Starting college is an exciting and potentially anxiety-inducing time. Some people love new experiences, opportunities, and challenges, while other people can find it overwhelming to be immersed in a new environment.

As you or someone you know is beginning college this fall, remember that prioritizing mental health is important. The transition to college can be overwhelming, but with the right resources and support systems in place, you can navigate this period successfully and prioritize your mental well-being.

Familiarize Yourself with Available Mental Health Support Systems On and Off-Campus

College life can bring about a whirlwind of emotions–excitement, anxiety, and everything in between. Mental health plays a pivotal role in your overall well-being and academic success.

Universities are increasingly acknowledging the need for adequate, timely responses so that their students can get the mental health support they need. When you arrive at your campus–or when you login to your online campus–take time to familiarize yourself with the available support systems. You can often ask a staff member, professor, RA, or a friend to let you know what services exist.

Here are common mental health support systems to inquire about.

1. Counseling Services
Most colleges have counseling centers that offer individual and group counseling sessions. Trained professionals are there to listen and provide guidance on a range of issues, from stress management to depression to relationship concerns. Some colleges offer online resources such as mental health assessments, virtual counseling, and self-help modules.

Counseling can help you develop coping strategies and express your thoughts and feelings. Some counseling centers may have psychiatrists, or may provide referrals to local mental health professionals for medication prescriptions and specialized support.

Remember that if you’re in crisis, most colleges have emergency services available. This might involve a 24/7 crisis hotline or a dedicated counselor who can provide immediate assistance.

2. Peer Support Groups
Some colleges organize peer support groups where students can connect with others who may be facing similar challenges. For example, a peer support group may exist for survivors of domestic abuse or for students recovering from eating disorders.

Ideally, a peer support group creates a non-judgemental space to share your story, listen to other’s stories, and learn from one another. If you prefer seeking help off-campus, your college can provide you with information about local mental health clinics, therapists, and support groups.

3. Wellness Programs & Campus Health Services
Many campuses offer wellness programs that focus on promoting holistic well-being. These programs can include workshops on mindfulness, stress reduction, time management, and more. Participating in these activities can equip you with valuable tools for maintaining your mental health.

Your college’s health center is another valuable resource. They can provide medical care and guidance on a range of health-related issues, including mental health.

4. Academic Advisors
Academic advisors cannot offer direct mental health support in the same way that licensed professionals can; however, they can point you in the right direction. Plus, they may offer guidance on course selection, workload management, and study strategies, which can help reduce stress and anxiety in itself.

5. Residential Advisors (RAs)
If you’re living in a dormitory, your RA can be a great source of support. They may be closer in age to you, which makes them more approachable, ideally. RAs are trained to assist students with various challenges. They can also provide information about campus resources or simply listen when you need to talk.

How to Prioritize Self-Care during the College Years

While mental illness can happen to anyone, at any time, proactive self-care can go a long way. Remember that if self-care does not help with whatever you or someone you love is navigating, that it’s not your fault.

One of the best ways to prioritize wellness is to practice your time management skills so you have time for studying, sleeping, socializing, working a job, etc. We know this is easier said than done.

As a start, try to establish a consistent sleep schedule. Maybe this looks like setting an alarm at 10:00 p.m. to remind yourself to stop working or socializing, and get ready for bed. If you have a sleeping disorder, consider asking a counselor for their advice on how to navigate that. A long-term lack of sleep will negatively impact your mood and cognitive functioning. Regular physical activity and nutritious meals can also help your sleep routine.

While partying is part of many campus cultures, try to avoid excessive alcohol or substance use. It not only disrupts with your sleep, but also has side effects that can negatively impact your mental health. It is possible to meet people and cultivate meaningful relationships without partying excessively.

Mental Health for College Students

Many college campuses have mental health support in place for students. North American mental health services has partnered with Simpson University, providing students help for stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD and more.

Spending time in nature–casually referred to as “nature therapy”–has many positive mental health outcomes. Each year, new studies emerge highlighting how people can nurture their health by spending increased time in nature, getting exposure to sunlight, and bringing natural elements (like house plants) indoors.

