Updated on 02/19/24
Hey guys! My name is Christine Marie Frey also known as Christine XP. I am the founder of the new and growing youth mental health project and community Brain XP, and I’m excited to collaborate with Discovery!
Let’s get into an important topic: how to deal with anxiety over the unknown. I would like to share with you 10 tips on how to cope when you start to feel anxious:
1. Identify triggers that cause your anxiety over the unknown.
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- Pay close attention to the different situations you are in that cause your anxiety. If you are experiencing anxiety when uncertainties pop up, track your trigger each time you feel the anxiety. This will help you figure out your patterns of anxiety and can help you learn what you can prepare for and what is out of your control.
2. Practice mindfulness.
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- Mindfulness helps you stay in the present moment, which will leave you with less anxiety that may arise while thinking about the past or the future.
- There are many ways you can practice mindfulness. You can meditate, breathe deeply, or simply just distract yourself with an activity to keep your mind from wandering to past experiences or thinking about future events.
3. Take care of yourself.
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- Spend some time alone just to practice self-care. Let your mind relax from all the worries or fears that you have.
4. Talk positively.
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- Talking to yourself in positive ways helps you keep an optimistic attitude, which can really help to alleviate the anxiety you feel.
- Envisioning positive outcomes when you are facing unknown situations is also a great way to battle through the uncertainties.
5. Develop a set of coping skills
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- Find a set of coping skills to help you deal with your anxiety. Some ideas to lean on include finding a creative activity, like arts and crafts, that alleviates your stress;
- Exercising, dancing or other enjoyable type of movement to release your worries;
- Eating nourishing foods to keep your body feeling healthy and energized;
- And getting plenty of sleep, so you wake up each morning feeling ready to tackle the day or any uncertainties that may arise.
6. Prepare the best that you can.
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- In situations when you do have control, observe what you can prepare for the next time that situation comes up again.
- If there are things you can do to prepare yourself and your mind before you enter a certain situation, take advantage of those opportunities.
7. Try not to dwell on past experiences that did not go well.
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- Every day is a new day, and every situation you experience will be unique. There is no need to dwell when things do not go exactly how you would like.
- Instead, see what you can do to potentially make a similar situation go better.
8. Surround yourself with a great support structure.
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- A good support structure of people who care about you helps the process of overcoming anxiety much easier.
- Having a network of people to confide in is a very comforting feeling.
9. Ask for help.
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- Do not be afraid to ask for help.
- Asking for help when trying to overcome anxiety over the unknown is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness, and that is very important to remember.
10. Keep hope alive.
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- When your anxieties begin to feel overwhelming, keep hope alive.
- Positive outcomes are absolutely possible, and an optimistic outlook helps you achieve them.
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So that’s it! Again, I’m Christine XP from Brain XP (which stands for “Brain Expanded), and I’m proud to usher in a new movement that is helping change the language of mental health by focusing on positivity. Check out brainxp.org for tons of free resources, including a huge teen toolbox of coping skills, blogs, videos, music, and so much more.