Let’s say you on a normal, typical day suffer from low-level, manageable anxiety. It’s small enough of a feeling of anxiety that you feel you could handle it.

But then the country shuts down out of fear of a communicable disease. And your job tells you they’re cutting hours. And your kids’ school cancels the rest of the year. And your husband is laid off. And your church can’t meet.

What happens to that low level of anxiety then? It gets layer after layer, day after day, moment after moment of fear added onto that “manageable” fear until suddenly you can’t make simple decisions any more or your heart stops in a panic attack whenever anything slightly stressful comes up or a personal loss makes you feel like there’s no point in trying anymore. Suddenly the anxiety over making even small decisions feels unbearable. There’s just you and your anxiety with no God, no friends, no family being able to ease the load (at least that’s how it feels).

What do you do? That question is where I found myself last month. One bit of slightly bad news would have pounded the last of my spirit into the ground and it just felt so… hopeless.

I wasn’t leaving the house. I stopped writing. I stopped accepting guest posts. I could barely pay attention when I read or watched a movie. I couldn’t clean my house. I could barely sleep. It felt like life was a little… hopeless.

But we’re not hopeless, girls, are we? And as I’ve said in the past, feelings are feelings and not facts: we cannot trust our feelings to speak truth to us. After all, according to Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

So what do we do to survive heightened anxiety levels when our feelings are telling us there’s no help available?

1. 1. Pray even when you don’t feel like it. I can find a thousand reasons not to pray based on my feelings of anxiety, guilt, fear, lackluster faith, anger, bitterness (you get the picture)…. But there’s something really calming to our bodies when we take time to pray even when we don’t feel like it. Our spirit is communing with the Holy Spirit as we talk to God and the Holy Spirit is the ultimate Comforter according to John 14:26. This verse says, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” The Holy Spirit reminds us of the truths God has promised us when our feelings (not truth) are taking over.
   2. Read your Bible even when you don’t feel like it. When FBI agents are taught how identify false money, they are never handed a fake dollar bill. They instead are trained over and over using the real thing — its weight, its touch, its distinguishing marks– until they have learned it thoroughly. Then, and only then, are they handed a fake bill. They know instantly by that time what is truth and what is false. We rarely feel like reading God’s Word when our anxiety is high: false fear has literally taken over our bodies.
   3. Trust that things will get better one day. Okay: this one’s hard, too. Because our feelings are telling us that this is “just life.” But the more we repeat a truth to ourselves, the more likely we are to believe it. Sometimes just reminding ourselves of the very last chapter of the Bible is a great way to ease the feelings of anxiety that take over our bodies. Our feelings don’t see past the next few moments, but our faith sees beyond what we’re capable of.
   4. Leave your home. During a pandemic? YES. I’m not saying go hang out with some mouth-breathers who are standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowded room. I’m not even saying go somewhere. I’m just saying that we were created to be social beings: God specifically told Adam that it’s NOT good for man to be alone. Even if you just go stand in a parking lot for a couple of minutes. Even if you just take a walk and wave at a neighbor from several dozen feet away: leave your house. I’ve found these past several months that my anxiety levels and panic attacks increase dramatically when I haven’t gone outside for a while. We need the change of scenery, to feel like we’re not trapped, space from the kiddos, the vitamin D from the sun, and a relational interaction of any kind to calm ourselves down hormonally.
   5. Consider medication. I know: there’s a stigma, especially in Christian circles, when someone suggests using medication for anxiety or depression. After all, isn’t anxiety (fear) or depression (hopelessness) just a spiritual problem? Uh, no: no, it’s not. Both of these affect ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Sometimes, we can get ourselves back into God’s Word and praying, but still feeling overly anxious or overly depressed and this is because we have a physical effect happening in our bodies. Hormonal issues, vitamin deficiencies, the physical effects of long-term stress and lack of sleep and exercise can deeply affect our bodies. Sometimes, we need medicine to help get our bodies back to “normal.” Why would there be a stigma about that? Would we shame someone with cancer for getting chemotherapy? Would we shame someone with diabetes for taking insulin? Absolutely not. So why do we hesitate to seek medical help when we need it? There is nothing shameful about admitting that you need help and medication has been proven to help ease the symptoms of both anxiety and depression. Go talk to your doctor! No shame required. 🙂
   6. Talk to someone. It can be a family member, friend, pastor, pastor’s wife, older woman at church, counselor, therapist…. just pick someone to talk to. You’d  be surprised how often just having somebody listen to you talk about what you’re anxious over can ease the anxiety that you feel. Satan loooooooooves when Christian women feel alone. He loves when they sit in their fear by themselves. As previously stated, God intends for us to be relational: Christian women help support other Christian women and the best way we can do that is by being a trustworthy, good listener. That’s how we love each other. You, my sister in anxiety and Jesus, are not alone.

1. Break down decisions. Decisions for people with anxiety can feel a little overwhelming during really low-stress times, but when we add in COVID stress, decisions feel impossible. Do I go pick up groceries? What groceries do I need to be prepared? How do I make my money go farther? How do I help others when I can’t even help myself? What do I do about school? What do I do next? If we find ourselves overwhelmed by the number of decisions we have to make or by a particular decision, it will help us to break down our decision by writing it down. Sometimes, just putting it into writing will help you clarify what question you’re asking about it. After writing down your specific question(s), ask yourself what decisions you need to make to get to an answer. Here’s an example: we had to submit our decision to my son’s school district for how we would participate in his schooling this year. He could attend on-site schooling, a 6.5 hour online schooling, or a parent-led schooling. We felt incredibly overwhelmed trying to decide what the best option for our son and family would be. I was so overwhelmed I felt I couldn’t even think it through. So, I wrote down the question: how do we want our son to be schooled this year? I wrote down our options, wrote down what our lives would look like if we chose each option and then just read it. I could see a better way to move forward because I’d broken the decision down.
2. Say no to extra things. This may sound like common sense, but we don’t tend to think clearly when we’re anxious: we can do many things, but we cannot do everything. When our anxiety levels are increased, it grows more important that we know when to say, “No.” A no doesn’t mean you love Jesus, the church, your family, or your friends less: it means you’re wise enough to not overload yourself beyond what your body and mind are capable of. Serve, but serve wisely. Love, but love wisely. Say no.
3. Research. Don’t just trust what I or one other person says. The Bible tells us, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.” Search out the Bible verses that tell you to “Fear not” or “Be not afraid” and look at the reasons God provides for that to be so. Look up the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual symptoms of anxiety and recognize which ones affect you specifically.
4. Learn your tells. I’ve learned over the years to recognize what my mind thinks like, what my body feels like, and what times of the year I’m most likely to experience an anxiety attack. If I know it’s coming, I can help it stop before it ever happens. Our bodies physically warn us when our anxiety levels are too high: we just have to recognize the signs (or tells).

I hope these help you ease the anxiety you may be feeling. You’re not alone in the struggle, my friend! ❤️