritable, impatient or hostile than normal

– Becoming physically violent

– Threatening violence

– Behaving recklessly or acting on impulse

– Avoiding situation out of fear that you’ll have an outburst

How Feeling Furious Shows Up Physically

When we feel furious, our body shows physical cues. A lot of ‘em, actually! Here’s a few you’ve probably experienced before when you’ve been furious AF:

– Clenched jaw

– Grinding teeth

– Headache

– Increased blood pressure

– Increased heart rate

– Muscle tension

– Feeling hot in the neck or face

– Shaking or trembling

– Tingling sensation

Feeling furious can bring out the worst in us. We might become so enraged that we raise our voice, or even worse, yell in someone’s face. Extreme feelings of anger can potentially result in physical fights or abusive behaviour, if it’s not kept under control. Some people who struggle to handle their emotions turn to substances as a coping mechanism, which can lead to a toxic pattern that’s hard to beat. If you notice mental and physical signs that your anger is getting out of hand, it’s important to get professional help.

5 Ways to Cope with Feeling Furious

Sooo… we’ve established that you’re a rage machine. Now what? Don’t worry, we have some tips that will help you overcome this feeling.

1. Reach out to a support person

Venting to a friend or family member who you can trust can be a great way to work through this feeling. They’ll be there for you and make you feel less alone.

2. Move your body

Let’s get physical! Go for a walk, stretch, ride a bike, dance, you name it. Exercise releases endorphins and improves your mood. Plus, it actually boosts your energy and improves focus. It does alllll the things.

3. Run your hands under water, splash your face with water, or hold an ice cube

This method might sound weird, but we swear it works. Try to mindfully note the temperature of the water and the sensation of the water on your skin. The sensation helps by slowing your heart rate, lowering your cortisol levels (stress hormone), and releasing endorphins (happy hormone). Simple, yet effective!

4. Practice progressive muscle relaxation

This is a helpful technique for reducing stress that involves tensing a group of muscles as you breathe in, and then relaxing them while you breathe out. Repeat as needed!

5. Journaling

Try writing out exactly how you’re feeling and where you think it’s coming from. Then, reframe and counter the negative thoughts you’re having. Taking the time to journal our thoughts can give us the clarity we need to move forward!

That’s it, that’s all for now! We hope this article will help guide you along as you work through this emotion. ‘Cause we get it: emotions can be tough to navigate on your own. You got this, friend!

Do you ever feel like you can’t control your emotions? One minute you’re fine, and then the next you’re not. Your day is going by as usual but all of a sudden, you just start bawling your eyes out for no apparent reason. Maybe you’re having a conversation with your partner and you snap at them out of the blue, even though you weren’t arguing. You’re not sure why you’re acting like this. It’s just that your mood is all over the place! Whether you’re sad, mad, anxious, scared or just totally overwhelmed right now, feeling out of control can be a really confusing feeling to navigate. You might be experiencing so many highs and lows that you feel like a ride at Disney World (not the fun kind – the kind you wish would just end already)!

It’s not just you. We can all feel a little out of control sometimes with our emotions. Tbh, it can get kinda intense and scary. That’s because we typically like things to be predictable. When we know what’s gonna happen, we feel safe. Obviously safe = good. So when our emotions feel out of control and we don’t know what we’re gonna do next, that can make us feel scared and really impact our wellbeing. But that’s why we’re here! To help guide you through this chaotic feeling you’re going through right now.

A Deeper Look at Feeling Out of Control

What does it mean to feel out of control? Dictionary.com defines out of control as: “out of hand; no longer under management, direction, or regulation; unmanageable or unruly.” Sooo yeah, when our emotions are out of control, it means we have a hard time managing them and keeping them under control.

But what causes us to feel this way? What might trigger our emotions to feel so unmanageable and all over the damn place?! It turns out, there can be lots of reasons your emotions might feel out of control. Here are a few that you might find relatable:

Intense emotions

Sadness, anger, fear, stress or grief that have built up over time can become really intense and overwhelming. When we don’t acknowledge these feelings and hold them inside for too long, they can eventually affect our wellbeing and how we behave.

