Success can affect your mental health… negatively.

Summary

The author discusses the negative impact of success on mental health, particularly for those with general anxiety disorder, and shares personal strategies for managing success-related anxiety.

Abstract

The article delves into the personal experiences of the author, who has grappled with the adverse effects of success on their mental health. Despite the societal perception of success as inherently positive, the author, who suffers from general anxiety disorder, reveals how achieving goals can trigger anxiety and undermine the joy of accomplishment. The narrative includes the author's account of how their excitement over being curated on Medium quickly turned into anxiety and self-doubt. To combat these feelings, the author emphasizes the importance of acknowledging one's feelings, celebrating personal achievements, practicing self-affirmation, and revisiting past successes to regain confidence and silence the voices of anxiety.

Opinions

Success is not universally defined and can be seen in small personal achievements as well as large public ones.
The pressure to maintain or exceed past successes can lead to increased anxiety, especially for individuals with pre-existing anxiety disorders.
Self-care practices, such as affirmations and celebrating small victories, are effective in managing anxiety triggered by success.
Recognizing the triggers of anxiety is crucial for addressing and overcoming them.
The author believes in the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction, suggesting that negative thoughts can attract negativity.
Reflecting on personal progress can dispel the fears and lies perpetuated by anxiety, reinforcing one's self-worth and creative abilities.

Here’s what I learnt and how I handle it.

It is generally agreed that success is a desirable thing. We all want to be successful in everything we do, I am yet to meet anyone who enjoys failure.

There is however no consensus on what success is, it is different things to different people. For me, success is not about achieving big feats (those are nice, don’t get me wrong), it’s all the little things that help me move forward. It is finding the courage to put my writing out here, it is the kindness of strangers, it is self-love and all the ‘little’ victories I make.

How can success affect your mental health if it’s such a good thing right? As someone who suffers from general anxiety disorder, the smallest things can trigger anxiety. My anxiety gives me more anxiety.

Success often comes with pressure, from family, peers and especially oneself. Pressure can lead to overthinking and a fear of the unknown. When I achieve a goal, I feel great until I don’t. It doesn’t take long before feelings of anxiety snatch away that joy.

I remember the first time I got curated on medium, I was excited, it happened even when I wasn’t looking for it (I mean it’s somewhere at the back of my mind but my goal is to share my work and make my readers feel), I did a little twirl and a mirror toast and felt unstoppable.

As the day went on, anxiety began to creep in and voices began to whisper. ‘What if that’s all you’ve got?’ ‘Could that be your last great poem?’ ‘Are you ever going to beat that?’ and as they continued I found myself believing that, it went into the next day and unfortunately affected my whole performance, not only could I not write (that seemed to confirm what the voices had said!) I couldn’t do anything I set out to do.

My energy was so low and worse I was worried my thoughts would attract negativity to me. (Yes, I am mindful of my thoughts because hello, the law of attraction).

As the day unfolded I determined in my heart to write about it. I don’t hear people talk about how success can affect your mental health. It was affecting mine and I was able to tackle it quickly because I noticed it on time.

I know there are people out there who may have experienced similar problems but couldn’t link it to the source- success but hey! I am kind and I will be sharing what helped me for free! (Just kidding I was going to share it anyway).

The first thing that helped me was acknowledging my feelings. I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know what it was. I was able to backtrack and point out when it all started. I asked myself questions and checked what my worries were. Only then was I able to pinpoint what had triggered it, knowing the source helped me to deal with it in an approach that was tailored specifically for it.

The next thing I did was to celebrate myself. Little things like a nice bath followed with full body moisturizing (I might be obsessed my moisturizers) can make you feel good. I did that and then stood in the mirror, affirming while looking at my reflection. It helps to say things like ‘I am brilliant’, ‘I am creative’… say it for as long as you need to because you know what, you are brilliant, you are creative!

I cooked myself a meal and took the time to thoroughly enjoy every bite. By the time I was done, I was feeling better, the voices were silent but I wasn’t done.

After my meal, I proceeded to read my poems out loud, reminding myself of who I really am, a talented writer whose voice would not be shut by anxiety. I read the good ones and the bad ones, the old ones and the new ones. I saw progress that I had missed and I saw through the lie of anxiety. For every great poem I thought would be my last, there were more poems that outdid it. The only thing that would stop me from writing great poems was me not writing and that is not happening anytime soon.

At bed time I found myself writing again, my creative juices were flowing again because that mental obstacle had rolled over.

To deal with success induced anxiety you must remind yourself who you really, an extraordinary being with zero limits.