More On Dealing With Anxiety

Anxiety is a big problem. And with the growing concerns that plague the modern world, especially in a country like Nigeria, it is a problem that is widespread. An insidious feature of the problem comes from the fact that is it seldom talked about (as a problem). People speak of it using other concerns they verbalise using words like these:

Unemployment in this country is too high, how will I find a job? 

My job stinks and I will never be able to do something I care about. 

TGIF! Monday better stay away forever. 

While these do not capture all the sources of anxiety that plague people, the frequency with which they appear in our daily lives reveal that it is a common problem. I write this because a friend highlighted to me the impracticality of the ideas I promulgated in my previous post. 

So in this BasicPulse entry I want to bring some clarification to the idea that inspired that post and why the prescriptions are relevant. 

The best way to deal with a problem is to deal with its source. However, just like a case of having a common cold and trying to treat it, attacking the sources of our anxieties may prove difficult or even impossible. In such cases the best option to deal with the source of the difficulty is to ease the symptoms it presents. 

Problems such as unemployment, job dissatisfaction and work overload are concerns beyond the fix ability of the average person. This is because these concerns result from political, cultural, and economic forces of which he has little control. And a common trap he endures is to think that he goes through the ordeal alone. To think that there must be a fundamental fault in him and with his abilities. 

Being aware of the pressures that certain sources of difficulty bring is helpful but being able to cope with the difficulties in cases where solutions are impossible to come by or take considerable time to manifest is better. 

The prescriptions in the previous post on how to deal with anxiety were suggestions to cope with a problem that may be the result of other underlying problems. They are not suggestions to cure anxiety, only cope with it. Anxiety can be helpful. It is our bodies's way of suggesting that something needs to be done about the issues that ail us. However, with the way the world presents itself, it's easy to feel a constant need to do something and to expel energies in areas of concern beyond which little can or should be done.

So keep these three ideas in mind:

1: Being anxious is perfectly normal. There is nothing strange about you. 

2: There are behaviours that can help you relax and cope, stick to behaviours that help you.  

3: To thrive, you need to be aware of your concerns but do well to focus on things of which you can control. 

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Post Author: P. W. Uduk 
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Photo Source: www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com

Question(s) of the week: What are problems that you experience and how do you deal/cope with them?

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