Restlessness or boredom

Yep, feeling restless and bored can make us feel out of control. If we feel stuck or like something is missing from our lives, it might make us act out in ways that are out of character for us.

Lack of energy

Not just lack of energy, but also feeling burnt out can cloud our decision-making skills. And feeling drained can make us feel like we don’t have control over much, including our emotions.

Like we said, it can be scary when we feel out of control. In the heat of the moment, we might say or do things that we really don’t mean. You could be arguing with your mom and tell her that you hate her, even though that’s not true. In an extreme case, maybe you’re driving and feel such intense road rage that it clouds your judgement and you end up in a collision. Feeling out of control can put ourselves and other people at risk if we don’t learn healthy ways to cope.

When we feel out of control, this surge of emotions can lead to something called an emotional outburst including temper tantrums, tirades, shouting during arguments, physical fights or abuse, breaking things or damaging other people’s things. If you ever feel that you are risking your safety or someone else’s safety due to feeling out of control, professional help is highly recommended. 

How Feeling Out of Control Shows Up Mentally

Feeling out of control can put our mental wellbeing through… a lot. On top of the emotional outburst you might experience when your emotions are in chaos, here’s a few other signs:

– Worrying

– Trying to control other people or situations

– Feeling on edge

– Isolating yourself from others

– Obsessing over the same thing over and over

– Avoiding things

– Feeling overwhelmed

– Lack of motivation or energy

– Having a hard time concentrating or focusing

– Irritability

Conditions like bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and antisocial personality disorder have also been linked to feeling out of control. If you feel like you’re having a really hard time controlling your emotions, it’s best to seek professional help.

How Feeling Out of Control Shows Up Physically

When you feel out of control, your body can show some less than ideal symptoms. Here’s a few you might notice if you feel like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster:

– Crying

– Fatigue

– Difficulty sleeping

– Headaches

– Muscle tension

– Change in appetite

– Gastrointestinal issues (stomach pain, acid reflux, etc.)

Health issues like diabetes, low blood sugar, alcohol use disorder and head injuries can cause problems with controlling emotions.

How to Cope with Feeling Out of Control

Okay, you’re feeling out of control. So now what do you do about it?! We have some coping strategies for you, don’t worry. They’re simple and better yet, they really help! So go ahead and give ‘em a try.

1. 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise

Engage all five senses and mindfully notice five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Go in any order that makes sense for you and your current situation – no pressure!

2. Run your hands under water, splash your face with water or hold an ice cube

This method might sound weird, but we swear it works. Try to mindfully note the temperature of the water and the sensation of the water on your skin. The sensation helps by slowing your heart rate, lowering your cortisol levels (stress hormone), and releasing endorphins (happy hormone). Simple, yet effective!

3. Reach out to your support team

Your loved ones are there for a reason! When you need to talk through how you’re feeling, lean on the people you trust. Sometimes just having someone to listen to us and validate how we’re feeling makes all the difference.

4. Move your body

Gettin’ physical can be great for your mental wellness. Go for a walk, stretch, ride a bike, dance, you name it. Exercise releases endorphins and improves your mood. Plus, it actually boosts your energy and improves focus. It does alllll the things.

5. Progressive muscle relaxation

This is a helpful technique for reducing stress that involves tensing a group of muscles as you breathe in, and then relaxing them while you breathe out. Repeat as needed.

Well, there you have it! We hope this helps you when you’re feeling out of control, because no one should have to do this alone. Even when it seems impossible, you can and will get through this!

Feeling worried? Don’t know what that is, never heard of that, never tasted that, never felt that…

 Just kidding. If ONLY that were the case! So many of us worry about things on a daily basis. Little things, big things, alllll the things! It can be overwhelming when you’re filled with this sense of something about to go wrong.

If the word “worry” could be summarized in a sensation, it might be the feeling of a pit sitting at the bottom of your stomach, or your heart falling out of your butt. You might even end up pacing around the room when you’re worried, trying to run through every possible scenario, and preparing yourself for the absolute worst thing to happen. Exhausting, right?

As you read this, you might think that this sounds kind of similar to anxiety. Well, yes and no. Worry is a bit different from anxiety because when we worry, we fret mostly about things that we CAN control. We can worry about the mark we are going to get on a test or how our performance review with our employer will go.

