Me, My Sensory, and My Synesthesia

Dealing With Anxiety

I figure with this whole data breach chaos going on, I'd share some tips on how I deal with anxiety and getting overwhelmed.

First, I find it helpful to pause and breathe. The panic monster will try telling you there's no time for breathing. Ignore it. If you aren't breathing then you aren't thinking. Allow yourself a few moments to breathe and give your thoughts some room. When you take this time, a small space in your brain opens up and allows your thoughts in. Let them in.

Make a checklist of everything you should be doing. Focus on the first thing. Get it done, check it off. Next thing. Keep going down the list. When you look at everything all at once, panic monster starts taking over and your lose your thoughts again. Breathe. The checklist helps you see individual steps, separate units. Your panic will start to subside as you see more and more things that you've crossed off. Checklists also keep you from worrying about whether you missed anything. You can just look back and see that yes, I did do that or no, that wasn't listed I better go do it.

Tell someone what's happening after you change your password. Go to your parents, or a friend, anyone who won't judge you if you end up breaking down (which I usually do). Explain the situation to them and talk about what you need to do next. I went to go talk to my mom and it really helped, even though I started crying as soon as I sat down. In fact, maybe it was because I cried. So yeah. Don't hold it in. If you feel you need to cry, let yourself cry. No one is too old to cry.

Read the updates as they come out. They'll reveal more info and might be able to help take away some of the stress and anxiety. For example, yesterday I saw that IP addresses could be affected. Today, I saw that Wattpad was saying that this was only an issue for those who signed up prior to 2017. I'm sorry for anyone who falls into that category, but I was able to feel personally relieved because I only signed up this year. (Heh, I guess we can add this data breach to the "Things That Went Wrong in 2020" list.)

Try to joke and be sarcastic. It may feel like you're being insensitive to the ones who you see panicking, but believe me, it helps. When you're making a joke, it tricks your brain into thinking you're okay because you'd never joke or be snarky if there was danger, so your anxiety will start to back down, letting you take back more control. (By the way, that is not official medical info; just my own personal experience. But it is a scientifically proven fact that people who are sarcastic have longer life spans.)

If you're the kind of person that likes heavy blankets, bury yourself in them. It'll help you feel more secure, which will chase away your anxiety. If you don't have blankets heavy enough, ask for someone to hug you really tight. This deep compression is very calming and can help you feel more grounded and in control.

Maybe you're the kind of person who takes a walk when they get upset. Go on a walk. Let your thoughts wander. Don't let yourself focus on your fear. If you can't pull your thoughts away from it, then focus on the other aspects of it: what's still okay, your anger or frustration, or even what changes you're planning on making.

Don't stay on your own for too long. As weird as it sounds coming from me (the one who hides from the mere mention of people), being with others will help. Stay connected in any way you think will help. Go to a friend's house. Hop online and chat. Or just lounge around your living room with a book.

Follow Wattpad's advice and suggestions about what security steps to take. Check out Wattpad Strategies No One Told You About by walkingecho. They've been very diligent about alerting others about new information in the most recent chapters and they write everything out very clearly and helpfully.

Stay safe and I hope no one reading this was affected!