Do you get that sinking feeling when anxiety appears once again? Perhaps you feel helpless and unable to deal with the consequences, fearing that when anxious thoughts arrive, they are certain to snowball and ruin your day. Thankfully, there are several ways to avoid or manage these events through self-help practices. So what can you try instead?
Learning About It
Try to educate yourself about anxiety, and going about this in an exploratory manner. There are many resources online to help with this (such as anxiety forums) and some excellent books you may access that will spell out the challenge. If your anxiety is based on a specific set of circumstances or events, it helps to learn your triggers that lead to anxiety, so you are better placed to handle the situation when it arrives.
Changing Your Environment
Your anxiety may be caused by certain situations, people, places or activities. While it may be easy to say so, it is nevertheless a good idea to change your environment when you feel anxious. Focus on other tasks to take your mind off the subject, or walk to a different room instead. Put everything down, switch everything off and go out for a long walk if possible. In every case, try to do something different for several minutes so you can reset your overactive mind.
Journalling and Thought Records
Have you ever heard of cognitive behaviour therapy? This suggests that what we do and think can affect the way we feel, and you may be able to get some relief if you focus on creating thought records instead. When you encounter any negative thoughts, get used to writing them down in a dedicated journal so that you can actively challenge them. You’re making your negative, automatically-generated thoughts visible and can record the emotions, sensations and situations. Go into detail, and you may see that those thought patterns are not reasonable or fair after all. With time, this may help you to control these thought processes as soon as they happen, which may help to relieve your anxiety.
Talking It Through
It may help to talk with a loved one, a licensed professional, or both. Human beings may be more attuned to keeping such thoughts to themselves or, as the British might say, keeping a “stiff upper lip.” Yet, opening up has many benefits, as you’ll feel less alone and may also discover different ways to approach the challenge.
Are you getting enough sleep according to a set schedule? A good sleeping regimen is essential to help you regulate your physical and mental well-being. Prioritize your schedule and try listening to one of those excellent calming apps you can download to your phone to help you drift off to sleep.
Finally, remember that deep breathing is an excellent self-help treatment for anxiety. Just focus on breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth for several seconds each. Repeat this a few times, and it should certainly help you to counter an outbreak of anxiety.