Anxiety and Depression are two of the most common mental health struggles. This is because many things in life can trigger both symptoms. Anxiety ranges from healthy worries that end up serving as motivation to push people to their goals to the debilitating anxiety that leaves people trapped and unable to leave their homes due to excessive worry and fears. I know that I am biased as a clinical counselor to suggest psychotherapy for anything severe on the spectrum. This is because I truly believe in therapy and because most of the work in therapy is done outside of the therapy session using the resources and tools the therapists introduce.
If you are on the mild end of the spectrum, there are many things that can be done to help manage anxiety. I will list the 5 main things below.
The first step in managing anxiety is having the awareness of when your anxiety is present. This may seem simple and it is, however, it's important to dig a little deeper. When you notice you are anxious, ask yourself where in your body do you feel anxious. You may feel discomfort in your heart, your stomach, or your muscles as they tense. Knowing where you feel the anxiety is important so you know what areas to target and notice a difference once you start coping effectively.
The second step is to rate the intensity of the anxiety. I like to do this on a scale of 0-10. Zero represents no anxiety at all and a 10 would consist of panic attack symptoms. If you are close to a 10 on the scale, you won't want to focus on deep breathing because that is going to make your brain even more stressed and focus on the fact that you can't breathe. Instead, grounding techniques would be best if you're at a 10 or close to it. Grounding involves distracting your mind by focusing all your senses on your current environment. There are many different techniques to do this. One is called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding. In this method, you list 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel or touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and 1 thing you can taste. When you go through listing these sensory items off, your brain switches from ruminating on your distressing thoughts and focusing on your current environment.
If you're below a 5 or 6 on the scale, belly breathing is another technique that is extremely effective for anxiety. Belly breathing involves focusing on expanding and contracting your abdominal muscles that will calm your sympathetic nervous system. When belly breathing, you'll want to puff out your stomach like a balloon on the inhale and contract your stomach flattening the balloon on the exhale. When you do this simple exercise, your body sends chemical messengers to your vegas nerve that triggers the relaxation response and will begin to lower your heart rate and reduce stress levels. I enjoy doing belly breathing at the first sign of stress. It's also very calming to do before bed in order to fall asleep faster.
Affirmations are another tip for anxiety. Affirmations are the positive thoughts or self-talk that are used to combat worries. They are statements that are confirming something to be true. For example, you may be up against a challenge and naturally think, "I can't do this." Having that negative thought is creating an unpleasant feeling and then most likely creating an unpleasant outcome. The Cognitive Behavioral Theory emphasizes how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all connected. Changing the thoughts helps to change the feelings and the behaviors. So if your initial thought was "I can't do this" all you have to do is switch it to something that you want to be true such as "I can do this." Just by changing that thought and the words you say to yourself you can drastically change your mood and behaviors. Affirmations can be something you practice daily as part of your routine or in the moment as soon as you notice a negative thought. Some examples include, "I am enough", "I am smart","I am loved", " I am courageous".
The last tip is to incorporate exercise and movement into your daily routine. Anxiety is negative energy inside the body and when you experience anxiety and you don't move your body to release it, it's stored inside and has nowhere to go. Exercise also releases serotonin and dopamine which are the 'feel-good' chemicals in the brain. This helps improve mood which often reduces anxiety. Exercising may include having a regimen that you follow weekly or it may include doing 10 knee push-ups when you start to notice you feel anxious. If you aren't able to exercise, there is another technique called progressive muscle relaxation. This involves squeezing one muscle group at a time for 5 seconds then releasing. You start by curling your toes then you progressively add a muscle group every 5 seconds all the way to your hands and facial muscles.
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