Anxiety is very common. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, in the U.S. anxiety disorders affect 18.1% of the population every year. Why do people experience it? According to the Mayo Clinic, the causes are still not fully understood. They say that traumatic life experiences could trigger anxiety but that many other factors could make people at risk such as stress due to an illness, other stress build up, certain personality types, genetics, misuse of drugs or alcohol, etc.
Personally, I have felt an increase in anxiety in the last few months. I am more easily upset, I experience headaches more often, and when a few unexpected things happen I very easily feel like "I can't handle this!" Like yesterday, a few unexpected twists in my day occurred so that my original plans were messed up. I felt increasing tension in my head and I felt very vulnerable. Then my oldest boy walked into the house with a bloody foot. That was all it took to set me off. I called my husband on my cell phone and asked in a strained voice, "Where are you? What are you doing? Can you please come home right now and clean up this blood because I can't handle this!" Whereas back in January, although I probably would not have been happy to clean up that blood and bandage my son's foot, I definitely would have been able to manage it. So why this change in my ability to handle life?
I have been thinking a lot about this lately. I realize that my mental health is not what it was before. I have been following Emma McAdam on her Youtube Channel called "Therapy in a Nutshell" and I agree with what she says in her video called "Daily Habits to Prevent Depression". She says that we need to exercise daily maintenance for our mental health in the same way that we do for our physical health. I highly recommend checking out her videos if you or a loved one is experiencing high levels of anxiety, stress or depression. She is a marriage and family therapist who explains things very simply and clearly and gives useful and practical advise from a christian worldview. I will put a link on the bottom of this post if you are interested in checking out that youtube channel.
I believe that the main thing that has set me off lately is this "new normal" that we are currently living in. Life has been totally changed since pre-Covid times. Our kids are all doing online schooling, which in itself is quite something to manage. I have to make sure each of our five kids that are schooling right now have a working electronic device, that the internet is working properly (the internet goes up and down here in Indonesia), and that they have a regular, quiet place in which to work -- somewhere in our not-very-big house. At the beginning, we had a high schooler upstairs studying. After two incidents where we got a phone call from a teacher asking where he was (and he was found to be sleeping!) we decided no kids upstairs except for our university student. We also had our young elementary student studying in her bedroom, until we found out that she was accessing things on internet not meant for little eyes. So we had to make another rule -- young kids must study within our view. What a lot of things to think about and manage!! Besides online schooling to manage, there are constantly changing rules and regulations due to the changing Covid situation. Besides this, being bombarded with many different opinions on social media and trying to sort through what is true and what is false information. All this can be stressful!
However, besides all these things, there is one thing that I feel has most greatly affected me and that is the lack of community and connectedness due to Covid restrictions. My family is on the other side of the world and I'm not sure I would even be given permission to travel there, since only those who have a nonessential reason may go in and out of the country. My husband's family is across the country in a place which has less developed medical facilities. Most people in our neighborhood stay for the majority of the day in their houses. And there are no physical gatherings for worship services, school activities or community events. I almost feel like my family and I are on a deserted island. I feel so disconnected!
Now you may or may not have been nodding your head as I described some of my anxious thoughts. You may or may not be feeling the same way. However, most people do experience some form of anxiety in their lives at some point, and I know that more people are feeling higher levels of anxiety since Covid started. So I want to share this verse that a friend shared with me recently. Psalm 94:19 says, "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." When I read this verse, I pondered for a while...Your consolation? What consolation does God give me that could bring joy to my soul? God gives us many words of consolation in the Bible, but here are nine especially beautiful verses that I was reminded of...
Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."
1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
Isaiah 40:31 "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Proverbs 3:5+6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Matthew 28:20(b) "And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
I could have hidden my anxious thoughts so that no one would know about them -- indeed that would have been the safer option! -- but instead I chose to bare my soul today in this post. I did that in the hopes that by sharing about my feelings of anxiety, others who are experiencing anxiety in their life might know that they are not alone and find comfort. And, when anxious thoughts are great within you and I, may these beautiful verses that I have shared -- God's words of consolation -- bring great joy to our souls.
Sources:
Emma McAdam's Youtube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpuqYFKLkcEryEieomiAv3Q
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