Clothes are never a frivolity: they always mean something.
~ James Laver
Anxiety can make you feel and think lots of things. Especially things that aren’t necessarily true. Ultimately these false beliefs can influence and shape your self-image into complex distortions that make you think that you’re too fat, dumb, giddy or whatever. A simple way to rejuvenate your self-image is to take care of your appearance.
When it comes to helping people cope with anxiety lots of folks talk about drugs, therapy, and even gimmick programs. But lets not forget about the daily decisions and actions that really determine how we will be affected by our anxieties. Maintaining a healthy self-image will make you feel good about yourself, give you more confidence, reduce your fear of judgment by others, and give you a sense of optimism. By taking the time to take care of yourself you’ll be tending to much more than just the clothes on your back.
Speaking of which, taking care of your appearance means to actually care about what you wear. Not to say that you have to buy things you can’t afford, but just make sure that what you do have is clean, matches, and doesn’t have holes. And make sure your shoes don’t look dirty or scuffed up.
Also, don’t neglect personal hygiene. Pay attention to your hair and nails (that goes for both genders). Shave and cut your hair when needed. Remember this isn’t an exercise in narcissism. This is about making you feel good about yourself so you can benefit from how this makes you feel inside.
People say that you are what you eat. Well you are what you do too. In other words, if you walk around dirty, smelling bad, and sporting shabby clothes how do you think you will feel about yourself? Just remember that feeling good about yourself in the face of all your problems isn’t about miracles. It’s about the small details.
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The easiest way to feel better about yourself is to divert your mind onto other things.
Do something that requires interactive thinking.
Thank you for this interesting post. After years of never feeling quite right, I have my first therapist appointment next Wednesday, and I am excited about it. One thing that I found recently was that trying to look good made me feel good. With the events that have led up to my current condition, I was intentionally not taking care of myself. I am looking for activities and natural things that can help me out, things like this. My biggest concern right now is any side effects of medication. I’m not one to confide in others, and I’m not a big fan of doctors, so what I am embarking on is the scariest thing I have ever done. I am definately bookmarking this site and will be reading through old posts.
Thank you again
Al
Thank you for your article but clothes may be nothing more than a bandaid
Anxious people are usually sensitive and realistic. So, telling them to wear good clothes so that they can feel better won’t work. It’s usually about the feedback an anxious person gets from the other poeple around. If other people around start giving the anxious person the impression that he/she is better, than this will work. You can’t fool an anxious person with good clothes.