The Unexpected Anxiety: Adjusting to Life in the Big Apple
New York City offers opportunities, iconic landmarks, and excitement. However, beneath the dazzling lights and busy streets, newcomers frequently stumble upon an unanticipated side of city life: unexpected anxiety. Life in this sprawling metropolis can sometimes trigger overwhelming feelings of anxiety.
This blog will explain what can trigger this unexpected anxiety and provide practical steps to help you conquer your challenges. Understanding how to tackle challenges is essential to thriving in New York City. Whether you are planning a move or navigating city life, this blog will help you.
The Charm and Challenges of the Big Apple
When you first arrive in New York City, the opportunity and excitement of the Big Apple immediately rise to meet you. People of diverse backgrounds flood the streets, lights from all sorts of entertainment gleam around each corner, and your mind stretches to take in the potential for professional advancement this dynamic environment offers.
And yet, while the thrill of the city may be the original quality that drew you to transition into New York, the constant stimulation may also make you feel anxious and overwhelmed. Urban environments offer unique city stressors to their residents that can harm their mental health and thriving.
For example, in the city, there are routine occurrences that trigger or exacerbate anxiety.
Pace - “Run, or get run over” could be an apt tagline for New York City. The speed of life in the city can cause stress as people move frenetically throughout their days.
Noise - The city is loud. Blaring horns, thuds from construction, and the screech of subway trains pulling into the station provide the soundtrack for New York.
Traffic - The city is crowded. Whether it’s sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic trying to get across town in an Uber or sandwiched between strangers on a train, the city is full of people waiting to get somewhere.
Pollution - The exhaust and toxins of a dense urban environment with relatively little green space can make the city challenging to tolerate.
For transplants to New York, the unexpected anxiety of living in a city can be disorienting and discouraging. You assume you’re anxious for no reason because living in New York is the very outcome you wanted. How could you be unhappy? However, it’s important to remember that anxiety affects everyone differently. “Some people are more prone than others,” notes Stephanie Wright, RN, BSN for PsychCentral. “Possible causes of anxiety can include genetics, stressful situations, previous traumas, medications, and physical health issues.”
Anxiety therapy in New York City might be invaluable for you if you’ve previously experienced patterns of anxious behavior, such as with generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, or social anxiety. Transitional therapy can also be helpful if a close relative has battled anxiety throughout their life, as you might also be at risk for experiencing anxiety after moving to New York. You may have a physical predisposition to anxiety if, since moving to New York, you’re existing on a diet of sugary or processed foods or running on caffeine. Certain foods prime your body to have an exaggerated stress response to triggers around the city
Understanding Anxiety After Moving to a New City
“Of course, now I know the plethora of options right outside my door, but it took time to get savvy to how New Yorkers carried out simple tasks.”
Expect some anxiety after moving to a new city. It’s normal. Even when you have an efficient moving strategy to relocate, it’s nearly impossible to avoid any stress. You can start preparing early and secure the help of a professional moving company, but adjusting to new rhythms in an unfamiliar environment will naturally produce discomfort. “Embrace the messiness and chaos that comes with moving, rather than clinging to the idea that everything needs to be as perfect as possible,” cautions LCSW Hillary Schoninger for VeryWell Mind. It’s natural to need time to grow into your new life in the city rather than expecting perfection on day one. It takes time to adjust.
When Healthy Minds NYC Co-Founder Chanel Dokun first moved to New York City, she recalls sobbing over shampoo.
It’s silly now to think of crying over shampoo, but it happened. I remember trekking an hour on the train from the Upper East Side to Target in Brooklyn to buy shampoo. I’d always bought toiletries from the local big box store in California, so I didn’t even consider popping down to my local bodega or Gristedes to get supplies. The trip was exhausting; I got lost and had to lug all my bags up and down the subway stairs by myself. Of course, now I know the plethora of options right outside my door, but it took time to get savvy to how New Yorkers carried out simple tasks.
Likewise, it will take time for you to become savvy about life in the city. And in the interim, you may feel unexpected anxiety. In therapy, many of our clients who are transplants to New York City report some of the following types of feelings related to moving to New York:
Sadness over social inequities and the stark contrast in living conditions
Frustration over daily inconveniences, like delayed trains or crowded sidewalks
Fear over how to make ends meet with the high cost of rent
Insecurity over work performance in high-performing professional spaces
And more.
