A high school struggle
For four years of every young adult’s life, he or she is subjected to what is known as high school, a section of life that is supposed to be “the best years.”
For a select few, this sentiment is accurate. For the majority of us, it is not.
From stressful AP classes, to relationships, to first jobs and the never ending cycle of gossip and rumors, it’s normal to feel overwhelmed.
However, this feeling of anxiety can quickly turn to more serious feelings of hopelessness.
Anxiety is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.”
Unfortunately for us students, high school is nothing but uncertain outcomes.
As someone who has suffered from anxiety since a young age, I have tried every trick in the book on how to cope.
Therapy, medication, social detoxes, and so many other methods can be used, but as a student you can’t just take a day off from life, unless of course you’d like to make up a bunch of school work.
Over the years I have discovered four methods of controlling anxious thoughts without adding additional stress to my life.
Number one: take a breath. Taking a deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth, acts as a sort of reset button for your mind and body. This method is also discrete, so attention is not drawn to you.
Second method: repetitive actions. Tapping your foot, twirling your pencil, and doodling, all of these acts allow release of nervous energy simply by creating an automatic, normally mindless act.
Third method: listening to music. Listening to your favorite song can release endorphins, aka happy feelings, that ease tension.
Fourth: exercising. Yes, the tedious act of subjecting oneself to sweating and exhaustion helps to release pent up anxiety, and of course you can improve your physique, if you care about that sort of thing.
High school is not easy, and anyone that thinks our juvenile world is, then congrats.
But to those of us who struggle with the idea of getting up every morning and dealing with our peers, then me too, my dudes.