Turn Your Mental Health Struggle Into a Journey

Turn Your Mental Health Struggle Into a Journey via Pexels As a college student, youve probably felt the feeling of anxiety. Your chest tightens, its hard to breathe, you cant focus on whats right in front of you. But its hard to cope with this mental illness. Especially in college, when time seems to move at a faster pace. When everything is overstimulating. When your planner is at its fullest. If youve ever struggled with anxiety, New York Times bestselling author, Sarah Wilson, could be the mentor you need to tackle your mental health struggle. Wilsons novel aims to redefine our societys conversation about anxiety. Instead of this issue being the challenge to living a stress-free life, Wilson describes her journey with anxiety as a spiritual quest. With all the information available about anxiety (mindfulness coloring books, meditation guides, strict diets, etc.) Wilsons novel examines all we have to offer this condition, describing her own successes and failures. Wilsons personal battle with mental health stretches from generalized anxiety to obsessive-compulsive disorder and insomnia. If anyone knows what its like to deal with the challenges of being mentally healthy, its Wilson. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful takes advantage of what the world has to offer regarding anxiety, including interviews, philosophical mantras, and personal anecdotes. Wilson encompasses her journey with anxiety by suggesting anxious people focus on six simple tasks: Become a gracious person. Wilson points out that science has suggested anxiety and gratitude cannot co-exist. By focusing on what youre grateful for, your mind forgets to be anxious. Creating a ritual for being gracious will allow you to let go of obsessing over what triggers their anxiety. Slow down on sugar consumption. Wilson disagrees with those who suggest your diet has nothing to do with your mental health. By eliminating sugar from your diet, you have better control over your mood swings. Create a routine of accomplishment. Simply making your bed every day can put you in the right mindset for the day. Override your anxious habits by creating new, healthy ones. Exercise. Successful individuals will vouch for exercise keeping them healthy physically and emotionally. Give your creativity room to breathe by spending time in the outdoors. If you hate to exercise (as many people do), encourage short walks outdoors. Let go of feeling guilty for skipping social functions. You might feel FOMO (the fear of missing out) if you dont attend all the social functions in college that your buddies seem to enjoy. Knowing its okay to skip out on social interaction to have alone time can change your anxious patterns of giving into that social pressure, which causes your anxiety. Breathe. The most simple way to battle anxiety is to remember to breathe. Wilsons novel lists breathing as one of the best ways to manage anxiety on a daily basis. As our society focuses on controlling anxiety with medication, limiting our notion of anxiety to being dangerous and debilitating, Wilson strives to change the conversation. She sees anxiety as a personal journey, encouraging her readers to embrace their own anxiety as part of who they are. If you struggle with anxious thoughts and patterns, Wilsons novel First, We Make the Beast Beautiful might be the best way to stimulate getting a handle on it.