Medical News Today points out how living in cities can present other conditions that affect mental health, such as a lack of green spaces, social isolation, and low-quality housing and urban design. It’s helpful to anticipate some of these issues as potential stressors as you move to a new city like New York. Remember that stress in itself isn’t bad–chronic stress becomes unhealthy when it leads to anxiety and impairs you from thriving.
Anxiety in Big Cities: Why It Happens
Before we offer strategies for managing anxiety in cities, let’s examine some of the research that supports the phenomenon of increased anxiety in urban settings, its impact, and causality. It’s not just anecdotal–living in an environment like New York City can empirically present a risk to your mental health.
An article from Cambridge University Press that evaluated over 113 other published articles on urban mental health determined that “social disparities, social insecurity, pollution, and the lack of contact with nature are some of [the] recognized factors affecting urban mental health.” Given that over half the world’s population lives in cities, we should take heart. We’ll likely see a cultural trend toward increased anxiety in big cities like Tokyo, London, and San Francisco.
City dwellers like New Yorkers are at a 21% higher risk of developing generalized anxiety disorder than their rural counterparts. Increased risk of anxiety is due in large part, reports The Conversation, to an adaptation in brain functioning that occurs after living in an urban environment. Researchers measured activation within the amygdala (the fight or flight part of the brain). They found that neural activation “correlated with the size of the city in which an individual resided at the time of the experiment.” It is a staggering realization that a brain can adapt over time based on its location. Brain chemistry can alter as a direct result of living in New York.
If you’ve experienced unexpected anxiety after moving to the city, you’re not alone. Permit yourself to get help managing this change to your mental health.
Coping Mechanisms and Resources
There are practical ways you can care for your mental health and deal with unexpected anxiety if you’ve recently moved to New York. Here are five practices you can adopt as a New Yorker right now.
Five Anxiety-Reducing Practices for New Yorkers
Reduce sensory overload.
Make it a habit to turn off extra sensory sources like playing a podcast in the background while you’re commuting home from work or running from the office to happy hour drinks. Instead, build in transition times and breaks from stimulus to allow your brain to rest. Try to single-task and practice mindfulness.Get some zzzs.
Pop in some earplugs, turn off the lights, and put down your phone to feel more rested. You can block out city lights with an eye mask so they do not disrupt your body’s natural circadian rhythms.Go green.
We’re not talking about recycling. We encourage you to spend time in green spaces for nature’s benefit on your mental health. Grow herbs on the windowsill of your apartment and stop by Prospect Park or Central Park on the weekends to indulge your need for nature.Move your body.
Take the stairs if you’re physically able, and instead of reaching for another cup of coffee at the office, circle the block around your office building. Integrating more exercise and movement into your daily rhythm can work wonders. Make it a goal to add more extensive exercise at the gym, a yoga studio, or around your apartment for at least 30 minutes daily.Breathe in some fresh air.
Toxins from the city are tough to avoid. Escape the city to fresh areas like the Palisades or upstate New York when you can. In the meantime, USC Assistant Professor of Architecture Travis Longcore suggests, “Keep your windows closed and invest in a good air filtration system, if it’s within your means.”
All of these lifestyle adjustments can help mitigate symptoms as you pursue anxiety therapy in New York City.
Seeking Professional Help: Anxiety Therapy in New York City
When you’re ready to find an anxiety therapist, our Healthy Minds NYC team is here to help you begin therapy. You may find you can benefit from professional help if you experience any of the following challenges related to your anxiety after moving to a new city:
You have started experiencing problems at work
You feel like the quality of your life is declining.
You feel more irritable than usual.
You have new or unexplained physical changes or pain.
Your relationships are suffering or include more conflict.
How to Find a Therapist in New York City
Finding a therapist in New York City who specializes in anxiety is possible. Due to the prevalence of anxiety in the city, most therapists can treat anxiety disorders. At Healthy Minds NYC, we have both board-certified psychiatrists and highly-trained psychotherapists who help clients with anxiety. You can take our free quiz here online today if you’re wondering which type of mental health professional could best serve you.
When considering a potential therapist, learn about their training, treatment style, costs, and availability. Some of the best types of therapy for anxiety are cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness therapy because they each help you slow down to notice your own thoughts and feelings rather than being reactive to external circumstances. Since unexpected anxiety tends to occur beneath our radar, treatment for this type of anxiety requires illuminating what’s hidden and taking back control over your present and future responses.
Check out our anxiety therapy services at Healthy Minds NYC to transition well into New York.
