We seem just to be getting through Covid and now something new is taking over, fear of War, is it that we are always just standing on the edge of FEAR? How are we coping with it when we are so in touch with the world and what is happening in it, through media, our phones, social media etc. etc. How do we stop the fear or at least suspend it for a little while?
According to Mental Health Ireland, Ireland has one of the highest rates of mental health illness in Europe with 18.5% of the population recorded a mental health illness such as anxiety, bipolor disorder, depression or drug/alcohol use in 2016. I can safely say that figure has most likely doubled as our health services are just not coping with our mental health illness pandemic. Anxiety and fear are on the up and up and especially in our youth, we need to find a way of coping as we are already in crisis.
Working these wellbeing tips into your daily life can assist in keeping the fear / anxiety at bay. Keeping our human connections open is so important as these keep us grounded and balanced, helping us to talk things through with our peers can just alleviate some of our fears.
Physical activity has been proven to be good for our mental health and wellbeing. By releasing chemicals in the brain you reduce depression and anxiety greatly. It is good to get out for a walk or join a class such as yoga or dance where you can come together as a group and exercise. Set yourself a small fitness challenge for the next month and document your mood before and after you exercise just to notice the difference.
We can all do things absent mindfully so maybe just by taking a little bit of time to be in the actual moment and notice the moments around us from the simple things like your breath to the birds singing we can start to see small changes by being more present in our current moment rather than being taken into the what if..
When we open our minds and begin to take on something new like learning a new task or reading a book we are taken into that moment so we cannot concern ourselves with other things our minds are focused and in turn this builds our confidence as it builds our skill set.
The simple task of volunteering takes you away from your own thoughts and fears for a little while and steps forward give someone else that helping hand. It is a positive step to lessen anxiety.
I find that I can be guilty of letting Fear take over in my life at times however I try to engage some of the above if not all to assist and bring me back into the moment of the present. My favourite tool is just to focus on the breath, the simplest of them all. Start by closing the eyes, hearing the breath and you draw it in and let it out. Allow the thoughts to arrive but let them go and focus back on the breath just the simple flow through in and out....
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