Muzaffarabad: Anxiety is real, and so is the silence around it. This webinar brought that silence to an end. Through open conversations, insights, and shared experiences, we explored the roots, manifestations, and coping strategies around one of todayβs most pressing mental health challenges.
The Youth Mental Health Committee of the Azad Medical Chapter organized the webinar βItβs OK Not To Be OKβ to raise awareness and advocate for effective anxiety management among youth. The session was attended by a large number of young representatives from diverse walks of life.
The first session focused on understanding anxiety, its link with stress, and the emotions that surround it such as fear, guilt, and helplessness. It also addressed coping strategies, academic anxiety and its signs and symptoms, as well as simple self-interventions like journaling, mindfulness, and grounding to reduce anxiety.
The second session highlighted anxiety of the future and professional life, discussing how it affects performance, productivity, and career growth. It further emphasized personal interventions to manage future-related anxiety and strategies to cope with toxic and high-pressure work environments.
The third session delved into health anxiety, covering its symptoms, the vicious cycle it creates, and the cognitive patterns that fuel it. Management techniques for health anxiety were shared, along with an explanation of the relationship between OCD and anxiety.
In the final session, the role of environmental factors in creating or worsening anxiety was discussed, followed by an exploration of trauma-induced anxiety and how unresolved past experiences can lead to long-term emotional distress.