Tools To Deal With Anxiety. (with content this time : ) )
Hello!
How interesting to be writing about anxiety and experiencing numerous technological challenges with this blog platform at the same time. It took a while, but it has been sorted out, and I apologize for the delay and confusion. A few anxious moments have now subsided. Phew!
Shortness of breath, palpitations, stomach-churning, muscle tension, insomnia, excessive worrying, feeling wired and tired, and the inability to focus or complete tasks. These are some of the symptoms you might experience when facing anxiety.
We’ve all had anxious moments: job interviews, public speaking, taking a test, flying, crowded spaces, having an awkward conversation, or worrying about the impact of a mistake you made. As uncomfortable as these moments are, they are usually short-lived and hopefully seldom.
Anxiety and fear are interconnected and distinct. Anxiety involves a sense of apprehension or dread about future events or situations. Fear is a necessary response to a threat, like any incident that could cause immediate harm. If you are being chased by a bear, you absolutely want fear to give you the adrenaline rush you need so you can get away fast.
Anxiety is also interconnected with depressive symptoms. Depression and anxiety are different conditions, but they commonly occur together. Having the blues or feeling anxious from time to time is normal, but if the symptoms are severe and ongoing, it’s important to reach out. Source Anxiety is also connected to trauma.
I’ve been diagnosed with major depressive disorder three times, and for two of them, I was also diagnosed with general anxiety disorder.
What Does Your Anxiety Look Like?
Sorting out anxiety can be complicated. Like all mental health symptoms, anxiety is on a continuum from brief anxiety-provoking situations to full-on anxiety where you can’t leave your home. If you are dealing with anxiety regularly, it is likely negatively impeding your life in some way and might be classified as an anxiety disorder.
Short-term Situational Anxiety
It is expected to be anxious before public speaking or a job interview, and preparation by practicing your speech or answers to questions will ensure that you are ready. Anxious about flying- get to the airport early, practice deep breathing exercises, and maybe consider taking a small dose of anti-anxiety medication.
Big Life Change Anxiety
Events like moving, job changes, relationship changes, retirement, and health challenges will escalate anxiety because they bring enormous uncertainty about your future, and this will cause immense discomfort. At some point, you will experience at least one of these events in your life, and the overwhelm can be huge in figuring out your next steps. The importance of dealing with these types of changes is to acknowledge what is happening, accept that the feelings of uncertainty are normal, seek help if needed, put together a plan, and ensure that you continue to take care of yourself.
For example, if you have some health challenges that make you very anxious because you just don’t know what will happen, it’s important to be proactive and become the CEO of your health by researching your conditions, joining support groups, and advocating for yourself. Don’t just shrug your shoulders and say, “There is nothing that I can do.”
If your anxiety is currently unmanageable and you feel that you are in a crisis, it is critical that you seek professional help. I wrote about how to access help in this blog: May Is Mental Health Month Please speak to someone.
Everyday Feelings Of Anxiety Can Become Serious
It’s no surprise that the pandemic increased the number of individuals dealing with anxiety substantially. The whole world was collectively anxious. This has somewhat settled, but there are still two horrific wars happening, global warming, high interest rates, and high cost of living.
When you are feeling anxious, what do you do? What’s your default response?
Common Responses To Anxiety
Creating a busy schedule so there is no time to think.
Controlling everything with perfectionism.
Procrastination.
Doing absolutely nothing.
Numbing with alcohol, drugs, and food.
Numbing by watching too much TV or spending too much time on devices.
Increased irritability and impatience.
Becoming more critical and complaining about everything.
Retail therapy.
Avoidance. Not taking care of things like chores, medical screenings, paying bills, or ignoring emails and phone calls.
I’m very experienced with these responses, and doing some of the above occasionally to respond to feelings of anxiety is fine and might provide some temporary relief. Occasionally, especially if my stress level is high and the weather isn’t nice, I’ll spend the day in my pjs and binge-watch a favorite TV show. I do this maybe once a year and thoroughly enjoy it. If this day of slog became 2-3 days, I would be concerned and know that something was up and that some action was required. These responses to anxiety can become an unhealthy habit if they are used to avoid what you are feeling, and if these responses are your consistent way to deal with anxiety, your anxiety will get worse. You may not even be aware that you are doing this.
If your teeth and fists are clenched, your life span is clenched.
Tools To Help You Identify & Manage Anxiety
These tips might be helpful if you are in a crisis. However, if you have experienced a severe trauma or your anxiety symptoms are interfering with your ability to function, these tips may not help one bit, and you should seek professional help.
Some of these tips are regular practices; others are on-the-spot tools for lowering your anxiety level, even when you have unavoidable stressors in your life.
Awareness
Tune in and pay attention to your body's sensations when feeling unease. Are you feeling muscle tension, rapid breathing, sweaty palms, or butterflies? What are your thoughts telling you? It would be best if you felt IT ALL because it is the only way to figure out what is happening. Think of it as a sensory check-in: What do you hear, feel, smell, and see? Does this sound overwhelming and scary? It can be, but I firmly believe that the only way to dissipate these intense feelings is to feel and be with them. Sometimes, the feelings of anxiety can feel like intense agitation and the thought that sitting still seems impossible. Then try going for a silent nature walk without talking, checking your phone, or even listening to music. Enjoy your surroundings and notice what you are feeling and thinking.
The only way to manage ongoing anxiety is to figure out why it is happening.
