Feeling More Anxious This Year? It's Not Just You.

Maggie Slepian

Have you ever felt that feeling? The specifics differ for everyone, but some of these examples might seem familiar if you’ve experienced anxiety of any sort. 

Maybe your heart starts beating a little faster, maybe you feel a clench in your stomach and your breathing gets shallower. You might feel a bit sick, or have trouble focusing, forget being able to sleep. If it gets really bad, you might feel dizzy or your vision can start spotting out at the corners. That’s how you know it’s going to be a super fun ride!

Anxiety is a close companion to many of us, experienced even more strongly this past year by many of us as well. There are probably a few lucky people out there who recognize those feelings as a segue for full-blown panic attacks. 

I was talking recently to one, two, three outdoorsy writer friends, all of whom joked about their anxiety while fully admitting that it negatively impacted different aspects of their lives. We all related heavily to the challenges anxiety creates. It makes it hard to focus, it puts a strain on relationships, it takes your self-esteem down. There’s no end to the challenges brought on by something that is partly mental struggles and partly physical manifestations. I don’t think this is just symptomatic of people who like to hike and also happen to write for a living. 

This anxiety can be free-floating or it can come from a specific occurrence or stressor. Whatever it is, something sparks it, and the spread is fueled by spiraling thoughts, catastrophic thinking, and evidence you pored over in your head until it starts to be your base reality.

My anxiety runs rampant these days. Sometimes I have trouble focusing, sometimes I feel sick for days on end. I wait for an odd reaction from a friend or partner, something as simple as a less enthusiastic greeting. There! My anxiety screeches: They DO hate you! I start waiting for this evidence, and in a negative feedback loop, maybe I help create it. 

I might file a story draft and then immediately create the editor’s response in my head: Hi Maggie, this wasn’t really what we were looking for. I quit a client from the stress they were causing me, and then lay awake that night, my gut in knots waiting for their response. 

Anyone who’s experienced this probably understands that their increasingly desperate pleas for positive reinforcement are annoying. But if you know the feeling of being worried that Everyone Around You Is Mad At You, you understand that it’s hard to keep it contained. 

Rebecca Sperry, known to the hiking community as “Socked In” is no stranger to generalized anxiety and also panic disorder. She’s been dealing with it for 30 years, and recently wrote a phenomenal piece for Backpacking Routes about how to deal with panic and anxiety in the backcountry. Talking with her about it was like letting go of a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

Rebecca talks at length about mitigating panic and anxiety in the woods, and also about the healing powers of being outside. On paper, getting outside during a time of sadness or anxiety might seem like a no-brainer. But when you find yourself in the throes of a low period, the last thing you want to do is brush Goldfish crumbs out of your hair and drag yourself out to a local trail. 

Really though, do it. 

There has been a lot written about the mental health benefits of being outside, but the hardest part can be actually getting out there during the times you really need it. I have zero medical or mental health training, but from my own experience with this, I truly recommend something as mundane as shrugging a coat on and walking around the neighborhood. Next time, maybe you go to the park near your house, or even venture out on a short hike. It doesn’t have to be long, but chances are, the change of scenery and breaking the spiral of couch-sitting can do wonders for getting out of a rut.

This year has been especially hard. Anxiety comes from a place of stress or uncertainty, and it’s safe to say that a lot of us have been under stress and uncertainty this year. Anxiety can be defined as a “persistent worry and fear about everyday situations.” It might come from a real place, like being in trouble at work, or personal challenges in your home life. It might also just be the way you’re put together. 

I’m not a medical professional in any way, shape, or form, but I am a strong advocate for being more open about mental health struggles. If we are more open to conversations about mental health, the less likely we are to face the challenges alone. Being able to talk about challenging periods and work through them in conversation is hugely helpful in understanding the mentally irrational nature of the hard times.