If you have ever been stressed and found yourself feeling calmer after a walk outside, then you know from personal experience how nature can help reduce tension and lift your mood. Here is a brief glimpse into the ways that nature “therapy” is great for mental health for people of all ages.

Humans Are a Part of Nature: It Makes Sense That We Need It

While it is easy to feel–and be–disconnected from nature, people are a part of nature. Historically, most of human life was spent outdoors, which means that our brains and bodies are naturally adapted to life outside.

Humans shifted from hunter gatherer lifestyles, to agrarian systems with farming and more permanent settlements, and in more modern times, we spend time in office buildings, indoor shops, and the confines of apartments and houses.

From a “big picture” historic perspective, humans are used to a lot of time in nature, but modern humans now spend 90% of our time indoors. That is a sharp decrease from what we were accustomed to by design.

Eco-psychology studies the link between nature and health

People in cities that have little green space often deal with cognitive fatigue. This is where eco-psychology comes in: how can we design cities that center our basic need for nature?

Ecopsychology has helped people consider how to better design their homes, office spaces, backyards, and more, to be reflective of nature. Studying the link between nature and health has also helped reveal that plants and green space help reduce stress. Even spending some time in a backyard or “pocket park” can produce positive outcomes.

Children also need nature for overall, strong mental health

Bringing family or friends to a park is an easy way to be outside, get some movement, take a break from screens, and experience a mood boost. Many studies suggest that children with attention deficit disorders may experience reduced symptoms when they consistently spend more time in nature.

If you have a child in your life and you can consider a weekly trip to a regional or city park, a local school garden, or even a local, favorite tree, you are helping your child stay healthy on many levels. Kids often know how to explore nature and can remind adults too, when we forget or when it’s been a while.

Simply feeling connected to nature is good for children, teenagers, and adults.

Nature Therapy can Improve Quality of Life

Many types of therapy can help people realize big epiphanies like, “I want to have more energy in my life,” or “I want a job that allows me to spend my weekends in nature, with no need to check email.”

There is also an abundance of nature-based activities, from hiking to looking for rainbows after a good rain. Maybe make a list of three activities in nature you miss doing or that you are curious to try. Can you try one this week? Therapists can also help you set healthy lifestyle goals and spend more time in nature.

North American Mental Health Services has offices in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister to work with a therapist in person. Online therapy is available through HomePsych.

A therapist may provide self-assessment tools like a “life balance wheel” to help people reflect and change their habits. It is always a good time to reflect on how grounded you feel in various areas of your life. A completed life balance wheel is a helpful visual that may make it easier to identify what areas of your life need more attention and care.

We hope this article on balance–complete with a life balance wheel visual–is useful to you on your mental health journey.

What is Life Balance?

Asking what balance is is a bit like asking what the meaning of life is: you may get different answers depending on who you ask and depending on their personal, spiritual, and social beliefs.

The dictionary from Oxford Languages defines balance as “a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.” Therapists help people figure out what elements of their life are not in a proportion that feels good, and develop a strategy to realign time and commitments. People can fall “out of balance” when they work too hard and have less time for friends and family; conversely, a toxic relationship might demand more time and attention, and make someone might feel out of balance and unable to devote enough time to their career or hobbies.

Therapists and counselors use cognitive therapy to discuss and address conflicts that people may face in their work-family balance.

How to Use a Life Balance Wheel

First, ask your therapist for a self-assessment tool like a life balance wheel. We recommend pairing this reflection with cognitive therapy, so you can actualize what habits you want to change to move toward balance. If you do not have a therapist, you can still print the life balance wheel from this article. Alternatively, you can draw a circle on a large piece of paper and make your own life balance wheel.

Once you have your life balance wheel, allot at least 10 minutes to sit down and reflect. Rate how satisfied you are, on a scale of 1–10, with each of the 8 categories in your life. On the life balance wheel in this article, those categories include family, relationships/love, career/study, wealth/finance, health/fitness, service/community, social/friends, and spiritual/self-time. Mark the ratings accordingly, so that the higher rankings show more areas filled in toward the outer edge of the circle.

