Collaborative post. Anxiety is a feeling of unease, worry, or fear that can be mild or severe. Given the number of people affected by anxiety albeit at different extremes, myself included, it is something we all need to talk about more to help boost awareness and acceptance. For some people, anxiety is a normal stress reaction. But for others, anxiety can be so intense and can become a problem that affects daily life. If you are struggling with anxiety, you are not alone. Millions of people around the world deal with this condition daily. Thankfully, there are many ways to manage anxiety. Here we look at how to manage anxiety to help you keep it under control.
How to Manage Anxiety
Do You Need Professional Help?
The first thing to consider if you are struggling with severe anxiety is getting professional help. This might be the best way to help you ease the anxiety and tackle the issue(s) causing the anxiety. You can either ask your doctor for medication or a referral to a place like Dementech or speak with any friends that may also be suffering with anxiety to see if they have been using a professional they can recommend. A therapist can work with you to develop coping mechanisms and help you understand your anxiety.
With waiting lists to get help on the NHS exceptionally long especially when it comes to mental health issues and the cost of a private therapist sometimes being out of reach, many of us will attempt to attempt self help. The following are all ways you can make an impact on your anxiety and how well you cope with it.
Exercise
Exercise is a great way to manage anxiety. It releases endorphins, which have mood-boosting effects. By exercising daily you’ll find that you will feel better and by combining that with some of my other suggestions, you’ll be better able to manage your anxiety.
Yoga
This comprises of controlled breathing, stretches, and mediation to promote health and relaxation. Yoga can be a great social activity but for those whose anxiety revolves around social situations, you might prefer to do an online yoga class instead. Studies have indicated that yoga may help reduce stress, give a feeling of well-being as well as improve symptoms of anxiety.
Practise Mindfulness
Over 200 studies have shown that mindfulness was effective in helping reduce anxiety alongside stress and depression. It teaches the individual how to focus on what is happening in the moment. This involves being aware of breathing, sensations, and feelings. Feeling and sensations are observed without judgment and with acceptance. By not reacting to these it gives you better control of the situation and helps you cope with it better.
Relaxation Techniques
Chronic stress can contribute to anxiety, so finding ways to relieve stress is essential. Some people find exercise an excellent way to reduce stress, while others may prefer relaxation techniques like yoga, reiki, massage, listening to calming music, or meditation. It’s critical to find what works for you and stick with it.
Dietary Adjustments for Anxiety
A healthy diet is essential for those that suffer from anxiety. Foods that are fried, processed, full of sugar, and high in fat can affect your mood and make you feel more anxious and depressed. Swap these types of foods for salmon, tuna, mackerel, and anchovies for example which are high in omega-three fatty acids. This fatty acid has growing evidence to help raise the mood of those in studies. Alongside this, complex carbs such as those found in whole-wheat bread or brown rice can lift the mood. This is because they take longer to break down so sugars are released slower into the bloodstream.
This is the opposite of what happens when you eat processed carbs like sugar, white bread, and white rice. With these, you’ll get an initial surge and then a rapid drop leaving you feeling lethargic.
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Boost Your Self Esteem
Many people that suffer from anxiety will also have low self-esteem. When you have negative feelings about yourself it can make anxiety worse. This affects how you interact with others and may become an issue in a work environment. It’ll take time to adjust your feeling about yourself and you’ll most likely find taking small steps the easiest way to approach this. Things you need to work on to help include; being kind to yourself, identifying things you are good at, building positive relationships, being more assertive, learning to say no (honestly, you will wish you’d learned to do this sooner), etc.
Identify Triggers
It can be useful to be aware of things that might trigger an anxiety attack. It can help to keep a journal to help you identify any patterns that may occur. By knowing what situations and actions might cause an anxiety attack you can help better prepare yourself and be ready with things that can help you manage your anxiety.
Learn for Others Experiences
So many suffer from anxiety so as one might expect there will be groups both online and in person for people that suffer from this to chat about their experiences. It can be helpful to talk to others that are going through something similar. Speaking to other anxiety sufferers can help the individual not feel alone in their situation. It can also be helpful to hear from others that have worked through something like this and see what they found helpful.