For the most part, worrying can be fixed with problem-solving, and your nervous little heart can then get back to its normal rhythm.

A Deeper Look at Worry

So, what causes worry? Like we said, it’s not quite anxiety, but you still feel shitty about the situation you’re facing. Worry is a part of anxiety (if you didn’t worry at all, you wouldn’t have anxiety), but what is it exactly?

Our trusty Merriam Webster defines worry as ”mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated: ANXIETY.” Even the dictionary says that worry is related to anxiety! It’s a really common feeling because so many of us have things that come up in our lives that cause major or minor stress to us.

The Difference Between Worry and Anxiety

Ok, this is going to sound a bit weird, but stay with us for a second. Worry is mostly a feeling contained in our minds. According to Psychology Today, this is because worry is mostly centred around our thoughts and how we think about specific situations. This could be thinking about anything from getting a text back to worrying about how a job interview is going to go. In contrast, anxiety evokes a strong physical response because we think about what will happen, we imagine it in our mind’s eye, and we create a dialogue about the situation to go with what we “see.” 

Soooo, it basically feels like we’re there, and our body responds to that. With worry, we don’t necessarily have the same issue. This is because worry can be considered mostly “verbal” in nature. We talk about our worries, but we don’t go to the same imaginative extent that we do with anxiety.

 Having worries is a totally normal thing. It’s a natural human response to situations and shit that we need to address. It doesn’t impact how we go about our lives and affects how we function like anxiety might. This is because it’s temporary. It’s controlled.

 Once your stressful situation is over, so is your feeling of worry. How great is that?! It’s not supposed to be a thing that hangs around forever. You’re just tense for a bit, and then *poof! * It’s like it was never there once you’ve solved the problem you were facing.

How Worry Shows Up Mentally

Even though you’ve probably had a worry or two in your life, we’re still going to tell you what worry looks and sounds like anyway. Like we said, worry can be about the little or big things, but we can usually work through this feeling with logic and problem-solving.

1. Stress

There’s a bar in Bergen, Norway called No Stress and it’s the best bar in the world because there is literally No Stress to be found. Unfortunately, if you’re worried, you definitely have stress, especially if you’re in university or school. You’ll definitely know what it feels like to stress over a test!

 I’m going to fail this exam. Omg, I just KNOW it! Why did you take French? You live in Alberta, Canada. No one speaks French around you. This is going to be disastrous. How do you even conjugate avoir again?

2. Fear 

When you’re worried, chances are that you’re afraid of a possible outcome. That’s totally expected! When you’re faced with something stressful, you’re probably worried about a negative result.

Omg, I’m so scared for this job interview… What happens if I don’t get it? What if they don’t like me? I need this job so badly and I don’t want to have to go back to what I did before. Sigh…

3. Doubt 

You could feel doubtful about a lot of things. The situation, your skill set, someone else’s skill set, a number of things! But the underlying feeling of this all is that you aren’t totally convinced it’s all going to work out in the end.

Ugh, my heart is beating out of my chest. First dates are always so fucking scary. What if they don’t like me? What if I don’t like them? Ahh!

How Feeling Worried Shows Up Physically

For the most part, worry doesn’t cause long term physical distress. The feeling of worry doesn’t usually last for extended periods of time, so what you’re feeling should be temporary. 

You might feel some emotional distress and some tense feelings in your body, but you shouldn’t feel like you’re short of breath or truly panicking. Just that pit in the stomach/heart dropping through your butt that we mentioned before.

Sometimes when you get stressed and worried, your breathing changes. You might not notice it at first but it totally does happen! It’s your body’s way of responding and trying to calm you down enough to tackle the problem at hand. 

Worrying can increase your heart rate! When you worry, stress hormones are released because you feel an impending sense of doom and danger nearby. Your heart starts working harder so that you’re able to run away from the danger. Fortunately, the stress you’re facing these days is being worried about a first date and not a dangerous animal.

 If you worry too much, your immune system might even be affected and you won’t really be able to fight off bugs and flus like you normally could! 