You can also do this activity with your partner or an “accountability buddy” and discuss the reflections afterward that you feel comfortable sharing.

For Best Results, Prioritize Mental Health

Making a life balance wheel can help you realize what is in alignment and what needs fixing. Sometimes, what “needs fixing” is complex. Or, better said, what needs fixing is something that needs healing. For example, maybe after the self-assessment, you feel that you are not satisfied with your social/friends and your health/fitness category. But how do you work toward greater satisfaction in those areas, and in a way that feels sustainable for long-term growth and change?

Remember that therapy changes lives. With the life balance wheel, maybe there are underlying mental health issues at play that influence your satisfaction with various areas of your life. For example, therapy can help you gain tips to ease anxiety and depression, which in turn can influence the relationships in your life.

Many people feel that having a therapist keeps them accountable to their goals and also provides a deeper reflection on what their goals are, and why. You also do not need to “hit rock bottom” to consider therapy; many people pursue mental health support when they are doing okay, but have a few areas of their life that they wish felt more balanced. Other people invest in their mental health when they want to gain helpful tools for navigating life.

Find the Right Therapist For You

Speaking with a healthcare professional can also bring balance and clarity into your life. At North American Mental Health Services, we believe that feeling better starts with finding someone to listen to your experiences.

If you or a loved one need help to manage life’s challenges, and you are interested in working with a therapist in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister , or Monterey, contact us. NAMHS also offers online therapy.

Single people can live rich, meaningful lives, especially when they receive insight from therapy. It is normal to seek intimacy and connection with others, and there are many benefits from deep connections. It is also vital to begin with oneself and find out how to feel fulfilled, no matter the presence or absence of romantic love.

Whether already finding happiness and fulfillment as a single person, or wanting to move toward a more joy-filled life in singlehood, there are lots of steps one can take.

There are many types of therapy. Each of them can help you unlock your best life.

Therapy helps people manage stress and learn more about themselves

In the 1950s, the societal image of therapy–based on movies and other media–was stigmatized. People raised in this generation often express how they did not seek therapy due to fear of being seen as “crazy” or “messed up.” Now, many people, academic institutions, and workplaces acknowledge that therapy is one of the healthiest practices anyone can do, regardless of their current mental state.

In sports, the best athletes have coaches and those coaches make them stronger, faster, and better. Therapists are like coaches but for everyone, and they offer professional support and often, decades of experience.

Newly single people might be processing recent changes and need someone to help them ascertain the next steps. Other people may feel great about their singlehood except for when big social events, like the holidays, occur and they wish they had helpful tips to manage stress.

Everyone in life, no matter their mental state, can benefit from a mental health coach.

Does Therapy Work For Everyone?

Therapy can benefit everyone depending on the quality of the therapy, the skill level of the therapist, and the effort people bring to their sessions. At NAMHS, our practitioners are LMFTs (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists), LCSWs (Licensed Clinical Social Workers), and LPCCs (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors). As general guidance, make sure that you find a therapist who is licensed.

If people resist therapy, it could be worth exploring that resistance with a therapist. Behind that behavior, is there a struggle with accepting help, trusting authority figures, or believing one deserves to feel better? If the latter reason resonates, that could mean that it is time to focus on self-love.

Therapy can be helpful when people experience transitions, such as a romantic breakup, death of a family member or friend, changes at work, or even seasonal changes. If therapy can change lives, why not give it a try?

Loving Yourself Matters, Whether Single or Not

Many people express the need to be loved by someone. There is nothing wrong with this desire, but it’s also important to love oneself. It can lead to unhealthy relationships when people lean on one person to remind them they are loveable and desirable. It is also a lot of pressure for one human to make someone feel that way all the time; in this case, prioritizing self-love might mean prioritizing platonic friendships that bring meaningful connection into one’s life.

When people do not love themselves, whether out of shame, unprocessed trauma, etcetera, they also risk hurting other people. Ever heard the saying “hurt people hurt people?” It means that when people self-loathe, they often take that anger out on other people. The good news is that anyone can work toward loving themselves, even if the idea sounds intimidating or far-fetched.

