Learn about stress and anxiety with Gabby and Maddie. They talk about what stress and anxiety actually are. They share personal stories about their own struggles with anxiety. As well as tips to help manage it in day to day life.
Learn about stress and anxiety with Gabby and Maddie. They talk about what stress and anxiety actually are. They share personal stories about their own struggles with anxiety. As well as tips to help manage it in day to day life.
Hey folks, welcome back to the Get with the growth Podcast. I'm Maddie.
Gabby:And I'm Gabby. And for this week's episode, we're going to be talking about some strategies to help manage with stress and anxiety. Let's get into it. So Maddie, what is stress?
Maddie:So stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened. So, for an example, if you have an upcoming test or a job interview, you can feel a sense of stress.
Gabby:What is anxiety
Maddie:Now in contrast, anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread and uneasiness. And it can be a normal reaction to stress. So what is an anxiety or panic attack?
Gabby:So anxiety attacks, which could also be known as panic attacks are episodes of intense panic or fear, they usually happen suddenly. And without any warning, though there can sometimes be a trigger. And having a panic attack can be very scary, because you don't really feel like you're in control. A lot of people tend to think that they're having a heart attack when they're having a panic attack. But there are several coping strategies that you can use to tackle a panic attack. And I think breathing exercises are probably the most helpful. So we're going to go into a couple of techniques that could help to mitigate your anxiety. So I personally like using the 478 technique. So with this technique, you breathe in for four seconds, you hold your breath for seven seconds, and you exhale for eight seconds. So the key here is that you're exhaling for longer than you're inhaling. And you can repeat this about three times or until you're you feel that your heart rate is starting to slow down. And another great grounding exercise is the 54321 technique. So with this technique, you would Name five things you can see four things you can touch, three things you can hear two things you can smell. And one thing you can taste and this exercise is really supposed to help you connect with your surroundings and engage all your senses. And it's quite helpful if you do this with a friend so they could ask you like, what are five things you can see what are four things you can touch?
Maddie:Can we practice that right now?
Gabby:Yeah, we can.
Maddie:Okay, what are five things
Gabby:I can see the snow falling outside. I can see the EDI our poster on the wall. I can see the couch. I can see my laptop screen and I can see my crocs.
Maddie:Yeah, lovely. What are four things you can touch?
Gabby:I can touch my legs, the couch, the wall and Then you
Maddie:Nice are three things you can hear?
Gabby:I hear the fan of my laptop. It sounds like an airplane taking off. I can hear your voice. And I can hear...
Maddie:You took the clock out of the room. So now we can't hear it
Gabby:Yeah I can't hear the clock. But I can hear I can hear my own voice.
Maddie:Okay Sure. And can we can you smell anything?
Gabby:I don't really smell anything right now. But like
Maddie:I put on some perfume this morning.
Gabby:I can smell it. It smells like earthy. And I recently wash the shirt. So smells like laundry detergent.
Maddie:And what's one thing you can taste? I have coffee here. You can have a little sippy
Gabby:I taste coffee.
Maddie:That's perfect. All right.
Gabby:So that's how you would do it technique. Moral the story is everyone's different and will cope with anxiety differently. So if you try out this technique, or you try out a certain breathing technique, don't be discouraged if it doesn't work for you give somebody else a try. Might not be the one for you. So, Maddie, what is the difference between stress and anxiety?
Maddie:All right. So stress and anxiety tend to be confused and thought of the same thing when they're really two different things. So stress is short term and anxiety is longer and it can linger over a longer period of time. Stress is a response to a threat that you can recognize. So like I mentioned before, like if you have a test coming up, or if you had a play with a friend, something that you can pinpoint, that is stress, while anxiety may not have an identifiable trigger, so you can feel the symptoms of anxiety and not know what is causing these feelings of stress
Gabby:it can kind of just like come out of nowhere, but what can cause stress and anxiety?