You’re also probably familiar with the feeling of butterflies. Sometimes these butterflies can be the result of excited anticipation! Sometimes butterflies can happen because you’re just so stoked to get on the rollercoaster at the amusement park…and other times they appear in your tummy because you’re scared as fuuuck.

5 Ways to Cope with Worry

When you’re worried, you might not know what next steps to take. It’s scary and sometimes overwhelming. Well, don’t worry (ha!), because we have some tips to help you DiveThru it!

1. Practice Deep Breathing

If you were already worried, chances are that you were doing this already like we mentioned–except this time, be more mindful about it. Count to four as you breathe in, then exhale for four again. Keep doing this to help yourself calm down and shift your mindset to one that’s more calming.

2. Journal 

If you know anything about us, you know that we looooove journaling. When you’re worried, take time to write out your worries on a piece of paper. Can you do anything to combat them right now? If you can, what kind of steps can you take? If you also don’t feel like solving your problem or don’t feel like you can, writing down your feelings always helps! Sometimes it’s just nice to vent and organize your thoughts somewhere.

3. Meditate 

You know that mindfulness breathing that we talked about? Combine that shit with this shit! Meditating can be a really great way to centre yourself and your mind when you’re worried. If you don’t know how to meditate or don’t have a regular meditation practice, hop on YouTube and find a free guided meditation to play. You don’t have to meditate for an hour right off the bat! That’s a long time to sit when you’re just starting out. If you want, try it for just 5 or 10 minutes at first!

4. Comfort Yourself 

Do it as you would expect a parent or friend to do. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself a moment and the kind of support that you need from others. What do you need? A hug? Wrap your arms around yourself right now and tell yourself that you’re doing the best with what you’ve got. Give yourself a little love.

5. Reach Out for Support 

Sometimes, you can’t handle all your worries on your own! You’re not always meant to bear the emotional burden all by yourself. Talk to a friend or even reach out to your therapist if you have one. There’s no shame in lightening your own mental load by talking to others and asking for help.

Are you still worried? We hope not! If you are, you’ve got this. We know that you’re one tough cookie who can DiveThru anything!

Feeling anxious? Who here has been personally victimized by anxiety? Everyone? Yaaa us too.

 It’s a party in the brain! Just kidding because it’s awful. If anyone ever judges you for having anxiety, show them this article and we’ll set the record straight!

 If you have anxiety, you might’ve heard someone tell you, “Oh stop worrying! It’s not that bad.” What this person might not understand is that worry and anxiety aren’t the same thing. Worry is just a symptom or a part of anxiety. If we didn’t worry, we wouldn’t have anxiety, but anxiety is like worry TO THE MAX. Soooo, we don’t recommend experiencing anxiety if you don’t have to!

 Anxiety is actually terrifying to experience because unlike worry, it can show up in a bunch of physical ways too, making the experience even more terrifying. It’s like a scary loop that keeps making things worse.

 When you’re anxious, all you want to do is fix the problem, but the problem is that you can’t always fix the problem. If we could put the word anxiety into a phrase that everyone understands, it would probably be the feeling that the world is falling apart inside your mind and all around you and there is nothing you can do about it! Scary, huh? Ya, it’s not the best.

A Deeper Look at Feeling Anxious

It’s definition time! Let’s see what the dictionary has to say about anxiety: “characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency.”

So, it’s basically the anticipation that something bad is going to happen and you can’t do anything to solve this bad thing from happening. Oof! What a load to carry.

If you think that this sounds kind of similar to worrying, you’d be right. We have an entire article on worrying that you can read to try and better understand that emotion too!

 Worrying and anxiety are intertwined; however, worry is a symptom of anxiety and at times, can be a lesser version of it.

Anxiety goes back to the good ole’ prehistoric days when humans and woolly mammoths lived together. We would be on high alert for things that could cause us harm (like a fucking bear or something), and our bodies evolved and kept these mental and physical responses to danger so that we could survive.

The one big bummer about this all is that we now become anxious about things that don’t always cause us immediate danger and harm like a bear would back in the day. 

