10 Tips for Coping with Anxiety in the Moment
Anxiety can take a considerable toll on your life. It is helpful to think of anxiety as that friend you have who is always causing drama. If you have stress that considerably impacts your life, individual counseling in Orlando can help you get to a better place. In addition, anxiety sufferers offer these tips for dealing with anxiety on your own that have worked well for them:
Allow yourself to take a break from situations that cause you anxiety and take a breath.
If you are in a situation that causes you extreme anxiety, it is okay to step away for a moment and collect yourself. Giving yourself permission to take a step back and collect your thoughts can change these anxiety-riddled situations in your life.
Jot down full names when anxiety begins.
For this practice, it makes no difference whose names or what names you use. Just begin writing full names at random. This provides a beautiful distraction when anxiety becomes difficult. Once you get into a groove of listing names of people you've met or making up names on the fly, you will better be able to release tension or calm down, primarily when you use excessive pressure with your pencil or pen.
Get out of your bed when anxiety keeps you awake, so you do not associate anxious feelings with your sleeping space.
When your anxiety is high at night, you should reserve your bed only for sleeping. Get out of your bed until you have distanced your concern from you enough to fall back to sleep. This will help keep your bed feeling like a safe place for rest and relaxation.
Acknowledge anxious, irrational feelings and permit yourself to feel them.
If you are getting frustrated with anxious feelings during simple tasks, it is crucial to understand that people often have anxiety about things that they know are silly to be worried about. It will worsen if you try to convince yourself not to be anxious or fight your anxious feelings. Instead, it is helpful to acknowledge these feelings and realize that it's okay to have them, and they are not your fault.
Develop logical arguments to quell your fears.
Many therapists suggest debating with your brain and creating logical arguments against your anxiety and fears. This can help you recognize when your worries and anxiety play tricks on your mind and help you feel better.
Breathe to nursery rhyme rhythms.
This technique can be beneficial for taking your mind off of your fears and anxiety. Sometimes deep breathing exercises can cause anxiety sufferers to hyperventilate, so choosing your favorite nursery rhyme to breathe to can help calm and soothe you when other methods have failed.
Ground with observations about your environment.
Reminding yourself about things like "today is Wednesday" or "that car is purple" can honestly help you with grounding because you are actively concentrating on something other than your fear anxiety.
Make overwhelming tasks feel more manageable by making to-do lists.
Making a list of all the things you need to do can be helpful when you start to have anxiety about all the things you need to get done. In addition, a list helps you realize that things are not as overwhelming as you thought because your mind tends to blow things out of proportion when you are anxious.
Imagine the worst-case scenario for things that cause you anxiety.
Some therapists suggest walking through the things you are scared of in your mind. For example, if you are afraid that you're going to die during your sleep, imagine how your friends and family would react. Though these aren't always comforting thoughts, they can help you calm down and realize that you cannot have control of everything. Besides, if you're really going to die in your sleep, there's nothing that you can do about it, so you might as well sleep.
Try doing the things that anxiety tells you not to do.
You should never not do something just because your anxiety tells you not to. For example, if you have planned an outing but anxiety makes you feel like you shouldn't go, go on your excursion. Never let anxiety win.
These coping mechanisms are never meant to replace the need for professional help but can help you cope with fearful and overwhelming situations in the moment. If you are experiencing anxiety that affects how you live your life or perform everyday tasks, it is essential to seek help. Individual counseling in Orlando is a great way to learn skills and coping mechanisms to reduce and eliminate anxiety. Call us today for more information.
