 Anxiety feels so draining and overwhelming. It often stops you from fulfilling your potential and can make you feel scared, lonely, and sad. Many times it creates small, nervous habits that creep into your life. You may not even notice them, or you don't recognize they're there because of your anxiety. Those habits are not only bad for your quality of life, but they also worsen the anxiety that's already there. If you're wondering what they are, feel free to check out these 5 things anxiety makes you do. 1. Mindlessly scrolling through social media There is an estimate that an average person scrolls through around 300 feet of social media content, which is the size of the Statue of Liberty. It's no secret that we're often glued to our phones and anxiety is a common culprit for that problem. When you're worrying a lot, picking your phone up can become an automatic, mindless habit. In a way, you enter a new world while you're on your phone, a world that is filled with pretty little things you like and where you don't have to feel anxious. Because of that, you keep coming for more, and before you know it, you spend hours and hours looking at your screen. 2. Re-watching the same TV shows Binge-watching TV shows is not only fun, but it can also feel comforting and help you run away from worries for a while. But if you're anxious, you may start watching the same shows on repeat. When you already know what happens, you get a feeling of familiarity and routine. Those feelings help you establish a sense of control, since you're not so anxious about what happens next. So by re-watching these, you feel more comfortable, and your anxiety finally leaves you alone for a bit. 3. Over-eating While our ancestors looked for food for survival, today we seek it to survive emotionally as well. For that reason, you may find yourself looking for comfort in your fridge when anxiety gets the best of you. Chocolate bars, a pint of ice cream, or a bag of chips become a temporary relief. And no matter how nice it feels to eat your worries away, this anxious habit is not a healthy way to cope, and it can bring you even more problems in the long run. 4. Putting tasks on hold Some of you may be thinking, shouldn't you be worried so much that you want to get everything done here and now? I guess it would seem so, but that's not always true. Feelings of anxiety can often lead you to avoid your responsibilities. There are numerous reasons why this could happen. You may have a fear of failure, so you wonder why you even try. Or maybe you feel a strong need to be perfect and it blocks you from starting the task, because you don't know how to achieve that perfection. And the worst part of an anxiety procrastination link is that it's a never-ending cycle. You're anxious because you procrastinate, but you also procrastinate because you're anxious. 5. Canceling Plans Last Minute Anxiety comes hand in hand with overthinking, and when it comes to plans, it feels like a great opportunity to overanalyze. This can make you cancel your plans last minute. Maybe you decide not to show up at that party, or you bail on your date. In extreme cases, you may even feel too nervous to go to your job interview. Socializing can feel so overwhelming, and canceling just feels easier. But in the long run, you're robbing yourself of great opportunities, which creates another reason you feel bad about yourself. So do you think these habits became a part of your days? Are there some other anxious habits you do when life gets a bit too hard to handle? Leave them in the comments below. Hopefully this video helps you be more mindful of those little things. Noticing bad habits is the first step towards changing them. If you enjoyed this video, or if it helped you find some insight, please leave a like and share with friends. As usual, all sources used are in the description below. Thank you for watching, until next time.