How cope with anxiety?

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There are many ways to relieve anxiety. The key is to understand the nature of anxiety, to try to change the thoughts and patterns of thinking that reinforce and maintain it, and to learn how to manage it in a way that suits you. Here are some ways to help ease anxiety.

Taking care of your needs and looking after yourself

Unsatisfied needs are a source of worry and anxiety. That is why it’s important to stop and listen to what you need to feel well. Do I need a way to be more like myself and to live a life according to my own values? Are there things in my life that I am doing despite the fact that they are not leading me towards my goals and dreams? Do I have enough time for rest and relaxation? Or do I want a change in my relationships? Sometimes it is good to stop and examine whether your current way of living is right for you.

Changing the thoughts that maintain anxiety

Thoughts are our inner speech and play a major role in our well-being. What we say to ourselves determines a lot about how we feel and how our mood is. Anxiety-boosting inner speech often begins with the words, “what if…”.

Reducing the thoughts and speech that cause worry and anxiety and replacing them with neutral and positive phrases can have a positive impact on your feelings and mood. You should remember that working on your thoughts is a skill like any other, and you can learn to reduce anxious thoughts as well.

Increasing self-compassion

Self-compassion involves motivating and encouraging ourselves. In difficult moments, we treat ourselves kindly and constructively, rather than judging or shaming ourselves. Self-compassion can be practised by paying attention to how you talk to yourself and by learning to speak in an encouraging and reassuring way.

Relaxation

Because physical symptoms such as increased breathing and pulse rate, and muscle tension, are typically associated with anxiety, relaxation techniques are often helpful. As your body relaxes, tension and anxiety are reduced. Pick a relaxation technique that suits you.

Calm, deep breathing, e.g., diaphragmatic breathing, helps to calm the body and mind.

Relaxation exercises put you in the opposite physiological state from when you are anxious or stressed. In a deeply relaxed state, the heart rate and breathing slow down, blood pressure is lowered, muscle tension decreases, etc.

Mindfulness

Yoga or another form of relaxing exercise and movement. Read more about mindfulness.

Exposure

When a situation (e.g., giving a presentation) makes you anxious and scared, it is natural to avoid it. Avoiding it may make you feel better for a while, but the next time you have to give a presentation, you will feel even more anxious. Exposure means facing a challenging situation and reducing avoidance in a planned and gradual way. Exposure is based on learning to get away from associating a situation such as a performance with the anxiety it causes.

Facing a performance situation may feel impossible because of years of anxiety, but by gradually exposing yourself to it, you can overcome the fear. You should learn to relax and always do a relaxation exercise before you practice exposure. This way, you will learn to combine performing with feeling relaxed. Exposure takes a lot of getting used to and regular practice, from easy situations to more demanding ones. When you face uncomfortable situations systematically and persistently, performing becomes easier.