The biggest difference between worrying, stress, and anxiety is that worry and stress are caused by things that you KNOW about. It’s a typical thing to be stressed and worried about, and you know how you can potentially fix it. When you’re stressed or worried, you can still function. It doesn’t really impact how you go about your day. 

But with anxiety, OH BOY DOES IT IMPACT YOU! You act differently to avoid what makes you anxious so your work, your day, your life is changed negatively because of your anxiety. Sometimes, you might not even know why you feel anxious. Partyyyyy…

How Feeling Anxious Shows Up Mentally

If you’re reading this article, you probably have a pretty good understanding of what anxiety feels like in your brain. It’s the worst! But we’re going to outline it for you juuust in case you want to send this article to someone so that they can understand what you or someone you know is going through a little bit better.

1. Overthinking 

Someone might look at this symptom and think, “Oh ya I do that sometimes!” But it’s not to the same extent that someone with anxiety is overthinking. They think about the smallest little things and read into every. single. detail of a situation. Did a text have the wrong tone? What did you accidentally say today that could’ve been misconstrued?

Omg, I sent that text to Sam but they didn’t reply. Did I offend them? Are they mad at me? Did I send them something that was meant for another person? No… I didn’t. But I don’t believe that. I must’ve sent them something that wasn’t meant for them and now they’re mad at me. Or did I forget their birthday? Fuuuuck!

2. Always on High Alert

Your mind and your body refuuuuse to relax. This is part of the fight or flight response that is built into us. If you’re experiencing anxiety, you’re looking for every possible thing that could cause harm to you. It feels like your mind is processing what’s going on around you so quickly that it becomes overwhelming at times.

What was that? Was that a rat? Omg no it has to be a person coming to hurt me. What’s in that corner? Who is behind you? What are they saying? What’s coming up next? Be ready. Be ready!

3. Dissociation 

Some people who experience anxiety attacks also do this thing called dissociating. This is when your surroundings, and sometimes your own body, stop feeling real. This can look different for everyone. It can feel like you’re walking through a movie, the world around is pixelated, or it can look like it’s melting away in front of you. It’s not a commonly talked about symptom of anxiety, but it does happen!

 Nothing feels real. I’m just floating through life. Are these my hands? They don’t feel like my hands. I feel like I’m not even really in my body right now. What the fuuuck?

4. Feelings of Dread or Impending Doom 

If you have anxiety, you know EXACTLY what this feels like. It feels like your worst nightmare is right around the corner and can happen to you at any moment. You’re on high alert, you’re scared, it’s terrifying!

The world is ending. I feel so hopeless. There is absolutely nothing that I can do about anything and it’s all gonna fall apart and go to shit. 

5. Irritability 

Having your body and your mind in such a heightened state of awareness is draiiiinnniiinngg! Omg, it’s so exhausting. When you’re that tired and putting your energy towards the equivalent of keeping yourself alive, you’d be irritated too! So, if you snap at someone while you’re in the midst of a panic attack, give yourself a bit of a break. Your mind is working overtime.

No one better try and talk to me today. I swear, if anyone needs anything from me, I’m going to snap! I have so many other important things on my mind. I’m going to fall apart if anyone even looks at me. 

6. Difficulty Concentrating 

Like we said, your body is trying to keep you alive because it feels like it’s about to be attacked by what you’re anxious about. Unfortunately, because your body is focusing on a million other things, it can’t focus on the one thing you need to do.

Why can’t I just get this paragraph written? Ugh! It’s not that hard. Just sit down and write. Ok, here I go… But what about… no! Take a breath and concentrate. 

7. Wanting to Escape From Your Situation and Feelings 

Ever fantasize about moving literally across the ocean to the other side of the world and setting up a dog sanctuary on the side of a mountain where no one can find you? Ya… us too.

If I just move to Switzerland, I can move to a remote village and adopt a ton of dogs. I’ll be the Swiss dog person that everyone knows and loves. Maybe I’ll open up a tea and bookshop. Make friends with the locals. I won’t tell anyone where I am and they won’t be able to find me and bother me ever again.

How Feeling Anxious Shows Up Physically

We actually have an entiiire article on some physical signs of anxiety that you might not have known about! We’ll link to the article here, but we’ll still tell you what’s what so that you don’t have to jump back and forth between two articles. 

