Explaining anxiety isn't an easy feat. As someone who studied English literature in school, I often turn to poetry to help me gain perspective. The great poets have been through the same struggles we have, and their work is an invaluable testimony of those struggles.

Anxiety zaps self-confidence. When it knocks out our belief in ourselves, anxiety often takes with it our sense of who we are, what we can do, and how we want to be. How is it that anxiety can be such a powerful force that it encompasses not only worry and fear but our belief that we are okay, legitimate human beings in our own right? Anxiety can chip away at self-acceptance, but there are ways to pick up the pieces and put them back together. You can create the courage to be self-confident despite anxiety.

It happens to me all too often. I work full time. I ride my bike to and from work every day. Theoretically, I should fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow, but I don’t - racing thoughts and a restless heart, more often than not, make that impossible. Instead of letting every sleepless night snowball into catastrophe, I’ve learned how to turn them into something more manageable. Here are some of the things that have helped me the most.

Believe it or not, you can do things to calm your anxious mind in less than five minutes. Even when anxiety is intense, even when your fear is heightened or you feel on the verge of panic, you have the power to take action to stop anxiety in its tracks. The beauty of these actions lies in their simplicity. You don't have to remember fancy techniques, nor do you have to have special equipment or props. You only need yourself, your anxiety, and a desire to be calm quickly. If you're ready, here are five things to do to calm your anxious mind in five minutes or less. 

I’m TJ DeSalvo, and I couldn’t be happier to be the newest writer of Anxiety-Schmanxiety Blog. To begin, a little about myself: I’ve been diagnosed with both generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. I’m also on the autism spectrum, which, if you know anything about, causes you to become overwhelmed very easily, and this obviously doesn’t do any favors to someone with anxiety.

The mean world syndrome is real and it's nurturing your fear and anxiety. Mean world syndrome is an apt term, perfectly describing what it is. It refers to the belief that the world itself is a mean place. Although it's called a syndrome, it's not a diagnosis; instead, it refers to a phenomenon that can cause tremendous fear and anxiety. Where does this belief in a mean world come from?

It's natural to seek the causes of anxiety. Anxiety is miserable--life-limiting and ruthless. When we feel like a prisoner in our own mind, of course, we want to know why. How did we become trapped like this? What caused this plight? Sometimes, knowing the causes of anxiety can help lead to a solution to beat anxiety. Think of food: if we know something causes us to become violently ill, we won't eat it. Likewise, if we knew what caused our anxiety, we could take action to do other things instead. In the spirit of addressing the causes of anxiety to overcome our worries, fears, and avoidance, here are 10 primary causes of anxiety.

You can reduce anxiety and panic by building basic skills. Perhaps you've heard of having an anxiety toolbox: a collection of tips, strategies, and techniques you can do to manage anxiety and panic attacks. The concept of building basic skills to reduce anxiety and panic is similar. However, now you're going to go a bit deeper with it. Reducing anxiety and panic by intentionally building a specific skill set will help you improve not just your experience with anxiety but the overall quality of your life.

When you intentionally cultivate awareness of your anxiety, you develop knowledge and power that will allow you to reclaim yourself and your life. Mental Health Awareness Month is in full swing, and part of celebrating it is spending time with your worries. Rid yourself of it by cultivating awareness of your anxiety. (Oh, and if you’re catching this outside of May, you can still develop insight to beat anxiety. There isn’t a time frame for beating anxiety.)