The New Yorker’s guide to managing anxiety | Oscar Rx | hioscar Blog | Oscar
The New Yorker’s guide to managing anxiety
New Yorkers thrive on drive, ambition – and anxiety. Tips from a licensed clinical social worker can help you cope.
Mental HealthClinically Speaking
6 min read
Charlotte Elkin
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If you’re a New Yorker, then you know that anxiety is always in the house.
From packed commutes to noisy neighbors to sky-high rent, constant exposure to the urban stimuli of the city fuels our baseline buzz of worry and stress. It’s no wonder Sinatra nicknamed it “the city that never sleeps.”
As New Yorkers, we’ve got a lot going for us: the best bagels, all-star ballplayers, Lin-Manuel Miranda, buildings that scrape the sky, and yes – enough anxious energy to power the Chrysler building.
Anxiety is fueled by drive and ambition – two essential characteristics if you ever want to make it in this town. On one hand, it helps you stay productive and get the job done. On the other, it can seriously affect your mental health and quality of life. Want to completely eliminate your anxiety? Then stop chasing your dreams and don’t leave your apartment. Yeah, right.
We’d like to start spreading the news about what you can do to manage your anxiety so you can stay healthy on your way to the top of the heap.
What is anxiety?
Unlike typical day-to-day stress, anxiety is a chronic and often debilitating condition. It’s caused by an imbalance of select neurotransmitters in your brain (including serotonin, gaba, dopamine, and neurepraphamine) that triggers a physiological response.
For some people, anxiety is hereditary while for others, it’s triggered by an event, circumstance, or hypothetical situation that’s rooted in fear. Most people who suffer from fear-based anxiety frequently experience a negative cyclical thinking pattern perpetuated by the fear of death, safety, loss of control, lovability, or abandonment.
Regardless of the cause of your anxiety, the symptoms are similar for everyone. They include:
Excessive worrying.
Muscle tension.
Difficulty sleeping.
Preoccupation or difficulty concentrating.
Muscle fatigue and body pain.
Sleepiness.
Feeling keyed-up.
There’s no denying it: the mind-body connection is real. Your state-of-mind can influence your physical health as much as it affects your mental health. Anxiety can exacerbate certain medical conditions like autoimmune disorders, GI issues, heart disease (opens in new tab), and panic attacks, which is why sooner or later, you’ll want to get your anxiety under control.
Anxiety is normally viewed as a bad thing, but from an evolutionary perspective, it’s actually good. Seeing anxiety as an asset can help you reframe your relationship to it so you can develop stronger coping mechanisms. Charlotte Elkin, a clinical social worker based in New York City, explains anxiety this way:
”Imagine you were being pursued by a hungry lion. Your body’s natural response would be to fight, flight, freeze, or faint. These four Fs are your body’s natural fight-or-flight impulse, or anxiety, kicking in. In the wild, your anxiety would be acute, triggered by an immediate event that might threaten your survival, and would then pass. But in modern day society, our triggering events are not so finite; we face deadline upon deadline, ongoing financial stressors, daily news events, and more. Instead of brief forays into the part of our nervous system meant only for occasional stress responses, we are spending sustained periods highly activated.”
It’s time to reframe your relationship with anxiety, accept it, and develop a routine to help you manage it.
DIY stress-reduction
Taking active measures to reduce stress can help you avoid developing chronic anxiety in the long run. Here are some ways you can jump-start your relaxation routine.
Stay away from coffee. With bodegas on every corner, resisting a good cuppa joe can feel like a crime. But caffeine is a stimulant that can key you up and make you feel jittery and anxious. If you’ve gotta have your caffeine fix, try switching to matcha.
Moderate your booze intake. Alcohol can sometimes relax you in the moment, but may spike your serotonin levels, which can lead to morning-after blues. Too much booze can cause a drop in blood sugar, which can trigger anxiety.
Eat for balance and clarity. Between the schmear and the slices, it can be easy to get off track with what you eat. If you want to feel mentally balanced, you’ll need to balance your diet.
Limit screen time. Try going off the grid and take a virtual vacation.
Sweat it out. Exercise is known to promote endorphins, aka happy hormones, which can decrease stress and anxiety.
Find a furry friend. Cuddling with a pet can increase levels of the stress-reducing hormone oxytocin and decrease production of the stress hormone cortisol.
Make love, stress less. Orgasms release hormones like serotonin that lift your mood and make you feel good.
Regulate your clock. Skipping meals can make you irritable and mess with your blood sugar. Keeping a consistent schedule of your mealtimes and bedtimes can help you keep your mind clear.
Take a walk... in nature. Convening with the great outdoors can connect you with surroundings that promote inner peace and harmony.
Say OM. Practicing mindfulness through yoga and meditation help you calm your breath and reconnect you to the present moment.
Take a trip to the East side. Eastern techniques like acupuncture and craniosacral therapy can help relax your body by pinpointing and releasing areas of stress and tension.
Hit the spa. Try incorporating aromatherapy, massage, or hot baths into your relaxation routine. Spa Castle (opens in new tab) is calling.
If you’ve built a strong relaxation routine and still feel anxious, then it may be time to connect with a professional.
Talk it out
Talk therapy is the most effective way to treat chronic anxiety and give you a strong set of tools that will help you deal with it in the long run. Charlotte says:
”Talk therapy offers an opportunity to have a different experience with one's anxiety. A trained therapist demystifies anxiety by providing education on its signs and symptoms, biopsychosocial components, and adaptive purpose, and offers an understanding of how it develops. They can also teach approaches, techniques, and tools for living fully with anxiety. Moreover, effective talk therapy provides a protected space for confronting current and past fears and worries, activating symptoms, and sustaining worst-case scenarios, without the actualization of worst-case outcomes. In some cases, core dilemmas are uncovered and addressed, freeing up the individual to live more authentically in the present moment and beyond.”
There are many effective types of therapy that can help treat your anxiety such as ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), group therapy, and creative arts therapy. If you’re uncertain where to begin your treatment, check with your primary care doctor for recommendations.
Try a happy pill
If other methods of treatment fail to bring you relief, then it may be time to talk to your doctor about medication. In general, anxiety drugs typically fall into three buckets:
SSRIs, aka anti-depressants, are used to rewire neurotransmitter dysfunction. These include name brand drugs such as Lexapro, Celexa, and Zoloft. Generic versions are equally effective in treating anxiety.
Benzodiazepines, aka sedatives, are fast-acting controlled substances used to treat acute episodes of anxiety. These types of medications include Clonazepam, Valium, Xanax, and Ativan, and can be addictive.
Beta-blockers are used to treat performance anxiety in addition to a variety of other medical conditions such as heart disease.
Ask for advice when you need it
Some stress can be a good thing, but chronic anxiety can have a lasting, negative impact on your life. Don’t stress about taking the plunge to get help when you need it. If you need advice on how to get help, check in with your primary care doctor, and they can point you in the right direction.