Maddie:So reasons for stress and anxiety are unique for every Listen, but common stressors and everyday life could be a workload that you're taking on financial worries relationship issues, it really does depend on the situation and everyone finds stress in different aspects. Anxiety it can be caused by experiencing many stressors all at once. So, trauma, drugs, alcohol, caffeine, these are all aspects of anxiety that can occur. So Gabi, what stress and anxiety what can stress and anxiety look like for some people.
Gabby:So some people with anxiety experienced physical symptoms such as a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, chest pains, sweating, so on and so forth. experiencing stress can also include symptoms of irritability, anger, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and experiencing stress for a long period of time can also lead to burnout. What is burnout? Burnout is a reaction to prolonged or chronic stress. So some signs or symptoms of burnout to look out for are physical symptoms like poor sleep, getting frequently sick and recurring headaches. And some mental signs of burnout could be concentration issues, fatigue and a depressed mood. So what exactly can you do to prevent burnout? I think one of the best things to do is recognize the early signs of burnout. So when you start to feel yourself getting super anxious, super tired, maybe not feeling well, kind of taking a step back, giving yourself time to relax and practice self care. It doesn't have to be work all the time, you should prioritize time to take care of yourself. And if you do feel like you're being overworked and you have too much on your plate, you can try to make some changes to your schedule, so that you're ensuring that you have a good balance between work and school and prioritizing self care.
Maddie:Nice. So I'm gonna share a little story about myself. So I do struggle with anxiety. And I remember the first time that I actually experienced an anxiety attack, I was not educated on what anxiety was, I thought that anxiety was just like, feeling nervous or a little bit overwhelmed. And I had no idea the physical symptoms of anxiety. So when I had my first anxiety attack, I was at my cottage and I was like two hours away from the closest hospital and I felt like I was having a heart attack. And I remember in that moment, thinking that I was going to die. I was like, what, what is this feeling? I've never experienced this before. And if I had just been educated on what anxiety could look like, I feel like I would have been able to calm myself down a bit more. And with this No, I know Gabby can agree with me. There is no shame in being medicated.
Gabby:Yeah, that is so true
Maddie:no shame. If you are struggling with coping mechanisms, coping strategies, seeking counseling, and you still feel like you're still experiencing stress and anxiety to a certain level that is not manageable. Yeah, there is no shame in being medicated.
Gabby:Yeah, I think there's like a lot of stigma around like taking like certain like antidepressants or anti anxiety medication. But like Maddy said, like, If you've tried everything, and you can't find something that works, you could talk to a psychiatrist, you can talk to a psychologist, and they could try to find a medication that works for you. I've been on anti anxiety medications since I was 15 years old. So it's been like five or six years now. And I do not regret it at all. It's really helped manage my symptoms of anxiety. And also like I also like remember, like having my first panic attack and I was 10 years old. And like experiencing all those like physical symptoms like a rapid heart rate, like shaking a lot like feeling like so out of control and like scared and like not knowing what was going on. And then having that feeling like linger and like experiencing that, like, at school when I was with my friends and like thinking that I was like, almost like losing my mind a little bit but I just couldn't like identify that what I was experiencing was anxiety. Like I even remember like writing in my diary and being like today, my breathing problems were getting a lot worse. And it was like because I was having trouble like catching my breath and I had a rapid heart rate but then like looking back at that I'm like, oh my goodness, that was anxiety. I just couldn't like name what it was.
Maddie:People don't think that anxiety comes with physical symptoms and his is insane. The way I see A study that said that anxiety attacks mimic the exact sensation of heart attacks like it is really, it can be really severe. So, with that being said, Gabby, what are some ways to cope with stress and anxiety.
