Common Anxieties

Anxiety is a natural human response to potentially harmful circumstances which cause stress as wells as the instigation of a body’s “fight or flight” reflex. This can lead to a variety of effects, most notably increased heart rate, dry mouth/sweating, or nausea. While anxiety is supposed to help a human stay out of danger, it also tends to make us lose focus on important objectives such as taking a test or even just concentrating on keeping up a conversation. If not maintained and managed, anxiety can grow into other issues such as insomnia and depression.

Anxiety is a manageable illness that most people will experience in their lifetime and In a survey sent to over 250 random Acalanes students, we have learned that some of the more popular forms of anxiety happen to be Social and Performance anxiety among the student body.

Performance Anxiety has a much broader definition than what may lie at face value. Performance anxiety prevents an individual from carrying out simple tasks without excessive stress levels, making even some of the most common and simple tasks hard work. Some very common activities that may prompt these symptoms to occur may be Entertaining a large crowd, speaking in front of a group, taking an exam, or being in a position of responsibility in a sport or other extracurricular activity.

Some common ways to help cope with known Performance Anxiety are:

Prepare yourself, whether this is studying for an upcoming test or rehearsing a future presentation or interview. Setting yourself up for success is found to be one of the most effective methods of preventing performance anxiety from occurring or escalating.

Deep breathing helps to slow down your heart rate and collect yourself. Deep breathing is often the most accessible and effective way to combat anxiety.

A full night’s rest often helps to ease the mind of students, and while not always an option for many teens, taking advantage of rest periods and other methods of relaxation help to preemptively counter high levels of anxiety.

Don’t focus on worst-case scenarios! Rather than giving yourself the added stress of imagining the worst possible outcome, imagine success and practice optimistic expectations preceding an event that may lead to high levels of anxiety!

Social Anxiety is a form of anxiety that centralizes around interpersonal relationships and our thoughts of how others perceive us. This is especially popular among students because as teens develop into the person they grow up to be, many often feel pressured to be molded into the expectation of others rather than the person they want to be! Previous traumatic experiences, bullying, and conflict within one’s family can be contributing factors.

Some common ways to help cope with known Social Anxiety are:

Celebrate small victories! While it is never easy to put yourself into unfamiliar social territory when you are able to rise to the occasion and exercise your social skills, be proud and recognize your accomplishments!

Focus on others. Concentrating on yourself may cause you to focus on things that exaggerate minute issues and distract you from your initial objective. Other people may be just as nervous as you, so focusing on helping them be comfortable will help to redirect your attention.

Keeping a journal and setting future goals can also help you develope a general idea of the individual you want to be! not only will you be able to see your growth over time, but you will also be able to learn from previous experiences more easily by reading and reviewing rather than trying to remember something important!