One way to embrace self-love is to be more compassionate when plans or situations do not work out for you. For someone experiencing social anxiety while at a conference for work, they could “choose compassion” by reminding themselves of how awkward it can be to mingle–rather than berate themselves for getting overwhelmed. Or, if you are having a low self-image day, rather than beginning a crash diet, you could acknowledge the truth: you’re having a low self-image day. After acknowledging this, then you could seek a self-soothing activity that grounds you in the present moment, before making your next decision.

If you’ve ever heard someone say, “Oh I’m so stupid, sorry about that,” then you have heard someone who may struggle with self-love. You can respond to these kinds of statements by assuring that person, “You’re not stupid. You’re human.” This works in reverse too. For example, if your first thought after a simple mistake is, “I’m so stupid, I can’t believe I left my charging cord at work,” try to follow that statement with, “Actually, I’m not stupid. I’m human. And when I’m tired, I forget things more easily.”

By being more gentle with ourselves, we are more ready to extend compassion to others too.

Being Single and Loving Yourself is Possible

Each year, many people make resolutions like, “this is the year I will fall in love with someone.” As mentioned above, there is nothing inherently wrong with a resolution like this; however, as far as a goal you have more influence in making happen, it ranks fairly low. It can be hard to meet the right person, depending on various factors such as timing, openness, emotional availability, attraction, and compatibility.

If struck by loneliness, consider leaning into that “sharp point” as Pema Chodron writes in her book, When Things Fall Apart. With a licensed therapist, you can explore why being single scares you and begin the radical act of loving yourself as you are.

We encourage residents in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister to request an appointment to work with a NAMHS therapist in person or inquire about our online therapy care.

Simeon Jones, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with North American Mental Health Services, offers his latest thoughts in this article about gravity as it relates to life lessons.

“Something is comforting and intriguing about learning what keeps this universe together and what tears it apart,” Jones reflects.

At work, Jones specializes in working with adults experiencing anxiety, depression, and relationship difficulties. When not working, he enjoys watching the Science Channel and making connections between science and life phenomena. Gravity is one of the scientific topics that intrigues Jones.

What Gravity Can Teach Us about Life

Throughout history, scientists have focused their curiosity on what forces govern matter and energy. Gravity interests Jones because of its related theories, such as how objects with more mass attract objects with less mass: the sun attracts the Earth and the other planets in our solar system, and the Earth attracts the moon.

“It takes immense energy to escape gravitational pull. This is called escape velocity,” Jones says.

Forces in life can have similar dynamics. The “mass” that is created in our lives, can create a type of gravitational pull that keeps us where we are.

“I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to southern California for graduate school,” Jones shares. “I never thought that I would stay there for more than two years or so to get my degree.”

But after successful and meaningful therapy internships, he began to feel the various pulls to stay. “Promotions and added responsibility made it easy for me to go with the flow, and stay put. And then I met the love of my life. We got married and had two kids.”

Life’s gravity began making it harder for Jones to make changes. He also began recognizing a fear of failure and a lack of security that made it hard to reach escape velocity.

Finding Escape Velocity and Making Changes Happen

Jones wanted to leave his comfort zone and begin a private coaching business, but it seemed daunting. “The economy was in bad shape and the security of my current position made taking a chance hard to imagine.”

Here are three conclusions he made about reaching “escape velocity.”

The energy needed to break free from the gravity of your situation is immense. Be wise with how you direct that energy. For Jones, he found guidance by making lists, scheduling quiet time with a higher power, and making time with his wife and counselors. Consider asking yourself where you are putting energy toward something that does or does not help your goals.

Remember that it is a process. Change can be slow. Ask yourself questions like, “what about my current situation is serving the change I want to see? Who can support me?”

Trust in the process. The struggle you are experiencing can be the very thing that will make you valuable.

These three tips can help anyone who wants to make a change but does not know where to begin.

Find the Right Therapist For You

Therapists like Simeon Jones at North American Mental Health Services offer tangible ways to embrace life changes so you can continue living a balanced life.

