What did New Yorkers worry about this year?
Loneliness, climate change, job loss and housing were common worries, according to eight mental health professionals interviewed for this story.
And it’s no wonder: This year many New Yorkers had to contend with rising rents, the sky turning bright orange in June, and layoffs across industries.
The good news is there are strategies to deal with an ever-changing city.
Here are some ideas from eight local mental health professionals to help New Yorkers find a little more serenity in 2024.
Start by accepting all your feelings.
Elizabeth Greene, a therapist who practices on the Upper East Side, said that this year, she has seen people working through challenges such as anxiety, job loss and housing insecurity.
“Many people, particularly in Gen Z, are facing an impossible situation in New York where the rents continue to rise,” she said, “And what would have been considered a solid income for recent college graduates is just not enough to cover rent while meeting basic expenses.”
Greene said one way to work through any kind of anxiety is to make room for every emotion you are feeling – regardless of whether they are positive emotions, like joy, or negative ones, like sadness.
Identifying these core feelings is actually a first step toward reducing anxiety, Greene said, because anxiety often results from a desire to avoid deeper emotions that may be harder to deal with.
“I think one way to move through that stuck-ness is to get in touch with what are the emotions underneath whatever anxieties may be coming up because something’s fueling those anxieties,” she said.
Take a chance in social situations.
Therapist Delta Hunter runs a private practice in Brooklyn and mostly works with people trying to create or deepen meaningful relationships.
Hunter said she tells people they have to be confident and put themselves in social situations that may seem difficult.
“Encourage your friends to create social events, go out more, be a…
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