This post is not to be used instead of professional advice. If you are suffering with anxiety you should go and speak with your doctor. Suffering with anxiety myself and having friends that do we have found these suggestions helpful when working through anxiety attacks.
What do you find most beneficial to help calm you when working through an anxiety attack or a stressful situation?
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My anxiety sometimes gets the best of me. I will have to try some of these tips.
I really hope that they help you Tara.
This is such a timely post. My oldest son has terrible anxiety and I never know how to help him. I am going to show him this post and discuss with him some of your suggestions. Thank you!
I really hope that some of these can help him. Good luck Sara.
These are great ways to manage anxiety. I have anxiety myself, and I find it hard to manage at times. Exercise is one of my favorite ways to help too.
It’s amazing how well exercise can work isn’t it x
My younger son and I get anxiety, but not ever severe thankfully. For him, he just needs to talk things through with either my husband or me. For myself, exercise, yoga, and mindful breathing help the most.
It’s amazing how things like exercise can have such positive benefits. It’s great you have both found ways to manage your anxiety.
I have anxiety on occasion. It usually comes out of no where and makes my chronic pain worse. I get where I feel like I can’t sit still. I do get professional help because I feel we all could benefit from it. Meds help prevent my anxiety most of the time. I wish I didn’t have to rely on them but my anxiety attacks can get out of control. It’s a vicious cycle. Anxiety makes my pain go up, then I get more anxious and the cycle repeats. I also do things to treat my anxiety without medication too.
Meds can help when required. It all depends on the level of anxiety and any other factors that may also need to be taken into account.
These are all amazing tips. Being an adult can really amp up the anxiety levels. From bills to scheduling and everything in between, it’s HARD.
It really is. The responsibilities that come with adulthood can easily trigger anxiety. Sometimes tackling things one thing at a time can help.
I use both yoga and mindfulness to help with anxiety. I started doing a morning ritual that has really helped. It includes meditation and journaling.
That’s great to hear. I’m glad you found things to help Kim.
Anxiety can really get out of control and but we have ways of conquering it by adopting some of your strategies.
It can help to know what to do.
Identifying triggers spoke the most to me, sometimes it’s so hard to realize we’re getting ourselves into hairy situations until after the episode but being able to do so beforehand or sooner would be so helpful.
You need to go through them first to know what to look for. Then you know what will set it off and can avoid or find things to do to lessen the anxiety attack.
I deal with this daily. Mindful meditation is one that I go to A LOT because it really does help me. However, I have noticed certain food do make it worse.
It helps to identify things that make it worse. You can then work around these.
I’ve been doing yoga and meditation lately, oh and a ton of breathing exercises…these are helping me a lot…
They can really help calm your mind. It’s amazing how well they work.
One of my triggers for a panic attack is being overheated. Now I try to stay cool on hot days, even if it means staying home.
It really helps to know your triggers. It means you can work around them.
I have anxiety. I am managing it but diet plays a bigger role than I thought! It is a constant thing though which can make it feel never ending.
It is something you need to constantly keep on top of unfortunately.
I think identifying your triggers is such a good point, as if you know more about what causes your anxiety you can try and stop yourself being in those positions to begin with. I find exercise, having a bath and reading help me quite a lot x
It’s great that you have found things that help you Rhian.
Outdoor exercises or long walks help me a lot. Also a good healthy and balanced diet helps me feeling good! Listening to music or doing activities that I love avoid my anxiety status, it make me think about pleasant and positive things.
It’s great there are so many things we can do to help with anxiety.
I sing to the top of my lungs whenever I feel anxious. And it always works for me.
Singing can really help with anxiety. Music can really lift our mood.
I agree yoga and exercises are really good to manage anxiety. I feel relaxed after doing it and releases the stress.
That’s great to hear, they can make a big difference.
I think self-care is so, so important when it comes to anxiety and depression. Learning to put yourself first and your needs before others can be crucial. You can’t be there for those you love if you aren’t there for yourself. Giving yourself that time and space to rest and recharge is a must.
It is important to take time out of life for you.
These are good ways to approach anxiety issues. I deal with some anxiety and it is nice to focus on better overall health.
That can be a good approach and makes a difference.