 Hello, Psych2Go family. Welcome to another video. Have you ever had a problem controlling your anxiety? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by it and don't quite know how to deal with it? Many of us are no strangers to stress and anxiety, as it's the single most prevalent mental illness in the world. Anxiety affects over 40 million adults in the US alone, with more being diagnosed each year. It's a rampant and growing social concern. So with that said, here are 8 possible reasons why you might be feeling anxious all the time. 1. You have a toxic family or a family member. Is someone among your family controlling, manipulative, or emotionally exhausting to be around? Do they take advantage of your relationship and constantly look for ways to exploit you and exert their dominance over you? Whether it's your parents, your siblings, or another relative that you live with, having a toxic family or family member is incredibly stressful to your mental health and emotional well-being. If someone at home is cruel and unkind to you, mistreats you, disrespects you, and constantly bullittles you, it can damage your self-esteem and trigger strong feelings of anxiety and depression. 2. You have a disruptive home life. Are your parents fighting all the time? Is your family suffering from serious financial problems? Is someone struggling with substance abuse or a serious illness, be it physical or mental? Is it tearing your family apart? Having a disruptive home environment is another reason why you may be feeling so much anxiety all the time. While all that negativity isn't directed towards you, that doesn't mean you won't still be affected by it. Living in a chaotic, volatile, unstable household means always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Home is supposed to be a safe place for you. To be yourself, speak your mind and unwind after a long day. But instead, you dread going home and feel constantly on edge because of it. 3. You're surrounded by toxic people. Do your friends abuse your friendship or sabotage your success? Have they intentionally hurt you, made you feel insecure, or brought out the worst in you? They say it's important to choose your friends wisely, especially as you're growing up because these are the people you're going to be spending most of your time with. Relationship problems and interpersonal conflicts are a common trigger for anxiety. So if you're surrounded by fake friends or trapped in a toxic relationship, it puts you at a much greater risk for anxiety and depression. 4. You're stressed because of work or school. Are you overworking yourself trying to meet all of your deadlines for school? Have your heavy workloads thrown your work-life balance out the window? High levels of chronic stress are dangerous to your health and may lead to emotional burnout. Constantly worrying about your performance and setting unrealistically high expectations for yourself is enough to render even the most emotionally well-adjusted of us wracked with anxiety. And because stress is known to disrupt our eating and sleeping patterns, it can worsen symptoms of anxiety tenfold. 5. You're worrying about your future. Have you been going through a lot of changes recently? It may be the reason why you feel so anxious all the time. Maybe you moved to a new neighborhood or transferred to a new school. Or you're graduating and about to start college soon. Whatever the reason, change can often be scary and painful to deal with. It's normal to feel afraid about all of the uncertainties surrounding your life right now and wanting everything to stay the same. Only when you learn to accept the change and move forward will you stop struggling with the feelings of worry, dread, and anxiety. 6. You're worried about what other people think. Does your anxiety only flare up in social situations? Does it feel worse when you're surrounded by people or talking to a group? What you may be experiencing is social anxiety disorder, SAT, which is an anxiety disorder characterized by a strong fear of social evaluation. People with SAT feel anxious about talking to their friends, answering phone calls, public speaking, or attending social gatherings. 7. You're neglecting your self-care. Have you been skipping your meals or staying up too late? Do you lock yourself up in your room all day and constantly neglect your self-care? Living with anxiety certainly is not easy. And sometimes we may want to resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms just to make ourselves feel a bit better. But neglecting your self-care can make the situation even worse. In fact, most experts recommend making healthier lifestyle changes such as eating balanced meals, getting a lot of sleep, exercising regularly to help battle against anxiety. 8. You have a negative mindset. Famed psychologist Aaron Beck, founder and pioneer of cognitive behavioral therapy, believed that having a negative mindset contributed significantly to the anxiety we feel. And research has certainly proved him right. So much of our lives is determined by our thoughts and emotions. Being a pessimist who always sees the negative side of things, you'll only attract more negativity into your life. Your distorted thinking leads you to misinterpret things for the worse and makes it harder for you to cope with your anxiety and distress. Are you experiencing anxiety right now? Which reason mentioned in this video do you find most relatable? Anxiety is something a lot of people all over the world struggle with and it's the leading mental health concern worldwide. Fortunately, however, it's also highly treatable. The first step to overcoming it is to understand the reason behind it. Once you identify the triggers behind your anxiety, you learn better ways of responding to them and managing your anxiety. So don't hesitate to reach out to a mental health care professional today and get the help that you need. Remember to like this video and share it with those you think might benefit from it. Thanks for watching and we'll see you soon.