4 Ways To Deal With Anxiety

Anxiety is an evolutionary response in all humans. It heightens our senses and awareness in the face of danger or perceived threat and helps us take appropriate action. Once the danger has passed, we return to homeostasis. However, for those with high-functioning anxiety or general anxiety disorder, worry and fear become consuming and possibly crippling.

The good news is that while anxiety is the most common mental health disorder, it is also the most treatable. If you have been struggling with anxiety in your day-to-day life, here are 4 ways to alleviate your symptoms.

Sleep Hygiene

One of the greatest contributing factors to mental health issues is lack of sleep. For someone with anxiety, anxious feelings are often heightened at night, so sleep can be elusive. However, there are ways to help prepare the body and mind for sleep at night.

Creating a sleep routine will help you wind down for the night and promote melatonin production. You can set alarms in your phone for when it’s time to shut off electronics, change into pajamas, and wash for bed. You can also take magnesium 30 minutes before bedtime to calm the nervous system and relax your muscles.

Limiting or reducing your caffeine intake throughout the day can also be beneficial. Because caffeine is a stimulant, having any amount in the evenings can disrupt sleep patterns.

Finally, create a dark and cozy sleep environment. You can use a fan or sound machine for white noise so you aren’t awakened by any sounds throughout the night. Leave electronics outside your bedroom and ensure your bed is comfortable and clutter-free. You will be surprised by how little changes can promote better sleep.

Practice Self-Compassion

A hallmark of anxiety is low self-compassion. For example, imagine you have social anxiety and are worried about what to say if someone approaches you at a party. The anxiety makes it harder to think, so when someone greets you, you fumble your words and then, after the party, beat yourself up over how stupid you think you sounded.

Radical self-compassion looks like reminding yourself that everyone fumbles over their words at times. It’s a commitment to meeting challenges with acceptance and kindness rather than regret or rumination.

Cultivate Curiosity

Anxiety is compounded when you begin to fear it. As counterintuitive as it may seem, many people are anxious about feeling anxious. This can lead to intrusive thoughts about worrying if you will feel anxious in specific settings, under certain pressures, or in certain places. 

Surprisingly, curiosity is an excellent antidote against that fear. Bring yourself into gentle awareness of what you are feeling and even where you are feeling it in your body. What triggered the anxious feeling? How have you overcome adversity in the past? What other emotions are present? Does the anxiety in your body shift as you rest awareness on the affected areas?

Do the Next Right Thing

Have you ever felt frozen from anxiety? Maybe you feel so overwhelmed by your anxious thoughts that moving past them into action is hard. You might have been told to break your tasks down into bite-size chunks, but this is even more basic than that. Instead, focus on only the next action you need to take. This can help calm your nerves and move you past inactivity.  

You can ask yourself, “What would I do next if I wasn’t anxious?” Or you could even ask, “What would a person without anxiety do right now?” Motivation flows from action, so taking the next right step to accomplish a goal or get through the day can help break the cycle of anxiety.

If you are still struggling with anxiety, therapy can help. A trained therapist can help you find additional coping mechanisms as well as find the root of your anxiety. Call our office today to schedule your first appointment for anxiety therapy and get the relief you need.