Wrestling With Anxiety: Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

Hi there readers, now, I'm trying something new here on this blog of mine. Having turned another year older just a couple of weeks ago, I've had time to ponder what aims I have going ahead and how I want to achieve them. My main goal is to drown out as much negativity and ill-feeling I can from my life at the moment, and in doing so, I've felt the need to be more up front about my mental health.

Over the past couple years in particular, I have had an ongoing struggle with anxiety in various forms as well as some other similar afflictions. Whilst, at the minute, I don't wanna get too much into the details of why I feel like shit, its safe to say there have been quite severe lows and some rough patches, along with times of more smoother sailing. I've had a bit of a nasty spat with it quite recently, and I felt that the best way to combat this is to be more open and up-front with these issues. I am lucky enough to have some wonderful friends and family that have been an incredibly helpful and patient with me throughout this time; I cannot thank them enough for everything they've done. Without their continued support, I doubt I'd be able to write these very words.

But how does this relate to this blog? Well, if I'm talking about my personal experience with my struggles, pro wrestling has played a huge role in my ability to cope like I have. So, in this series I've entitled 'Wrestling With Anxiety', I hope to relay to you, dear readers, how big a help the graps have been for me. This is in no way meant to be preaching a cure, or saying that if you're experiencing similar things watch wrestling and it'll be grand, this is purely me telling my story, hopefully providing ideas that people could adapt and apply to their own problems using their passion. I cannot stress enough the importance of reaching out to people and seeking help. I have and it has done wonders, so if you're in a similar spot, I implore you to do so as well.

Kevin Owens here taking on the physical form of anxiety for the purposes of a nice visual metaphor

So, in regards to wrestling's impact on me, I plan on discussing different aspects in each post. For this first one, I want to focus on something that has helped immensely; regularity and perpetuity.

As a long time viewer, especially in this day and age, its sometimes easy to overlook the sheer volume of  new content there is on a weekly basis. WWE alone produces a minimum of around 7 hours of programming every week, as well as there being numerous other promotions that produce regular content like Impact and Ring of Honour. Although I follow the belief of quality over quantity in wrestling, I'd say on average WWE's weekly product is pretty good, at least in regards to the in-ring action. Over the past couple years, this frequency has certainly aided me.

Bad days throughout the week have been pushed through thanks to knowing that when I get home I've got ______ to watch. Whether it be out of habit or fuelled with legitimate excitement, I've found that these small glimmers of hope really help to put a positive twist on an otherwise shitty day. In the grand scheme of things, these sorts of overarching problems don't tend to be solved in a day, but I've found that instances of anxiety and worry about one relatively small thing in particular are eased by having something to look forward to. As menial as it is to preoccupy yourself on who Neville is gonna kill next or the prospect of a Young Bucks match on the next episode of ROH TV, in my experience, its a big help. The ever-present nature of wrestling means that there's always something I can put in my mind as the end goal for the day. 

On a broader scale, bigger shows like Pay-Per-Views also help in similar ways. When I've been going through a bit of a slump over the span of a few days/weeks/other extended measurements of time, it's stuff like the prospect of a killer card at an NXT: Takeover or a massively hyped match that do the job. When something like a Cena/Styles or an Okada/Omega gets announced, that shit keeps me buzzing for a good long while. Yes, sometimes these sorts of matches might not live up to expectations, but when they hit they mark, Lord does it feel great. For me, having a satisfying climax to these gets me in a good mood for a period after, as if refreshing my mind whilst I ride that high.

Despite AJ's stellar performance evaluation, John is still reluctant to give him that raise he's been asking for

I will say that I have recently have a rough go of it; I've had some recurring feelings of hopelessness, my sense of self-worth has been a bit thrown off and I feel like I'm at a stage where I have to reevaluate a few aspects of my life. As of late, NXT has been the weekly content that's given me something to look forward to. It's been consistently delivering, really feeling like it's gotten it's groove back from the golden age of the early-ish Takeover period. Every division is promising and exciting, plus at an hour every week, its not a massive task to watch. Plus, any chance to see my British boys in action is always a delight.

Top lads

Wrestling gives me something to push through for. Whether it be just a singular match, a developing story or an upcoming show, there always seems to be something to look forward to. In times where everything seems to be going really rather shit, I've found that having little things to get excited about go a long way. The regularity of this has been vital, consistently helping me battle my afflictions through dark time after dark time. I owe a lot to wrestling, and this is just the beginning of the story. 

So that just about does it for this first edition of 'Wrestling With Anxiety' and I hope its been a somewhat fun ride. Let me know your thoughts, feedback is always welcomed with open arms. With the shake-up this blog's received, I feel the need to reaffirm that I am still active, still thinking of ideas for things to write about, and still a big ol' fan of the graps.