These days, many clinical psychologists have highly recommended international travel to the general public, including people who suffer from depression and anxiety. A major study indicates that international travel is able to better our emotional wellbeing.
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Though the researchers conducted the research amongst teenagers, the lessons apply to adults as well.
To cope with anxiety, teenagers could talk more with other people, as they will help with teenagers’ problems. In addition, teenagers could take care of themselves, e.g. doing some exercise, listening to music, joining some activities they like and eating healthy food. A very suitable way to cope with anxiety is looking for professionals and services that can give help to cope with anxiety. For example, seeing psychiatrists, mental health nurses and accredited Mental Health Social Workers. By listening to their opinion, they will help suffers to reduce their anxiety. Another way to help suffers recover from anxiety is having the support from family and friends, as talking with family will be very helpful when it comes to coping with anxiety. Since the emotions cannot be controlled by one’s own strength, emotions should not be buried alive, and an individual would be well-advised to naturally accept emotions, which is very effective in terms of coping with anxiety. To solve the excessive anxiety problem, suffers need to have the courage to face the fear as suspicious people usually lack courage. Therefore, to cope with the excessive anxiety problems such as OCD, suffers can choose not to worry about these problems and concentrate on their reading and study. Do what you can do according to your own self-motivation, and go forward every time. Finally, you can do the impossible thing. Suffers also should not think about their past; they should pay attention to the present. There are a few coping styles: The first coping style is feeling to control your life – if sometimes you feel not ready enough for something, you need to make a decision quickly. The second coping skill is to forgive yourself, because people who have anxiety always think about their mistakes in life. The last coping skill is always having purposes and meanings in your life, and international travel can help you achieve that.
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Although the study was conducted in Australia, it has international impact which is relevant to international travel.
Anxiety issues generally fall into 4 categories: generalized anxiety disorder, which means spending too much time worrying about things; social anxiety disorder, i.e. worrying about what other people talk about them; panic disorder, i.e. living in fear and worry constantly; specific phobias, e.g. fearing specific items like insects or a small space (Health Space, n.d.). Anxiety condition is not developed by one factor; it could be developed by a combination of different things and it relates to genetic inheritance by family. Other factors could be a difficult life experience and physical health. As to personal factors, a teenager who is a perfectionist, someone who is timid, or an adolescent who lacks self-esteem always has high chance to have anxiety (Beyond Blue, n.d.).
Furthermore, in some situations, anxiety can help to avoid danger by running away, which is how we protect ourselves (Black Dog Institute, n.d.). Reme (2017) indicates that if you deal with things that are not dangerous in your life, and your anxiety is going to the extreme – in this situation you may have anxiety. Remes (2017) provides an example: in the jungle when you see a tiger and the tiger has not seen you yet, you are so scared and do not know what to do, then a few seconds later all you know is to run away.
Moreoever, another study was conducted among 10,123 adolescents with anxiety by National Comorbidity survey-Adolescents Supplement. This research suggests that 31.9% of the participants have the most common condition, 19.1% of them have behaviour disorders, 14.3% of them have mood disorders, with a overall 22.2% with severe impairment from anxiety (Merkangas, et al., 2010). This research has clearly shown that anxiety could have a big impact on teenagers’ life.
In my survey I found that most Australian adolescents know anxiety is not uncommon. Most people believe that the number of adolescents experiencing anxiety is one in fourteen (41.7%) or one in five (50%). Also, most adolescents (75%) think self-belief of achieving a goal in social, study and emotional areas is one of the reasons for anxiety.
“A study suggests that international travel is a way to enhance positive feelings fast.”
