Stress is a biological response to any life situation. When people are stressed they get nauseous, they get cramps in their stomachs, they get headaches and a myriad of other things.
The problem is that we are taught not to let ourselves get stressed.
If we stay calm and cool in an anxiety-filled situation, it will not cause us anxiety. We have been told that it’s wrong to be anxious.
So the natural response to stress is to withdraw, not to confront it. When we stay calm, we stay in control of the situation. Our anxiety goes away because we know how to deal with it and now we don’t feel the anxiety.
Do you think you would have had anxiety about this if you stayed calm?
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However, we are often taught to associate stress with anxiety. So if we get stressed, we get anxious. Anxiety is related to stress, but it’s a separate emotion from stress.
When we get anxious, we don’t feel well.
Anxiety comes from not knowing what’s going to happen. It can be caused by a few things such as: uncertainty, fear, uncertainty, fear, anxiety, lack of control, or many other things.
When I hear someone say that they are afraid, anxious, or worried about something, it’s usually caused by one or more of these.
What causes social media anxiety?
Social media is huge and always changing. If you’re not careful, it can cause a ton of anxiety and fear. People often use social media as a sort of therapist to talk to people.
If that’s the case, it’s no wonder they’re also becoming anxious.
Maybe it’s their own friends that are talking about politics and politics which can make someone anxious. They might get upset about what someone said.
Maybe someone is defending Trump.
The last thing that person wants is for someone to attack him, so they start to attack them back.
You might be thinking that you’re in the middle of this social media struggle. Maybe you’re afraid to talk about something important on Facebook or don’t like what your own friends are posting on Facebook.
It’s normal to get upset, but there is a way to deal with these feelings. You can relax.
Step 1: Learn to relax
The way to deal with social media anxiety is to learn how to relax. Learning how to relax is one of the best ways to deal with social media anxiety.
People that are more relaxed show less stress and they stay in control of their lives. Here are a few tips on how to relax and lower your anxiety.
First, do whatever you have to do to get comfortable. Take a nap if you can. Read a book if you have the time.
Next, start with a word. Focus on that word and continue to repeat it in your head.
Repeat the word until it becomes a natural part of your thoughts.
Step 2: Think about what you’re thinking about
Next, think about what you’re worrying about. Think about that word in your head.
What is the word you’re repeating? What are you worried about?
When you start thinking about what you’re worrying about, you’re bringing your focus away from it.
The word that you’re repeating starts to take away from the anxiety you’re feeling.
Think about the things that you do that keep you stress free. What does that say about you? What does that say about your personal coping mechanisms?
Then, see what you’re worried about.
Do you see any similarity between what you’re worrying about and what your stress level is?
If you see a connection, then you can relax because you’re already thinking about the issue and not at it.
If there is no connection, then it’s time to get help.
There are many tools for social media anxiety. For example, I use SocialZen, a natural language processing tool that was designed for people with social anxiety or people with specific struggles with social media anxiety.
Also, keep an eye on your apps. I often have this worry that I’m going to get stuck scrolling and scrolling, but that doesn’t happen to me as often as I thought it would.
Check in often and try to stop the thoughts. If you want to learn more about the way you’re feeling, check out these tools that can help.
Once you’re done and you feel more calm and relaxed, take a few deep breaths. Repeat this exercise every time that you feel anxious or worried.
Again, relax.
Step 3: Check in with yourself
The third step to dealing with social media anxiety is checking in with yourself.
Get out of your head and take a look at what’s happening. Realize that social media anxiety is normal.
Realize that what’s happening is natural. Realize that you are not alone in what you’re feeling.
Check in with yourself regularly. See how your body reacts. How does your breathing change when you are stressed? When you think about the negative thoughts that are creeping into your mind?
Be aware of your physical responses. They can serve as a warning sign for the next step.
Step 4: Learn to communicate your feelings
The fourth step is learning to communicate your feelings. You don’t have to say what you’re thinking out loud.
But, writing things down, writing your feelings down, can help you get your feelings out.
Sometimes it’s better to get your feelings out on paper than to keep them bottled up.
There are many apps that allow you to take written notes. For example, use Evernote or Mindnote to write down your thoughts.
Then, take a deep breath, keep calm and see what you’re thinking. Maybe you’ll find a connection that you didn’t expect.
Sometimes you won’t. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take the time to write your thoughts down.
Feelings have a way of changing over time.
So, write down your thoughts and check in with yourself again in a few hours.
Step 5: Get help
As you can see from these tips, it’s not hard to deal with social media anxiety. But, that doesn’t mean that you should leave it to chance.
Social media anxiety is all too common and you can’t stop it completely. So, it’s time to make some changes.
The first step is to look into some resources. Use the resources that you learned about in Step 3.
Notice what you can do to reduce your social media anxiety.
Use the resources from Steps 1, 2, and 3 to learn how to reduce your social media anxiety.
Try to notice when you start to feel anxious or worried. You can then stop yourself from thinking about the issue.
You can take a few deep breaths and check in with yourself.
I hope these tips help you manage your social media anxiety.
