I’ve never hidden the fact that I am prone to depression and I suffer anxiety. I’m not one of those private people who like to keep everything inside. I heal by sharing. I heal by asking for help.
When I was young I wrote a lot. I wrote in my diary, I wrote stories and I wrote poems. I wrote so that I could get everything that I was feeling inside of me, outside of me and in some way, rid myself of these feelings.
When I first started my business one of the main things I was worried about was, “how do I run my own business if I suffer from anxiety? How the hell will I ever get anything done if I’m in the middle of an episode?” I went ahead with it anyway and just dealt with things as they popped up. Four years in and I’ve been able to run my business and cope through times of anxiety. I’m not going to say that it’s easy, but I force myself through it when I just feel like lying down and hiding from the world. I am not a psychologist, a counsellor or in any way trained in mental health, but I know what works for me and I share it with you in the hope that it might help in some way.
Talk to my husband
I’m fortunate in that I have a very supportive husband who believes in me more than I do, and is always there when I need someone to listen and give me sensible advice.
Lean on my friends
I have a solid group of friends who are a fantastic network and support. I am a firm believer of finding your tribe and loving them hard.
Write To Release
Just as in my teen years, writing still helps me heal. If you have a creative release, try doing that and see if that helps.
Listen To Music
Sometimes the right song can pull me out of the doldrums and if I can keep the playlist rolling, the anxiety is behind me before I realize what’s happening.
Control My Breath
Learning to control my breath has been the best thing ever for me. In my blog My Top Tips For Maintaining Your Mental Health, I write:
This was a skill my psychologist tried to teach me and for the life of me, I could not master it when I was seeing her. I don’t know why – I just couldn’t slow my breath down enough. But that’s all changed since I started yoga and I learnt about ujayi breathing. If you’re struggling to slow your breathing down, you need to watch this tutorial and practise. It’s just fantastic. And it’s so true. Once you control your breath, nothing seems so bad. Usually it’s my racing heart that will kick-start me into anxiety. But what started the racing heart? Sometimes it’s caffeine. Sometimes it’s a comment or interaction I’ve taken the wrong way. Whatever it is, my heart is racing and I’m sliding into an episode of anxiety. But all it takes is for me to start slowing my breath down and after a minute or two, everything is better and I can think clearly again.
Cry
Sometimes having a good, hard cry is great. It releases all the pent up emotion.
Exercise
My Psychologist told me I needed to start running and I remember thinking “what is she talking about? I’m losing my mind and she wants me to RUN?!”. But I tried it and I stuck with it and it really helped. Over the years, I’ve replaced running with long walks and yoga and these tend to work just as effectively for me now. Whatever you choose, find an exercise that you enjoy and make time to do it regularly.
Limit my alcohol and caffeine
Alcohol is a depressant and caffeine increases your heart rate. Whenever I was going through an “episode” i just thought life was terrible. It didn’t occur to me that my mood was in anyway linked to the bender I had had the night before, or the three cans of V that I’d had before lunch. When I learnt of the connection between what I put in my body and the physical reaction to it, it was a lightbulb moment. Ever since, I will monitor what I’m drinking when I can feel that I’m anxious or sliding into depression.
And that’s it! That’s pretty much my toolkit of how I deal with my anxiety. I’m not anxious all the time, and certainly if I’m going through something, my clients never know. But it’s good to have game plan because anxiety can hit out out of the blue if you’re not paying attention.
In the Entrepreneur article How To Prevent Anxiety From Running Your Business they have four suggestions that are slightly different to mine:
- Balance your need for perfection
- Stop being a people pleaser
- Give up the illusion of control
- Practice relaxation techniques
So four more great ideas of how to manage your anxiety levels. If you run your own business and suffer anxiety or depression (or both), you need to know that you’re not alone. I’m sharing my experiences with you in the hope that it will help someone out there. If you have any other techniques that help you, I’d love to hear about them!
Yours in anxiety. Now, but not forever,
Leanne
Hardcastle Social Media is an independent social media consultancy based in Inner Brisbane. We provide strategic social media marketing to organisations of all sizes and have recently started offering newsletter services too! Specialising in Facebook & Instagram business page management we provide services from setting up your Facebook or Instagram business page through to total management of your current platforms. Contact us today on 0401 505 423 or info@hardcastlesocialmedia.com.au. We offer expert social media advice and look forward to discussing your business needs.