Here’s How We Can Combat “August Anxiety”

Some people call it “August Anxiety”, some call it “Summertime Sadness” - this feeling of real sadness and uneasiness in anticipation of the end of summer is real and is felt by many. August is the last third of summer, and we really don’t want to curl up into a ball of anxiety when we can enjoy summer to its fullest. Debra Kissen, PhD, explains to Refinery29 that there are things that we can do to re-wire our brain to handle August differently: 

The core skill that you need to develop in order to combat August anxiety is simply mindfulness, she says.  "Gently notice that thought of future distress, and without judgment, just return back to the present moment," 

It's also worthwhile to find ways to be present, whether that's spending time in nature or literally just watching TV without scrolling your phone at the same time. "It's so much harder and harder to be present, because real-life distractions keep injecting themselves," Dr. Kissen says. "Our minds are so used to being given this pace of information that it doesn’t know how to slow down." And if that still doesn't help, the next best thing you can do for the rest of the month is commiserate with other people and blast the Lana Del Ray.

image credit: via wikimedia commons