If there’s one thing that is most helpful when you’re having an anxiety attack or even just feel the anxiety building up inside of you, it’s the knowledge that there is always an escape. Having somewhere to go when you really need to get away from all of the things that bring up those bad feelings of stress and anxiety is extremely important and can save you from losing yourself in a hard time. Just like claustrophobia, knowing you have a way out can help to calm you and make it easier for you to get through the rest of your day. This safe house is the light at the end of the tunnel; the something to look forward to even as the rest of the world is crashing down.
Many people find this sanctuary in the comfort of their own homes. Family-oriented households are the warm welcome they need when the anxiety of school or the stress of friends gets to be too much to handle. Having not only a place to escape to, but an entire support system as soon as you walk through the door can mean the world and help release some on the tension built up from anxiety.
For others, their escape is their therapist or psychologist’s office. Knowing that there is someone who will hear everything that is on your mind and help you get through it is such a comforting thought that even if you are stuck in the last hours of school or at the dinner table at a giant family gathering, you will get through it with the knowledge that at some point, even if it’s not right away, you will get the relief and the help that you need. There is even one article I found that suggests that the white noise in a therapist’s waiting room can be a sanctuary from the outside world: “It’s the emotional airlock between the chaos of the outside world and the sanctuary of the therapy office…It’s public yet private, a shared place of solitude” (Ryan Howes, PhD, ABPP in In Therapy).
This leads me to my final safe house from anxiety—alone time. When the girls at school are pounding away at your last nerve, when you feel like you don’t have the strength to get through another family gathering, or when the people at work aren’t treating you respectfully, your own mind can be the immediate escape that you need. Although my thoughts are often the ones that give me the most anxiety, the ability to distract myself and keep my thoughts busy has saved me from breaking down on more than one occasion. Deep breaths, images of you being wherever you would much rather be, the silence you wish that was surrounding you; these are all things that can get you away, at least for the time being, to somewhere safe from anxiety.
Support systems are extremely important, and even more than that, having a place to call safe from anxiety can be the difference between a break down and the strength to get through it. Remember you always have a way out. If you need to talk, go talk—expressing yourself and your anxieties releases them from your body and allows you to let go. Having somewhere to go and do that safely and comfortably is vital. Whether it’s your therapist or your parents or even your own personal journal or blog, a safe house from anxiety is necessary when the rest of the world is just a bit too much.
By: Anna Taddei, Anxiety In Teens Contributor