1. Sweating 

This is actually a super common way that your body responds to excessive stress. When you’re anxious, your body releases stress hormones and causes you to release a little extra moisture from your skin.

2. Chills/Hot Flashes 

When you’re anxious, your body goes into fight, flight, or freeze mode. While it’s doing this, your blood vessels are contracting to move blood to important parts of the body. This is called vasoconstriction, and it’s what makes you feel really hot. When you’re hot and anxious, you’re probably sweating, so when you start to calm down and the moisture on your body reacts to the cold air around you, you’ll feel a bit chilly. 

3. Increased Heart Rate

When you’re anxious, you have adrenaline pumping through your veins, blood is rushing to important parts of the body, and your heart is working overtime. This is allll because of that fight, flight, or freeze response that we humans evolved with. Your body is just on high alert and ready to move you away from danger at any minute by making your heart work a little extra than usual.

4. Muscle Tension

Like with an increased heart rate, your muscles tense up to move you away from danger. But since the danger is our anxiety, what we really need is a massage. Do yourself a favour right now and unclench your jaw, drop your shoulders, and take a biiiig deep breath.

5. Stomach Problems

Sometimes when you’re anxious, your stomach becomes sooo nauseous. Other times, you get the poops! It’s not a good time, but this happens because of a little hormone called cortisol. Your body doesn’t want to rest and digest. It wants to get the fuck away from danger, so it doesn’t allow you to process your food like you normally would. 

6. Numbness/Tingling

When you’re anxious, your body takes the blood away from your extremities and pushes it towards your core. When you have a panic attack, you can end up hyper-focusing on feelings. So, this feeling of numbness and tingling can be amplified by your fixation on it.

7. Sleeplessness

Some scientists say that sleeplessness and anxiety are bidirectional. This means that they influence each other. So, if you’re anxious, you’re sleepless, and if you’re sleepless, you’re anxious. What a super inconvenient cycle!

8. Hyperventilating 

Paper bags, anyone? Breathing is an unconscious action, so when we’re anxious, we unknowingly start to take more shallow breaths. This leads to us hyperventilating, which is a bummer and not our favourite thing to do…

5 Ways to Cope with Anxiety

We all need a little bit of extra help when we are anxious. These tips can be helpful when you need a little help to lighten the mental load. 

1. Journaling

We know that it can be hard to want to pull out a journal and write, but it can actually be really helpful! Journal what you’re feeling and thinking and then try to reframe and counter your negative thoughts. Maybe take time and think logically about your issue. Look at what makes you anxious and think about how you can change it up in your mind.

2. 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise

This exercise is sooo amazing because it engages all five senses and forces you to take your mind away from what’s making you panic at that moment. What you do is mindfully take notice of five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. But remember that there is no pressure here! The point is just to mindfully engage in this practice.

Go in any order with any sense that makes sense for you and your current situation. If you can’t taste anything right now, that’s ok! Maybe skip that so that you aren’t thinking about licking tables when you’re in a Starbucks. Or do. We can’t tell you what to do!

3. Practice Deep Breathing

This sounds really simple, but holy crap is it effective! Taking a deep breath can help you start to calm down slowly but surely. Try taking in a deep breath for 4 counts, then exhale for 4 counts. Keep doing that over and over until you feel calm enough to try another technique to help you out. 

4. Positive Distraction

Try to find something positive to redirect your attention like reading a book, watching something funny, taking a shower, looking at satisfying videos, cleaning, cooking, listening to music or a podcast. Literally, anything that brings you joy!

5. Reach Out for Support

We know that therapy can be SUPER expensive, so look for affordable counselling options in your city. Sometime walk-in clinics offer cheaper payment options, and others offer a sliding scale when it comes to payment. Depending on where you live, your state, province, or country can offer subsidized services that are free! There are also several apps that cost the fraction of the price of a full counselling session.

Anxiety is a tricky bitch. As much as we want it to be, it’s not something that can be fixed overnight. It takes a lot of work and it can seem overwhelming at first, but just take it day by day. Every day you fight against your anxiety is a win in our books!