Ways To Reduce Anxiety

Ways To Reduce Anxiety

Overview

Anxiety disorders are a diverse grouping of mental illnesses; they manifest as significant worry that impacts your day-to-day ability to function. Anxiety is likely the most common mental illness in the world; over 300 million people globally have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety differs from nervousness in that it is more intense, it lasts longer, and it is often not rational. 

People with anxiety commonly have racing thoughts that feel uncontrollable; obsessive or intrusive thoughts may occur. Sometimes, anxiety controls our behavior. This can manifest as refusing to leave the house due to agoraphobia, refusing to attend a party due to social anxiety, or feeling completely shut down due to panic disorder.

Symptoms

Of course, debilitating worrying is the main symptom of anxiety disorders. Other than that, no symptom is universal – everyone’s body and brain are unique. Among the most commonly occurring symptoms are rapid heartbeat, feelings of panic, and shallow breathing. Other symptoms include (but are not limited to) dizziness, nausea, sweating, irritability, restlessness, clammy hands, crying, tension, and ruminating. 

Rumination is when your mind is stuck in a cyclic thought process stemming from your anxiety. It can happen about any topic that brings you anxiety, but a common one is worrying about something that you did wrong in the past. With generalized anxiety especially, rumination about the past is super common. For a phobia, this can look like replaying a previous experience that brings you fear. For social anxiety, this can look like rehearsing future conversations over and over in your mind. 

Fight-Or-Flight

Learning about the fight-or-flight response is an enlightening step of your anxiety management. In short, people experience bursts of adrenaline and cortisol in certain situations. This is an innate part of being human – but it can hijack your brain when you have an anxiety disorder. People with anxiety usually have more intense fight-or-flight responses, and their response is easier to set off. Something totally benign can make you want to run or punch. 

There is also the freeze response – for some people, especially those with a trauma history, their fight-or-flight response becomes a freeze response. They feel paralyzed and shut down. This can be transient or it can last for hours or even days. Some of anxiety treatment revolves around reducing the intensity of and learning to cope with your fight-or-flight responses. 

Therapy

The most common way to treat anxiety is by going to therapy regularly. A typical therapy session involves a check-in about your feelings for the day and a discussion about something that is bothering you. This can be a phobia, a trigger, a traumatic event, an interpersonal conflict, etc. Therapy is 100% private and allows you to learn new coping skills in a safe environment. Therapists are pros at helping you problem solve as well as reframe negative thoughts. They can also help you find resources like support groups, and can help you learn new skills to cope with your anxiety symptoms.

Types of evidence-based talk therapy include CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), and ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy). A few types of therapy that are less heavy on talking include EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing), exposure therapy, and art therapy. It takes time to get comfortable with a new therapist and a new technique. Be patient with yourself and give yourself grace. 

Medication

Antidepressants and benzodiazepines are the two most common classes of medication prescribed for anxiety. The exact medication and dosage will be up to your GP or psychiatrist; it will depend on what type of anxiety disorder you have and what your most debilitating symptoms are. Benzodiazepines work very quickly, whereas antidepressants take weeks to start helping. 

They both have their place, and sometimes you will be put on both types. Benzodiazepines are typically best for acute episodes like panic attacks and phobias. Antidepressants help with everyday symptoms, bringing your anxiety down a few notches so that you can function better. The most common antidepressants are SSRIs and SNRIs. These increase the effect of serotonin in your brain, regulating mood and obsessive thoughts.

Self-Help

It’s no secret that therapy & psychiatry aren’t accessible for everyone. Between long waitlists, extra costs, time commitment, and energy required, getting help is not easy. In an ideal world, therapy would be easily and quickly accessible, but that isn’t reality. While seeing a professional is crucial, there are plenty of self-help techniques that can help you in the meantime. 

There are endless techniques out there for reducing anxiety, and different things work for different people. One method of finding what works for you is searching online for coping tips for reducing anxiety; read articles, studies, and blog posts. Take note of the wide variety of options, and start trying them out, one by one. 

Mindfulness & Meditation

There is one simple practice that is highly effective at both treating anxiety and preventing future anxiety from developing: mindfulness and meditation. This practice involves focusing on your breath for short periods of time, with the goal of continuously guiding your attention back to the breath. There are dozens of apps with endless guided mindfulness & meditation sessions. You can also find guided meditations and mindfulness sessions on Youtube. This practice is especially helpful at getting your body out of fight-or-flight. It can also help you process and reduce any ruminating thoughts you’ve been having. The key, though, is to practice regularly – even if all you can do at first is 1 or 2 minutes. Try to increase it by 1 minute at whatever interval is best for you (this can be daily, weekly, or simply whenever you feel like it). 

The Benefit Of Doing Homework

Therapy often involves homework – this usually looks like self-reflection and/or putting aside time to practice the skills you’ve been introduced to in therapy. You may be asked to cope ahead for a difficult conversation, or to go out of your way to make yourself smile. It can also look like making self-care a priority, or making an effort to go to a social event. It could also be setting a goal to practice 10 minutes of mindfulness or meditation. Even if you aren’t seeing a therapist yet, you can set homework goals for yourself.

You can find over 40 worksheets and infographics about anxiety management here. These are printable documents that you can use on your own or in conjunction with your therapist. An example activity is “challenging anxious thoughts” – this activity can be repeated as many times as you feel it is helpful. Practicing it multiple times increases the chance that you will remember how to implement the skill during an anxiety episode. 

There are also various workbooks on the market these days. If you can afford it, browse through the available workbooks. Pay close attention to the reviews; these will help you determine whether the workbook is a good fit for you. It can help to set the goal of working on it for 5 minutes every day. It is more important to show up and do it than it is to get a lot of it done. Take your time.

TIPP Skill

There are numerous coping skills that you’ll learn on your therapy journey. If you venture into DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), you’ll learn what are called the distress tolerance skills. This is a set of acronyms created by a mental illness patient that helps people in crisis. One of the more well-known skills is TIPP. This stands for Temperature, Intense exercise, Paired muscle relaxation, and Paced breathing. This can look like taking 10 deep breaths, squeezing your fists together and then unclenching several times, or stepping into a walk-in freezer. 

Other Techniques

Aside from TIPP, you can try mindfully & slowly drinking an entire glass of water, counting all of the blue items in the room you’re in, taking a warm shower, using essential oils that you enjoy, calling a friend, using guided meditation, taking a nap, writing in a journal, cuddling with a pet, doing a worksheet, listening to calming music, or singing. Singing and humming stimulate the vagus nerve, so this is a brain hack. If you hum the tune of a full song, you should feel a bit calmer by the end of it.

Take-Home Message

Part of anxiety treatment is learning new coping skills – and then learning how to actually implement them in real life. Another part of treatment is having a mental health professional talk you through what’s going on in your mind and how you can take back control. Anxiety is complicated, but there are so many treatment options available. Do your research, find resources, and dedicate yourself to working on your anxiety.

If you need guidance finding resources, you can get in touch with Anxiety UK. If DBT sounds like it might help you, here is a wonderful online program available around the world. Between therapy, self-help, mindfulness, medication, and homework, you’ll be well on your way to living a more peaceful life.