When you learn to be with your anxiety, you will acclimatize to it and learn to manage it and even, at times, prevent it.
Awareness acts like a circuit breaker and resets and can prevent you from going down a rabbit hole of anxiety.
Regular meditation and mindfulness practices have been scientifically proven to help manage anxiety. To read more about them, check out my blog: Meditation and Mindfulness Are A Must for Self-care.
2. Stress Diagnostic
Ongoing stress can often be the cause of anxiety. This has been my experience. If your schedule is overbooked because you are juggling a busy career and aging parents, or you have a pattern of not saying no to anything, you must find ways to scale back.
What can you eliminate that is not necessary?
You don’t want to get in the habit of saying no to every request or cancelling things, but there are times when it is appropriate to do so for your well-being.
Take an honest look at your stressors. Are there too many fires and too little space? If you are too busy, your body can’t cope, and you won’t be able to deal with fear and anxiety.
Some people have stress and don’t have anxiety. Anxiety is about the fear that is wrapped up in your stresses. It’s the fear underneath the stress that causes anxiety.
3. Move
Anxiety can take over your body, and moving can provide a physical release that can make a huge difference. Dance it out, put on some of your favourite tunes and shake it. Sometimes, if I’m feeling anxious, I’ll blast The Ramones or Beastie Boys and dance in a way that my Mother would be proud of.
Or swim, hike, bike, or` take a leisure stroll around the neighbourhood. Moving positively impacts your nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system functions like a gas pedal in a car. It triggers the fight-or-flight response, giving the body energy to respond to perceived dangers. Constant anxiety ensures that your foot stays on the gas pedal and moving, and many other tips I talk about in this blog calm the parasympathetic nervous system by acting like a brake.
Moving changes the chemistry in the body, which impacts your mood. Experts believe yoga helps with anxiety by reducing levels of stress hormones in the body. Source
4. Breathwork
“Slow, deep breathing is a powerful anti-stress technique. When you bring air down into the lower portion of the lungs, where the oxygen exchange is most efficient, heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases, muscles relax, anxiety eases and the mind calms.” Carol Krucoff
If you have never paid attention to your breath or learned how to breathe correctly, it’s worth practicing until it becomes automatic. Dr. Andrew Weil, an internationally recognized expert on mind-body interactions, states:
"If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly."
Specific breathing techniques are called pranayama (see below for some examples). Pranayama is also a part of many yoga styles. I try to pause throughout my day and take 5 by being still and taking 5 deep breaths. I usually do this 3 times per day. Experiment and do whatever works for you.
Breath awareness is a great tool to bring you into the present moment and something you can do on the spot in tense situations. Stuck in traffic, in an intense meeting, tune into your breath and take a couple of deep breaths. It won’t resolve the issue causing the anxiety, but you will feel calmer, and it will likely prevent your emotions from escalating.
5. Reality Check
Learning to manage your anxiety takes time, practice, and sometimes professional intervention and medication. Learn to trust yourself to figure out how to be and feel safe. You know better than anyone what your triggers are and what is best for you.
Take a moment for a reality check and ask yourself:
Am I in mortal danger right now? Chances are the answer is no, so break this pattern of feeling the world is ending and take stock of what is good and safe. What can you be grateful for?
If the answer is yes, stop reading this blog and call 911.
6. Look for Beauty
Spending time in beauty will immediately bring you into the present moment and provide a respite from stress. Walking in nature is so soothing; you are surrounded by beauty. You can also connect to beauty through playing or listening to music, walking through an art gallery, or creating art.
Talking things out and journalling your thoughts are other excellent tools. Test drive some of these anxiety-busting tools and see what works best for you. Consistent practice is essential for managing anxiety effectively. Commit to your well-being.
I’m not advocating for an anxiety-free existence; that is not possible. I’m encouraging you to change your relationship with anxiety by increasing your awareness about your triggers and responses and finding tools that work for you to manage your anxiety. Be curious, and don’t avoid these feelings. Anxiety is not a curse; when you are in tune with it, it can be an excellent guide and alarm system. Anxiety can finally force us to get persistent pain checked out and alert us to choose another street to walk down late at night. It becomes a curse when it is consistent and unmanaged because it will destabilize you and prevent you from living to your full potential.
Have I cured my anxiety? No, but I have found ways to be friends with it and manage it. Here’s what has helped me:
Consistent meditation/mindfulness practice.
Consistent yoga practice.
Consistent workouts with weights.
Sauna- 3 times per week.
Breathwork.
Regularly connecting with nature.
Managing my schedule.
Talking things out with Ben.
Supportive self-talk-” You’ve got this, everything will be ok, this too shall pass.”
Spending time with my fur babies.
Occasionally, I’ve taken medication and participated in therapy.
When I’m not consistent with my practices, I will start to feel anxiety, and depressive symptoms take over. When I feel my anxiety increasing and it stays for a few days, I know it’s time for me to take a serious look at my life and possibly make some significant changes. I also may need to reconnect with therapy.
These last few years, anxiety has collectively skyrocketed. Life will always give us uncertainty, and you can choose how to respond. The stories we tell ourselves are usually the scariest. Be kind to yourself. Anxiety keeps us vigilant so we can pay attention, strategize, and stay on top of things. You also want to manage it and not allow it to control your life.
I’m curious. How have you managed anxiety in your life? Care to share tools that have helped you stay grounded? Please share in the comments below.
Be well & calm.
Anita
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