I feel overwhelmed!

Are you feeling scared that you are about to fall apart like a stack of soup cans at the grocery store that someone pulls a can out from the middle? Feeling overwhelmed by a combination of factors such as: finances, health, school, work, home, family, friends, kids, romantic partner, spiritual life, past trauma, and your emotional state can all leave you feeling like you have run out of resources. As a result, you may feel like you can’t get everything done.

Strangely enough, the things that stress us out can also help us deal with that stress. We call those things that help us manage stress our “resources.” I want to acknowledge that we all have different resources in different quantities. For example, some of us are more privileged or successful with friends and some of us are less privileged or success with money. Let’s figure out your resources and stressors.

1.Get a piece of paper and a pencil with an eraser.

2. Write the categories below, that exist in your life, down the middle of your paper. Leave some space on the right and left side of your list.

finances (Most of us deal with finances.)

health (We all have health, whether we think it is good or bad.)

school (Not all of us are in school.)

work (Write this category down if you are looking for a job.)

home (We all live somewhere.)

family (Most of us have family, whether we think they are good or bad.)

friends (Most of us have friends, whether we think they are good or bad.)

kids (Not all of us have kids.)

romantic partner (Write this down if you are looking for romance.)

spiritual life (Not all of us have this in our life.)

past trauma (Not all of us have this in our life.)

emotional state (We all have an emotional state of being.)

3. Put a check mark, on the left side of each category that is a resource in your life. For example:

︎ health

4. Next, underline each category that is currently contributing to your feelings of anxiety. You may have a resource that is also causing you anxiety. For example:

finances

︎ health

5. Now, write to the right of each category you underlined the reason for underlining. For example:

finances , living paycheck to paycheck

︎ health , sleeping problems from worrying about everything

︎ school , need to make an “A”, big paper due

︎ work , don't like my job

︎ home

︎ family

friends , don't really have friend because I don't have time for friends

︎ emotional state, feel like crying daily from stress

6. Finally, look and see if there is a resource that can help ease your anxiety in a particular category. For example:

finances , living paycheck to paycheck

︎ school , need to make an “A”, big paper due

︎ family = Talk to family and ask for help concerning: finances - ask them how you can save money together, school - ask them to give you space and time to get your assignments done without interruption, emotional state - pick a family member you trust and meet them to talk about your feelings, sometimes just talking to someone helps

friends , don't really have friend because I don't have time for friends

︎ emotional state, feel like crying daily from stress

When we are feeling overwhelmed, we forget about our resources. You might want to try this activity with someone you trust or with a counselor. Hope this helped and you feel less anxious.

Sandra Bravo