Best Ways You Can Deal With Anxiety
Anxiety is a common human emotion, but those with anxiety disorders feel it constantly and much more than normal. These emotions are harmful if they interfere with your quality of life and hinder you from functioning normally.
Here's how to deal with anxiety and use healthy coping strategies to experience relief.
What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a sensation of concern, tension, and worry that can manifest physically in the form of raised blood pressure and other symptoms. While some anxiety is normal and even anticipated as we negotiate life's stressors, for people suffering from an anxiety disorder, the dread and concern do not go away and can interfere with everyday tasks.
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) occurs when a person has excessive anxiety or concerns on most days for at least six months. Instead of periodic anxieties, someone with GAD suffers excessive anxiety about many aspects of their life, even items others might not consider to be concerning.
In addition to anxiety, GAD can cause restlessness, irritation, exhaustion, and difficulties managing feelings of concern, even when sleeping.
Understanding Key Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders
The following symptoms characterize most anxiety disorders:
Experiencing anxious feelings most of the day
Feeling powerless
A sensation of impending disaster, danger, or panic
Accelerated heart rate
Hyperventilation
Sweating or trembling
Feeling anxious despite the lack of specific stressors
Anxiety and panic can obstruct everyday activity and be difficult to manage. They are exaggerated compared to the actual threat and might induce you to avoid locations or situations.
You should consult a doctor if your anxiety interferes with your life and relationships. Before contacting a mental health professional, consult your provider to rule out any underlying physical health issues.
While most people with anxiety disorders require psychotherapy or medication to regulate their anxiety, lifestyle adjustments and coping methods can also help. Keep in mind that it's possible to learn how to relieve anxiety and live a meaningful, enjoyable life.
8 Ways to Deal with Generalized Anxiety Disorder
There are tactics you may employ if you suffer from anxiety to prevent becoming consumed by it. Here are several ways to assist you in solving the matter right away, as well as long-term answers to a reoccurring problem.
If your anxiety is sporadic and interfering with your attention or tasks, several short natural cures may help you regain control of the issue.
Suppose your anxiety is focused on a specific scenario, such as being concerned about an approaching event. In that case, you may observe that the symptoms are brief and generally disappear when the expected event occurs.
Examine Your Mental Process
Excessive anxiety often causes people to feel negative about themselves and the world around them.
Negative ideas might take root in your head and alter the seriousness of the issue. One method is to confront your worries, ask whether they are genuine, and discover where you can regain control.
You can also try exploring the evidence behind a negative thought. What might you tell a friend experiencing the same stress? What other possible outcomes could happen? If you could stop worrying about this one experience, what might change?
Practice Deep Breathing Exercises
Hyperventilation, which increases oxygen levels and decreases carbon dioxide in the blood, can cause physical signs of anxiety. Carbon dioxide aids in modulating the body's response to anxiety and panic.
To avoid hyperventilation, a person suffering from anxiety should learn to breathe through their diaphragm rather just from than their chest. The trick is to allow your tummy to expand as you breathe in. Focus on taking deep breaths without judging your thoughts.
Place one hand on your lower tummy and the other on your chest to ensure proper breathing. Correct breathing causes your belly to move rather than your chest. It also helps to calm your breathing when you are stressed.
There are several more breathing strategies to try. You may also try holding your breath for a few seconds. This helps to increase blood carbon dioxide levels. You may also want to consider progressive muscle relaxation, a structured technique that focuses on experiencing alternating states of muscle tension with relaxation.
Consider following a guided meditation to learn how to do this on your own. Continuing with meditation is a wonderful way to feel calm and spend time learning more about your body and inner thoughts.
Finally, you may want to practice yoga as a way to reduce anxiety. Research shows that just 12 yoga sessions can significantly decrease anxiety symptoms.
Try Aromatherapy
Natural smells like lavender, chamomile, and sandalwood may be incredibly calming, whether in the form of essential oils, incense, or candles. Aromatherapy is known to help stimulate particular receptors in your brain, potentially reducing anxiety.
