Ways to manage anxiety

Anxiety is something that everyone, some more than others, experiences. It can feel really difficult and debilitating to everyday life, so finding ways to manage it is important. Reducing symptoms and building a toolkit of things that work for you can really help you take back control of your wellbeing in moments when anxiety feels overbearing.

Anxiety is your bodies fight/flight/freeze/fawn response, which means its trying to tell you that you need to be wary of a situation. However sometimes it isn’t needed or warranted and it’s important to be kind to yourself and remind your head ‘thank you for telling me that, but I’ll take it from here’. It can cause different responses for different people, physical or emotional, e.g. you can start to feel nauseous or feel the effects of adrenaline such as racing heart or sweating and difficulty breathing normally. It may cause some negative thoughts, and adding some of the following tips to your personal toolkit can really help:

Four tips to help manage anxiety

1. Breathing Exercises and Mindfulness: 4-7-8 breathing is a common tool that helps regulate the nervous system and calm your mind. This means breathing in through your nose and counting to 4, then holding your breath for 7 seconds, and finally breathing out forcefully for 8 seconds. Repeat this as much as you need to.
2. Exercise: Any amount or form of exercise is a really effective way of burning some of that adrenaline your body releases when it feels anxious. It also releases feel-good hormones like dopamine so can help you sleep and feel better. Even going for a walk helps, but as long as it’s something you enjoy doing then go for it!
3. Writing down your thoughts: It may feel a bit old fashioned but there’s something about writing down our thoughts that really helps us process our feelings and improve our mental health. It can also allow you to kindly challenge the negative thoughts your having, sometimes reading out loud the things were thinking, puts them into perspective.
4. Speak to someone: If you feel you can, speak to someone your close with who cares about you. Let them know how you’re feeling and talk through it with them. If you don’t want to, that’s fine and normal, so maybe think about speaking to someone professional who will keep it confidential. Talking with somebody like a therapist can really help you manage your anxiety and is typically easier than speaking to a friend or loved one, because they can help you put your feelings and thoughts into perspective, as well as offer other professional advice that will really help you moving forward.