Gabby:So we kind of talked about how there's both physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. So if we're looking at prioritizing your physical wellness, to reduce some of those physical symptoms, something that can be really helpful is taking a walk. And it sounds really simple, but just like, even, like 10 minutes, like around the block, like getting some fresh air, even like taking a friend with you, and just having that time to like, be outside and decompress. Also doing some yoga, practicing some of those breathing techniques, and exercise. I've been told my entire life, that exercise is like so important for your mental health and well being. And I was always like, it can't be that helpful. And then I started going to the gym, and I was like, wow, what have I been missing out on and like, you don't have to do anything crazy. Like, you could just go and like run on the treadmill, you could do some jumping jacks, like it doesn't have to be like a crazy workout. But like exercise could be so, so good for your mental health and well being are about mental wellness body.
Maddie:So mental wellness, personally, I find that meditation really, really helps because you can incorporate breathing exercises into meditation. There are lots of good resources on like YouTube, if you just search up meditation to stress anxiety, I'll put something on on the TV, and I will follow along. And it really just lets my mind be focused on that. And it'll calm my whole body down. Also, journaling, writing down your feelings and your emotions and keeping track of how you're feeling can be super, super beneficial. And if you do decide to go to therapy, you can have a history of what you were feeling. Because I feel like when people do seek help, they don't get the help until they feel better. And then when they get there, they're like, Oh, well, I actually feel fine now. And then when they leave therapy and something else occurs, then they're like, Okay, now I'm actually not okay, so having a history track down of what emotions, feelings, thoughts you're experiencing, is super, super beneficial. And also taking a break. Just taking a break from work from school from, from anything and just having some you time some self care is so beneficial, even if you feel like you don't deserve a break. You do. Everyone needs time to themselves, and they need time to focus on your well being on their well being. And so how do you seek support, if you're looking for help?
Gabby:Talk to your support system, have that support system in place, have those people that you can go to when you're feeling stressed when you're feeling anxious people that you know are going to be able to help you feel better, that could be a teacher, it could be a therapist, it could be your friends, it could be your family, lots of avenues for support. With that attending counseling. And if you're struggling with trying to find counseling services, you could come to the grove and connect with one of the intake coordinators and they can help you find some resources in the community. And even just like being in our space, like coming and grabbing a snack hanging out with friends playing a video game, chatting with Youth Ambassadors could be a really good way to take your mind off of things and kind of just decompress. So really great space to do so. So how do you support a friend who is stressed or experiencing anxiety?
Maddie:So from personal experience, I find that validation is super comforting. So having someone say like, your thoughts and your feelings are valid, like what you're experiencing right now is normal, you're okay, this is a normal response to the stress anxiety that's happening in your body. I feel like that really, really helps me and also providing coping strategies so if you know some coping strategies that work for yourself, and you can recommend that to a friend. That would also be like super beneficial.
Gabby:I think also just like straight up like asking your friends like how they like to be supported because everybody receives support in a different way and like takes things in a different way. So like maybe meditation works for you, but like, you know that like it doesn't work for your friends. So really just being like, hey, like, what are some ways that I can support you while you go through this? And that will look different for everyone. And then I think like, an important question I like to ask like is do you want me to just listen to like what you have to say? Or do you want me to provide advice? Because I feel like, like, when you're going through something hard, sometimes you literally just like, want someone to listen to you. But then other times, you're like, What do I do about it? Yeah. So like, before, like having those like conversations, like, kind of like, setting the tone for the conversation, like, do you want me to just listen and validate how you're feeling? Or after you? Do you want me to give you some coping strategies, and we can kind of work through together. So it'll really depend on who you're chatting with.
Maddie:So I mean, in conclusion, stress and anxiety are pretty serious topics. And there's lots of different ways to cope. And it is normal it is okay. You are safe to experience these emotions is all part of being human and living. But never, ever be afraid to reach out for help and support.
Gabby:Yeah, you're never going to have to go through it alone. Always reach out when you're not feeling your greatest and somebody I'm sure will be there to support you and you don't have to go through it by yourself.
Maddie:All right. Thank you everyone for tuning in to this week's episode.
Gabby:Be kind to your mind, and we'll see you next time.
Maddie:Bye