A very effective way to reduce anxiety is to do more of what works in your life. However, any type of anxiety disorder can seem to completely take over someone’s entire being, his/her very life. Anxiety can consume our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, making us feel trapped, isolated, agitated, worried, and afraid. When living with an anxiety disorder, it can be hard to see past all of the struggles and all of the things that aren’t working in life. It’s possible to get around that, and in the process, significantly reduce anxiety. To reduce anxiety, do more of what works.

Try as we might, we humans never quite get over the desire to be liked and sometimes with anxiety, we feel unlikeable. Being considered to be socially acceptable holds great importance for us whether we are starting a new job or joining in a game of hide and seek in the playground. Speaking as a person with an anxiety disorder, I tend to meet a person for the first time with the overwhelmingly glum presumption that they will either instantly dislike me or, best case scenario, will inevitably grow to dislike me over time. With anxiety, I feel unlikeable.

The words "anxiety," "criticism," and "self-doubt" can be synonyms, closely knit word triplets. Those mere words indicate that anxiety has many effects that tend to make life difficult. One particularly annoying effect of anxiety is sensitivity to criticism. Feeling crushed by criticism is an effect of anxiety, in general, and social anxiety, in particular, where the fear of being judged or of embarrassment can be immense. When anxiety and criticism are overpowering and lead to self-doubt, take heart. There are ways to conquer self-doubt. with with anxiety and criticism 

You can remain creative with anxiety, if, indeed, you are creative in the first place. I believe that it is high time that we as a society stamp out the rather offensive notion that mental illness is somehow linked in with creative thinking and originality. This cliché could, in fact, not be further from the truth (Mental Illness and Crazy: Creativity and Medication). Many great artists, musicians and writers produce exceptional works in spite of their mental illness, not because of it. I am not a genius and I don’t have any fantastically advanced talents to speak of. However, I have felt my own ability to be creative disintegrate during times when my anxiety has skyrocketed but I've also learned how to remain creative through anxiety.

When anxiety shouts at you and makes a lot of noise, tune in to music to tone down anxiety. It’s a fact, based in scientific research and reported in numerous sources including HuffPost1 and Lifehack2, that listening to music can tone down anxiety (Music Therapy For Treatment Of Anxiety Disorders).

It's unlikely that the creators of the wildly popular AMC show The Walking Dead designed it to give people lessons on anxiety. Unbeknownst to them, however, zombies are actually an ideal metaphor for anxiety. Don't watch the show? No problem. No matter your degree of fandom for the show, The Walking Dead can definitely teach us about anxiety. Take a deep breath, conjure up images of zombies, and read on to learn important lessons on anxiety. 

A concept known as shoulding contributes greatly to social anxiety, and an entirely different concept called shoshin, or beginner's mind, contributes to the fading away of social anxiety. Social anxiety involves fear and worry that we're doing everything wrong; thus, we should be acting, feeling, thinking differently so people don't judge us negatively. Social anxiety prejudges so much of our lives. Before we even interact with someone, we often assume that we're inadequate, that we should be better. Practicing a beginner's mind (shoshin) can help stop the shoulding and reduce social anxiety. 

A common effect of anxiety that can cause frustration is indecisiveness. Like depression and indecision, anxiety can make it difficult for people to make decisions, and not just the big, life decisions, either. With anxiety, it can be hard to make any decision, even ones that seem small and insignificant to others. This indecisiveness isn't intentional; instead, indecisiveness is an effect of anxiety that creates a high degree of frustration. 

You can live a healthy lifestyle and improve your body image even with anxiety. I’m currently trying to lose weight through joining a local slimmers support group. I won’t lie, it’s been an uphill battle with hurdles all the way. I’ll reach a much longed for milestone one week and the next I’ll find myself feeling as though I’ve tumbled, bruised and defeated, back down the mountain. I’m a sufferer of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and so ever since I’ve stopped growing up, I’ve been steadily growing out in such a way that I often feel as if I have lost agency over my own body. Moreover, I have an overly emotional attachment to food. But, even with anxiety, I am trying for a healthy lifestyle while improving my body image, too.

To recreate yourself without anxiety and depression is a wonderful, liberating thing to do. Anxiety and depression are heavy burdens that can seem to completely overtake our lives. Anxiety keeps us trapped in things such as worry and fear, and depression weights us down and zaps joy and energy. The symptoms of anxiety and the symptoms of depression sometimes feel like our identity, like who we have become. A powerful way to break free from the all-consuming trap of anxiety and depression is to recreate yourself without anxiety and depression.