My anxiety habits//Day 10

Often times we read articles about how to reduce our anxiety. Tips and tricks to help us calm down and destress. Before you can implement these tips and tricks it is important to know what habits you are doing that is linked to your anxiety. They are often everyday habits you may not even realize.

I originally had this post titled My OCD habits but decided to change it because it would be misleading. I do not have OCD and the habits I wanted to talk about are related to my anxiety. OCD and anxiety are two different things.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations (obsessions) or the urge to do something over and over again (compulsions).

Anxiety is a mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that is strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities.

If you are like me and struggle with anxiety then you may have created habits that you use to reduce your anxiety in an attempt to support you emotionally.

Some habits I have created are jiggling the door knob to make sure it is locked. I am not sure when this started but when I leave my home I jiggle the door a few times even though I know it it locked. Maybe more then a few times….I am surprised I have not broken the door knob. I have anxiety about leaving doors unlocked. I also check all doors and locks before going to bed. It can get so bad that I make my husband walk around the house with me to check everything. I am not sure the root of this but it has been going on for years. I always figured I am not hurting anybody and being safe but to be honest it is a little extreme at points. I also will push the lock on my car door an excessive amount of times.

Another bad habit is I will bite my nails when I am very anxious. So normally, I am not a nail biter but when I get extremely stressed out they are the first to go. I try very hard to not get to that point because I love my nails but it has happened.

These habits may sound odd to you but they are based off my own personal anxiety. I would say I do not have a great grip on them but they do not control my life to the point where I have issues functioning. When I am struggling with these anxious habits I try to take a step back and realize what I am doing and redirect my mind.

Whenever you feel like anxiety is creeping up on you, take a moment to recognize how you feel so you can understand its triggers. Then take a moment and think about what you can do differently or what you can do to stop it from happening in the future.

“What actions can I take right now to stop letting anxiety control my thoughts?”

Thanks for reading!

– Rebekah