iSavta | 24.01.2021

In a caregiving job, who doesn’t experience anxiety attacks? Probably those who are particularly happy with their job or those individuals with happy demeanor in life or those who find inspiration in everything or those who are just genuinely happy and positive individuals that no matter how difficult their situation is, they always find a light at the end of the tunnel. 

 

But hey, we’re all human beings. The reality is, anxiety is inevitably normal to be felt and should be acknowledged. If you mask out these anxiety and uncomfortable feelings, you’ll most likely develop dangerous emotions, concealed but will eventually explode when nothing (ignored) becomes too much.

 

Sometimes, you feel like you have to ignore it because it may affect your job or your effectiveness as a Caregiver. But you wouldn’t realize that concealing it may be more harmful than simply letting it out. But, how can you let it out? Scream? Break things? Curse?

 

Here are our 5 suggestions on how to handle anxiety attacks in Caregiving:

 

• Acknowledge it - This doesn’t mean you create a chaotic scene and scream your lungs out, NO! But it is important for you to let it out by simply acknowledging it. You have an anxiety attack, you are not okay and that’s okay. When you acknowledge that feeling, you will be able to find a perfect way for you to combat it. Combating it doesn’t mean concealing it. Combating it means finding a way to make yourself feel better.

 

• Avoid overthinking - Sometimes, negative scenarios that you create inside your head will amplify your anxiety. Your effort to solve whatever cause your anxiety could lead to overthinking, feeling worse, and non-functional anymore. Straight-forward problems need straight-forward answers. Avoid the what-ifs, avoid controlling the things that you cannot control.

 

• Find someone to talk to or write it down - Most of the time, when anxiety creeps in, we only need a person to talk to. Someone we trust the most. Someone that we know will not judge us no matter how petty our concerns are. This person is often one of our family members or loved ones or someone who is very dear to us but far from us. When you are working in another country far from these people, it is most likely very difficult for you to cope with these anxiety attacks. When you don’t have someone but yourself, then write it down in a journal. Letting it out is the best way to combat it. When you write it down, you give yourself affirmation that you can actually solve it and you are capable of getting through it. 

 

• Listen to music, read a book, and meditate - When anxiety attacks, you have to find a way to calm yourself down. Music and meditation are some of the things that can totally help your mind wander off and ease your nerves. If you are not into music, you can always grab a book and immerse yourself in it. Meditation could help you dump all these anxieties and give you a clearer picture of the situation. Once you're calm, you will be able to find a better solution to your problem.

 

• Breath - Well, of course, you're breathing. You even have deep and heavy breathing out of frustration. But what we meant by breath is to take a break. When you notice that you have anxiety attacks almost every day, it’s time for you to step back a little bit and have some air. This means, take a break from your job at least for a day and do something that you love to do. Something as simple as having coffee with friends or buying something nice for yourself. Anxiety attacks can be burnout and it’s not a good sign. It’s not easy to quit your job especially if you have people dependent on you back home. Sometimes all you need is a breather and that can be something that you need to get going.