If you or a loved one need help to manage life’s challenges, and you are interested in working with a therapist in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister or online therapist contact us.

Making a goal for a healthy lifestyle and making a plan to actualize your goals are two different matters. According to Forbes Health and OnePoll, 62% of people reported that improved physical and mental health was a top goal.

People often reach their goals when the goals are realistic and measurable. But what does tracking a goal entail? We hope this article offers helpful insight so that you can actualize a lifestyle you love.

Foster Healthy Habits: Create a System for Tracking Goals

According to the same survey, 52% of people setting goals use a resource to measure and track their health-related goals. Breaking a lofty goal into small, actionable steps is a great way to align the lifestyle you want with the lifestyle you have.

Many people express a goal to “exercise more.” Before creating a system to track that, make that goal more specific. What kind of exercise motivates you to move? During the day, what time are you most likely to exercise? Once refined, this same goal can be, “I want to run twice a week after work with my coworker, Ryan.”

The specific exercise is now measurable. Now you can create a simple spreadsheet, a post-workout note in Google Calendar, or even a handwritten note in a planner that tracks if you ran that week. It is also a specific goal, with the boost of an “accountability buddy” like Ryan who can help you stay on track with a shared goal.

There are apps available to help you reach any health-related goals. Sharing your goals with a therapist may help set a realistic plan, gain a sense of what blocks you from certain behaviors, and build actionable steps based on what motivates you.

We encourage residents in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister to request an appointment to work with a NAMHS therapist in person or inquire about our online therapy care.

Self soothing refers to the ability to regulate your body and emotions with actionable steps. The following actions can bring a sense of calm back to the day. Young children can also incorporate these tips into their routines and experience the benefits.

Enjoy the tips for self soothing and share them with a friend who could use relief from anxiety or depression.

Self Soothing Tip #1 – Know Your Triggers

Knowing what behaviors and words trigger you is an important first step to self soothing. Ideally, you can avoid triggering behavior altogether, but sometimes, you may not have control over your surroundings or the people who trigger you.

For example, people with a history of body dysmorphia or eating disorders might feel triggered when people comment on perceived weight gain or loss. If you know that these types of comments could trigger you, you can brace yourself for the comment. There might be comfort in knowing, “that type of comment would trigger me.”

By naming the trigger and having compassion for yourself, you can self soothe and bring yourself a bit of comfort.

Self Soothing Tip #2 – Seek Out Interactive Activities

This tip requires another person or animal to bring you comfort. Given that pets help reduce people’s blood pressure, it makes sense that when feeling strong emotions, being around another living being can help.

If you have a pet, great. If not, there are other ways to experience interactive soothing: do you have a friend or a partner who you can ask for a hug or a back rub? Is there an affordable place to get a massage?

Self Soothing Tip #3 – Breathe Your Way to a Calm Place

Our article, Embracing Anxiety: 3 Tips from a Licensed Therapist offers more tips to work through anxiety. Many of those tips can help soothe. For breathing your way to a calmer place, try taking three deep breaths. Upon inhaling, count “one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi,” and pause for one second while holding your breath before a slow exhale.

Or, try closing one nostril by placing your index finger on the right or left nostril. Then, breathe in through the open nostril for a count of three. At the peak of the inhale, switch your index finger to cover the other nostril upon exhaling. The simple coordination this breathing requires can help a rattled mind.

Find the Right Therapist For You

Looking for a therapist? NAMHS can help in finding a therapist. In addition to self soothing, speaking with a healthcare professional can also bring comfort and clarity into your life. At North American Mental Health Services, we believe that feeling better starts with finding someone to listen to your experiences.

NAMHS has in-person therapists in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister as well as online therapy care available via HomePsych.

While some of these ideas require advanced planning, they do help soothe a rattled nervous system.

North American Mental Health Services is celebrating our Grand Opening in Monterey, CA. Professionals and community members are welcomed to attend the celebration.

Refreshments and appetizers will be provided!

When:
Thursday January 12, 2023
4:30-6pm

Where:
1035 Cass Street
Monterey, CA 93940

About NAMHS:
North American Mental Health Services provides psychiatric services in Redding, Fairfield, Woodland, Eureka, online—and now in Monterey, CA.