At the very least, give yourself permission to enjoy making your home fragrant! Think of it as a helpful coping strategy to overcome adversity and manage distressing anxiety triggers.
Get Plenty of Physical Activity
The physical symptoms of anxiety are triggered by the 'fight-or-flight' reaction, which fills the body with adrenaline and other stress hormones.
Exercise, however, burns off stress hormones and promotes relaxation. Physical activity is another effective anxiety-reduction strategy.
Aim to engage in some physical exercise at least three to four times a week, and diversify your activities to avoid monotony. As a benefit, you'll enjoy improved energy levels, which can also neutralize feelings of anxiety.
Focus on Increasing Your Self-Esteem
People who suffer from anxiety disorders frequently have poor self-esteem. You may feel anxious about your anxiety! And feeling overwhelmed can quickly spiral into social anxiety or other types of distress.
In many ways, feeling worthless may aggravate anxiety. It might cause a passive manner of engaging with people and promote a dread of being harshly criticized.
Low self-esteem may also be connected to the influence of the anxiety illness on your life. These issues may include isolation, shame and guilt, depression, and difficulties functioning at school, work, or in social situations.
Consider Simple Dietary Changes
Research shows that what you eat can significantly impact your mood.
Magnesium helps muscular tissue relax, and a magnesium deficit can lead to anxiety, sadness, and sleeplessness. Inadequate vitamin B and calcium consumption can also increase anxiety symptoms.
Consume wholegrain cereals, leafy green vegetables, and low-fat dairy products regularly. Limit alcohol or avoid it altogether.
Nicotine, caffeine, and stimulant medicines (such as those containing caffeine) cause your adrenal glands to produce adrenaline, one of the primary stress hormones. These are best either used in moderation or avoided.
Other items to avoid include salt and other chemicals such as preservatives. Whenever possible, choose fresh, unprocessed meals.
Speak To Your Doctor About Psychiatric Medication
Long-term research studies have demonstrated that psychological treatments, such as cognitive behavior therapy, are far more successful than drugs in treating anxiety problems.
However, your doctor may prescribe a short course of tranquilizers or antidepressants to help you manage your symptoms while other treatment choices take effect.
Medications can help relieve symptoms of panic attacks, improve PTSD causing anxiety, and treat underlying depression. Keep in mind that all medications have side effects, and if you have a history of abusing legal or recreational drugs, you should let your psychiatrist know in advance.
Practice Journaling
Writing out your anxious thoughts takes them out of your head and might make them less intimidating.
These relaxation techniques are especially helpful for those people who experience anxiety regularly. They may also function effectively with someone with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) when they are in a bind.
However, if you feel you have GAD, rapid coping tactics should not be your only therapy option. You'll want to develop long-term methods to reduce symptoms' intensity and even prevent them from occurring.
When Is My Anxiety Harmful?
Identifying the type of anxiety you're experiencing might be difficult since everyone's body reacts differently to an imagined threat.
You've probably heard the phrase anxiety used to describe a broad sensation of concern, uneasiness, or unease. It's a common reaction to an impending event with an unclear consequence. It affects everyone at some point since it is part of our brain's response to a perceived risk, even if that danger isn't genuine.
However, anxiety can sometimes become severe, resulting in panic attacks that feel manageable at first but steadily worsen over a few hours. Likewise, anxiety can make it challenging to use coping techniques, particularly if you feel too overwhelmed to think rationally.
How We Help People with Anxiety and Depression
Learning to manage anxiety takes time, patience, and practice. Most importantly, you must be willing to confront circumstances that cause worry.
Baby steps matter! At the present moment, you have control over how you confront your anxiety symptoms and cope with your fear.
At Mental Health Transitions, we integrate life skills, peer support, and stress management techniques to reduce anxiety symptoms. Our mental health professionals also use evidence-based practices like CBT, exposure therapy, EMDR, and other therapies to help people improve their emotional well-being.
We are a safe space for you or your loved one, and your emotions are not too large for us to handle!
Contact us today to learn more and get the support you need.