Are You Tripping Any of These Common Triggers for Anxiety? (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this short blog series, we talked about a handful of triggers that can make those anxious feelings have a big spike. These biggies were:

• Triggers (like sensory reminders of trauma triggers)
• Family
• Nothing at all
• Social situations
• Lack of sleep

But I know from my own experience, my research, and working with women who deal with anxiety that there are a few others we need to cover today. And, of course, I’ll be sharing with you queens what you can do about it when you stumble onto one of these triggers.

Stress

All of us deal with the stress of our daily tasks and life situations stacking up. But if you have underlying overwhelm waiting to rear its head, stress might affect you a little differently. Generally, psychologists identify stress as something that has an external cause, like a big deadline in your biz. Once the task is accomplished, the stress dissipates. 

Anxiety and stress can feel similar in the body. So if your stressor goes away, and you still feel all out of whack, that’s a good sign that you’re dealing with anxiety too. And if stress gets your cortisol in a tizzy, you might have a harder time self-regulating after a perceived “threat” or stressor goes away if you do also deal with anxiety.

How to deal with it: 

If you know you have a stressful situation ahead, whether it’s deadlines on deadlines or you’re hosting a big event, make sure to block out times for self-care and rest in advance, both during and after the stressful event.

If you find yourself in the midst of an overwhelm and stress storm, take some time to do a few of your favorite self-soothing tactics and repeat a mantra like, “This is temporary, and I can do hard things.”

A Messy House

Sometimes a messy house is all you need to make your overwhelm feel insurmountable. When you’ve got mountains of laundry, dirty dishes, and clutter everywhere, it can feel like the world is closing in on you, and you’ll simply never have enough time to get it all done. 

Sometimes anxiety also has a little friend called OCD, and if you’re someone that recognizes you have OCD tendencies, a messy house could be an even bigger trigger for you.

How to deal with it:

Okay, babes, take it from me—when you’re already dealing with feeling anxious, for most people, making a massive to-do list of how you’re going to declutter your entire house is not going to help. You need to set achievable goals so you can build on those wins! Maybe you break it down like—on Monday, I will fold the laundry, on Tuesday, I will put away the laundry, etc. Or start with completing one declutter project a month to evolve your space slowly.

If you’re someone with OCD and taking your time cleaning your house is something you cannot have chill about, consider delegating. If you’re able, hire a cleaning service to come regularly to help lighten the load and maintain a baseline clean. If that’s not an option, make sure to share what you need and delegate to your partner, children, or roommates.

Health

Health concerns cause both stress and anxiety. If you or someone close to you is dealing with a health problem, sister, I see you and am sending you all the virtual hugs. 

But, if having unwarranted (okay, you probably feel like they’re warranted) anxious feelings about your health, that’s something you can address. I don’t want to say it’s normal to have anxiety about your health because I don’t want you to keep putting up with it. But health anxiety certainly does happen, and if you’re in it, here are some things you can do.

How do deal with it: 

One Medical has a really great article on how to cope with health anxiety, but I’ll hit you with the highlights. Acknowledging it’s normal for your body to send you signals is a great place to start (for example, when you start to freak out about a tension headache after a stressful day, worrying that it’s a brain tumor, remind yourself that this signal your body is sending you is normal.)

Also, please, just set down your phone and don’t self-diagnose. Take those unhelpful thoughts of the worst-case scenario and challenge them.

And, if there is a present health concern with you or a loved one, try some mindfulness meditation to soothe the anxious thoughts.

Finances

Feeling anxious about money is so prevalent that there is a term for it—money anxiety. Having a looming, upcoming bill that you’re not sure how to pay or having a lot of debt could make anyone feel anxious. If you already struggle with feeling anxious in your day-to-day life, financial stress only makes it worse. 

And unfortunately, there is a lot about money and finances that is out of our control. Healthline shared that 87% of Americans are stressed about inflation. In these kinds of situations, we just have to focus on what we can control.

How to deal with it: 

Ruminating thoughts about inflation and the US and world economy have to go! If you’re someone who struggles with ruminating thoughts, seeing a therapist is always a good option. Mindfulness meditation is also a good practice that can help you release the worries you can’t control.

Actionable steps you can take over your own finances help too! If you don’t already do so, creating and following a budget can really relieve the anxiety of wondering if you’ll have enough money to cover everything each month. Tools like Every Dollar make budgeting easy, and you won’t be balancing a paper checkbook or creating elaborate spreadsheets.

Caffeine

If you’re already feeling overwhelmed with a massive to-do list, the temptation is REAL just to chug another cup of coffee, put your head down, and keep working. But caffeine can actually make your anxiety much worse. For all my coffee addicts out there, you may just feel used to it. But if your anxious thoughts feel worse than ever, you might be surprised how much relief you could get from cutting back on caffeine.

How to deal with it: 

If you’re someone who is drinking a ton of coffee or energy drinks, you might need to start by cutting back instead of going cold turkey. Creating small goals and accomplishing them helps us feel successful and keeps the good vibes rolling as we continue to grow!

Believe it or not, there are plenty of decaf or non-caffeinated bevvies out there that still make you feel like you’re treating yourself but won’t cause your blood pressure to rise through the roof.

Come Hang Out with Women Out Loud!

I know you can’t avoid all anxiety triggers forever. But being in awareness of what triggers those anxious and overwhelmed thoughts is very powerful. It allows you to control the things you can control, and to apply some of your favorite self-soothing techniques when you’re in a situation you can’t control. 

And, if you want to be even more empowered and encouraged to be the badass woman in business that you are, anxiety be damned, then come hang out with us at Women Out Loud!