People may joke about “staying sane” during the holidays, but the saying holds. Each winter, navigating holiday stress is difficult for many people. Depending on one’s life experiences, the holidays can elicit complicated emotions. It might be tempting to self-medicate during the holidays, but there are ways to ensure you receive effective, soothing support. Here are three stress tips from our therapists to help you manage the holidays.

Stress Tip #1 – Remember that movies can create unrealistic expectations

Movies and advertisements often present the “pure joy” of the holidays, causing many people to feel isolated in their stress, anxiety, and loneliness. Spending a Christmas in New York while falling in love sounds great. So does staying in a cabin with friends or family, surrounded by giant snowflakes and cheery snowmen.

While many people do experience joy during the holidays, it is more common that people share the realities of holiday stress, too. Some of these stressors might relate to the logistical stress of hosting one’s family, feeding large groups of people with various tastes and needs, and putting aside your own needs to help with the chaos. Conversely, the lack of any logistical stress if there are “no holiday plans” may induce feelings of sadness, loneliness, anxiety, or boredom.

Additional emotional stressors during the holidays may include feeling depressed when you “should” feel happy—the “should” referring to what the movies signal society to feel. Or perhaps you dread the yearly holiday meal when you share proximity with an estranged, or even abusive, relative.

These emotional stressors may feel isolating, but the reality is that most people navigate one–if not several–emotional stressors during the winter holidays. Remember, life is not like how the movies portray it, especially during the holidays.

Stress Tip #2 – Identify your big triggers and develop a “game plan”

Self-inquiry is a valuable process that can help people regulate themselves during potentially stressful situations. By knowing your triggers, you will be more likely to take a step back from the direct comment or action that triggered you, and take care of yourself rather than spiral or burst into anger.

For many people, for example, navigating the holidays as someone with a previous or ongoing eating disorder is difficult. If someone comments during dinner about any perceived weight gain or weight loss of someone else at the table, what do you do?

By identifying this potential trigger in advance, you can create a game plan for when it happens. So when Aunt Sally says, “Wow [name] are you going to eat all that turkey?” right as you are about to enjoy dinner, you can remind yourself, “Aunt Sally is not aware of the harm of her statements.” If you have a partner or close relative at this event, and you feel comfortable telling them about a triggering relative or conversation that might come up, try creating a game plan, or create a code word or gesture for when you feel like you need physical comfort or reassurance.

It may seem silly, but having a go-to internal script or plan during an unavoidable stressor, such as talking with “Aunt Sally” at Thanksgiving, can go a long way. Conversely, you can try to avoid sitting near a triggering relative during the entire evening, but that may be less in your control. Lastly, reflect on if you are are able to communicate with your relatives about your triggers and concerns before the event. This last option requires your relatives to have the communicative tools or self-inquiry to hear you, reflect on their actions, and change their behaviors.

Stress Tip #3 – You Have Permission to “Opt Out” of Major Stressors

Sometimes, you need to remember: you do not have to go to stressful, triggering events if you do not want to. If you have tried to set limits and boundaries with certain family members or friends, and they continue to not hear your needs, maybe you need a break this holiday.

This is a major decision that can initially feel isolating. But it may be the best option if a “required” event during the holidays could harm your mental health.

If each year, for example, an after-hours Office Holiday Party always results in giving you an anxiety attack, maybe this is the year you do not go. Make up an excuse. Come down with a “cold” the day before. These options do exist. Your mental health matters.

A therapist can help you explore all your options and create a plan that makes you feel seen, respected, and emotionally stronger.

Have a Question? Schedule a Visit with an NAMHS Therapist

There are big questions and potential solutions to complicated holiday dynamics and stressors. If you have a question or would like more information, contact NAMHS or request an appointment. NAMHS has in-person therapists available in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Woodland and Monterey. We also have online therapy appointments.

Our therapists are here to support you and provide short-term and long-term relief.

