Anxiety is the normal response to stressful situations. It involves feelings of fear, worry, or nervousness about what’s about to happen. Generally, we experience anxiety on emotional, physical, and cognitive levels. For example, most people tend to have disturbing or negative thoughts when they are anxious.
When it comes to the emotional level, you might feel out of control or scared of a circumstance. Besides, it’s normal to experience anxiety via somatic sensations, like trembling, shortness of breath, or sweating.
Symptoms of anxiety
Anxiety symptoms are evident for people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). So, if you have a panic disorder, you know how hard it can be to manage the feelings of anxiety. At times, you can feel it’s like anxiety is completely out of your control or taking over your life.
With that said, the common symptoms of GAD include the following:
- Uncontrollable feelings of fear or worry
- Agitation, the feeling of being “on-edge”
- Heightened irritability
- Difficulties in concentrating
- Sleeping problems, like insomnia or irregular sleeping cycles
Although it’s normal to experience these symptoms in our daily life, they are very persistent or heightened for people with generalized anxiety disorder. Please note that GAD can appear to be unclear, disquieting worry, or severe anxiety that can disrupt our daily activities.
So, do you feel you are being overwhelmed by anxiety? If that’s the case, you don’t need to worry anymore. The following tips can help you manage or ease the feelings of anxiety. Let’s delve in!
Apply the 3-3-3 principle
When feeling anxious, look around and identify the first three things that you can see. After that, start naming any three sounds that you can hear at that moment. Lastly, move your fingers, arm, and ankle. Every time you feel like you cannot think clearly because of anxiety, applying this principle can help you get back to your present moment—and this can help you think clearly.
Take a deep breath
Taking a deep breath communicates to your brain that you are fine. Now, this helps your body and mind to relax. If you are in a crowded place, find a place to sit down and take several deep breaths. Stopping what you are doing and breathing can help you to regain your sense of balance. Besides, it can help you get back to your present moment.
If you are at home follow the following breathing techniques:
- Lie down on your bed or couch
- Put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly
- Start breathing in slowly—make sure that the breath fills your belly to the extent that it rises slightly
- Hold your breath for around six seconds and then let it out slowly through your mouth
These breathing exercises and relaxation techniques are very powerful. They can help to calm your mind and body when feeling anxious and turn your attention to the present.
Find out the root cause of your anxiety
Some physical signs of anxiety and panic attacks, like chest pain, rapid heartbeat, and trembling may not be as real as understanding the cause of your anxiety. So, understand the root cause of your anxiety, you must find out what’s troubling you. That means you need to create time to explore your feelings and thoughts.
One of the best ways to know what causes your anxiety is by writing a journal. So, if feeling anxious seems to prevent you from sleeping at night, have a notepad or journal close to your bed. With that, you need to note down everything that keeps on bothering you. Also, talking to a friend or a professional therapist can help you find out and understand the causes of your anxiety.
Focus your mind on other things
At times, you only need to focus on other things in order to manage your anxiety. That means reaching out to other people, doing house chores, or participating in sports activities or your favorite hobby. Below are some ideas of the activities that you can do to manage your anxiety:
- Doing house chores or organizing your house
- Participating in creative activities like drawing, writing, or painting
- Going for a walk or doing other types of exercises like jogging, among others
- Listening to music
- Reading a book or watching a movie (avoid movies with subject lines that trigger your anxiety)
- Praying or meditating
Bottom Line
The experts from Clear Sky Recovery, Ibogaine therapy clinic say that it’s normal to experience anxiety now and then. However, if you have lingering anxiety, please visit a certified therapist to see if you have an anxiety disorder. Also, if anxiety affects your work performance, relationships, as well as other areas of your life, this is an indication of a possible mental health disorder.
So, if you experience anxiety or panic attacks frequently, talk to a doctor or any professional who is experienced in treating these conditions. Such professionals know how to address any issues that you have, diagnose your condition, and discuss the treatment options available.