The Type A+ Podcast Episode 5: Managing Type A+ Anxiety - Links & Show Notes
Episode Description:
With a Type A+ Overachieving personality, sometimes comes a little bit (or a lot) of anxiety. Beth has struggled with anxiety and ways to manage that anxiety since before she can remember, and is sharing all the little ways she manages her anxiety on a regular basis, as well as when a panic attack creeps in.
A Disclaimer from Beth: I am not a medical doctor, mental health professional, counselor, therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist. If you are struggling with your own mental health and would like to seek help, here are resources from the SAMHSA National Helpline.
Links mentioned in the episode:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BOOKS TO READ:
Sober Curious Journey
I highly recommend reading This Naked Mind
MMJ Patient Journey
Leafwell is how I enrolled as a Medical patient in the state of NJ.
Quick Podcasts that Help Me Reduce Anxiety:
Daily Meditations/affirmations:
Podcast:
The Type A Plus Podcast Instagram
Host:
Beth Lawrence & Company Instagram
Beth will be back each week, delivering bite-sized tips (15 minute episodes or less) on how to optimize your life and work.
Episode Transcript can be found below:
Hello? Hello. Welcome back to the Type A+ podcast. This week, we're going to be talking about Type A+ anxiety management and the natural ways that I have found to reduce my anxiety and manage it without pharmaceutical medication. First a disclaimer. I am obviously not a medical doctor. I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I am not a mental health professional. I am only sharing tips with you that have helped me and that I've learned throughout the years. I hope that they help you too. And I also hope that if you require any outside assistance to obtain the mental health that you deserve, you seek that help and that you find a therapist or counselor that works for you.
The first place I'll start is the first time that I had a panic attack, I was, I believe, 12 years old. That's the first time that I remember at least. Feeling that, my heart was going to explode. I was doing a performance in front of the class and someone made fun of me for something.
And I remember my body just snapping into panic mode is all I can really say about it. I mean, you know, your Palm, sweat, your heart races. I sat down immediately and I thought I was going to faint. Uh, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I ran to the nurse and probably went home for the day and that started my journey to figure out what triggered my anxiety and how to manage my mental health.
Throughout high school had a great relationship with coffee and caffeine. So that definitely did not help the situation. When it came to my anxiety. I also had a very, very full schedule.
So I've tried to manage my anxiety throughout my life and some of the ways that I've done it. So some of the ways that I've tried to find control were extremely destructive. I wanted to point you in the direction of some of the positive ways that I have found to build resilience against anxiety and panic attacks for me. So in college, I went to a counselor and was having a lot of anxiety. I had been using cannabis, but it was not legal at the time. And so I was trying to find comfort in a therapist and a counselor, someone who could help me navigate what I had been feeling. I remember she prescribed me Xanax quicker than I could even get the word anxiety out.
And I had known a lot of people who use it recreationally. And I understood that it was something that you could definitely develop a dependency on. And I also understood that I. Have a quite an addictive personality. And so I asked for natural solutions first and they just basically said to get more exercise and drink less caffeine. Believe me, I don't think there was anything wrong with taking medication, but for me at the time, I did not want to go down that path. And so I wanted to try to find some natural ways of going about it myself first and seeing if I could manage it.
So it took me a while still to find something that worked for me. I just recently in the last couple of years have really developed a routine and here are the following ways that I try to prevent panic attacks and general anxiety throughout each day. I have given up alcohol. I have done it for several periods of time, some as long as five months. And it does not because I necessarily think that I have a quote-unquote problem with alcohol, but I did notice that when I gave it up, I had less anxiety in general. I felt more comfortable with who I am. I didn't second guess anything that I was thinking or saying. And so for me, that was a big game changer, especially when I started. My journey as a medical marijuana patient in the state of New Jersey and started to use cannabis as medicine, as opposed to the ways that most of us have been familiar with it, whether it's in college or hurt, you know, Concerts or however you discover it. Once you start using cannabis as medicine, it opens up the possibilities of plant medicine and natural ways to do good for you and your body. In addition to no alcohol. I also do not drink caffeine. If I can help it. Especially if I am in a very stressful time period, like a busy season, or even if I am trying to relax on vacation, I try not to bring that caffeine in. So 99.9 9% of the time, I'm either not drinking coffee at all, or I'm drinking decaffeinated coffee.
I also try to lower my sugar intake because the more sugar that I have, the more I crave it. The more, the cycle continues in terms of the ups and downs of my mood and the way that I feel, and the way that I react to things.
Something that's extremely important to me is movement and sunshine each day. Even when it's 30 degrees, you can find me outside at six 30 in the morning, walking my dog really enjoying nature, and, breathing in the cold air. I grew up in the woods when I was in high school. I wanted to sort of run away from that part of my life. And now I find myself so drawn to it. So drawn, especially to water, but also to the woods and to just the quiet and peace of nature. I'm very lucky to have parks around me, to live in a very walkable town, and also to be surrounded by a lot of water.
So that is extremely important to me, whether it's a 10-minute walk or. You know, five minutes of stretching or a mile run or lifting at the gym for an hour. I try to move each day and I absolutely try to get outside a bit each day.
I find that journaling has always helped me throughout my life to sort out my thoughts to really hone in on what really is going on and the root cause of what's happening because a lot of the time anxiety and worry for me is just replaying thoughts in my head. And I find that journaling and getting those thoughts out really gives me the space to expand upon whatever that thought is and try to stop the worry in its tracks, so to speak. And along that same line, I really do like to do digital detoxes a lot. I like not having my phone with me. I like being off the grid, and really just sitting with myself and in my thoughts.
And. The last thing is meditation. I absolutely love meditation. I try to do it each day, whether it is just listening to affirmations or a full-on guided meditation. I do try to have some mindfulness each day. And I also incorporate this when I am feeling a panic attack coming on, which does happen at times still. Another thing that I do is box breathing. So you inhale for a count of four. You hold for a count of four. You exhale for a count of four and you hold for a count of four and you repeat. That is something that I do to center myself before I am going on to a zoom meeting or before I am going in front of a crowd and speak which is not easy for me. So I always take a few moments to do box breathing. And the final thing that I do is.
Especially if I'm in a car, a passenger in a car, or a plane, I tried to, in my mind name five things. I see. Five things I hear. And five things I smell. And I repeat that. That helps me to focus on the moment that I am in and not start to worry about things that have happened in the past, or will happen in the future.
And the largest thing, I think the overarching concept also is to try to unlearn perfectionism. For me, perfectionism is really attached to my anxiety, and not being perceived as perfect, or good, in that case, was really attached to a lot of my anxious thoughts. So, getting a coach, working with a therapist, working with a counselor to uncover the reasoning behind some of your feelings or some of the ways that your mental health patterns have shown up in your life, and for me learning, perfectionism is critical in that.
I hope that each of you has a wonderful week of positive, beautiful mental health, without worry and full of things that you love. And I appreciate each and every one of you for listening to this podcast. Again, I can't tell you exactly how to manage your own mental health, but I hope that some of these tips have helped you and made you feel better, or at least made you feel not so alone. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back next week with the Type A+ podcast