Embracing Anxiety: 3 Tips from a Licensed Therapist

Have you recently worked with a therapist? Each year, therapists help people with high anxiety find calm, stability, and relief. Anxiety affects millions of people, especially since 2020 when mass amounts of our population accumulated added stress from COVID-19 and increased uncertainty in their future.

Luckily, therapists at North American Health Services can offer tangible ways to embrace anxiety and work with it so you can continue living a balanced life.

Tips for Recognizing and Embracing Anxiety, from NAMHS LMFT Simeon Jones

Living with anxiety requires recognition of certain thought patterns, as well as lots of compassion for yourself. Think back to the early days, when surviving the initial COVID-19 lockdown seemed impossible, but you adapted. Living with high anxiety also requires adaptation.

Simeon Jones is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in working with adults experiencing anxiety, depression, and relationship difficulties. Here are his three tips for reducing high anxiety.

1. Remember that “Your Feelings are Valid” 
Some situations call for anxiety, such as concern for a sick loved one or uncertainty over one’s job or housing. However, constant levels of anxiety can be annoying to experience, at best, and devastating at worst.

Many people with anxiety often recognize when they feel anxious. This recognition is a worthy tip in itself. When you can label your state as “anxious,” the amygdala calms down in a process called affective labeling.

If your anxiety is producing emotional variations of fear (ranging from cautious to panicked), remember that your emotional experience is real. Your feelings are valid; however, the thoughts influencing these feelings may not be.

As Simeon Jones, LMFT described in Healing Modern Anxieties in a Shifting World, persistent feelings of fear and worry are not always helpful. That’s why additional self-inquiry, relational healing, and professional support can help you move through your emotions without getting “stuck.”

2. Recognize and Label Thought Distortions 
When feeling anxious, many people experience common thought distortions such as rumination and catastrophizing. These thought patterns might influence how you feel and perhaps, make you even more anxious. That feeling of anxiety is real, even if the thoughts influencing it may not necessarily reflect the truth.

For example, imagine that you messed up a presentation at work. You stumbled over your introductory slides, mispronounced a few words, and forgot to leave time for questions at the end. None of these mistakes are life-threatening, but all you can think is, “I ruined that presentation. My boss was not impressed. I might get fired. I’m going to get fired. If I get fired, I won’t be able to pay rent and support my family.”

This is a classic example of catastrophizing when after an initial stressful event, you’re experiencing a seemingly endless loop of “worst case scenarios.” When you find yourself caught in the whirlpool of catastrophizing, find ways to pause this line of thought and give your mind and body a break. The first step is to recognize and label the thought distortions, if and when they occur.

3. Connect with People 
This last tip requires a bit of vulnerability because it involves being honest with people about your experience with anxiety. Connecting with someone about mental health can mean different actions, depending on your needs.

One way to connect with people might mean calling a good friend who you always feel supported by, and letting them know you had a rough day with anxiety. Or maybe during a “high anxiety” moment, you can call them or even send them a quick text, expressing that you’re having a high anxiety day. Some friends—even good friends who mean well—may need you to tell them what you need to feel supported. Maybe all you want is a simple text back that is as simple as a heart emoji, to feel seen and loved. Maybe you just want someone to laugh with you about an awkward exchange, so you can find humor amidst the anxiety.

Another way to connect with people is to find a therapist who makes you feel seen and also has the professional tools to help you grow. This also requires vulnerability and trust, as you share your story with “a stranger.” But this stranger has one job: to support you. Plus, unlike a friend, they carry less bias and understand the complexity of mental health. You also don’t need to worry about “burdening” a therapist the way you might worry about “burdening” a friend. That said, a world where people talk more openly with friends and colleagues about mental health is a beautiful thing.

If you or someone you care about struggles with high anxiety, various types of therapy can also provide relief.

Find the Right Therapist For You
Anxiety is common: we live in a world with constant change, uncertainty, and challenges. At North American Mental Health Services, we believe that feeling better starts with finding someone to listen to your experiences.

NAMHS has in-person therapy in Redding, Eureka, Fairfield, Monterey, Salinas, Red Bluff and Hollister as well as online therapy care available via HomePsych.