The pace of modern life and frequent stress lead to people feeling anxiety. It may not even have a specific cause, but it paralyzes and interferes with everyday life. Anxiety becomes a character trait accompanied by fear, guilt, and sometimes panic attacks. Fortunately, it is possible to work on this situation, giving yourself back calm and a sense of harmony.
Talk to yourself and try to answer a few questions. Are tension and irritation your constant companions? Has anxiety ever prevented you from building relationships with people, studying, or working? Do you have irrational fears or rituals to prevent trouble? Do you avoid certain situations or activities? Are you afraid of the world around you because of the possibility of making a mistake, getting sick, or becoming a victim of a criminal? Suppose you answered yes to several questions in a row. In that case, it’s likely that you can’t control your anxiety and are prone to an anxiety disorder.
Constant anxiety makes itself felt on a physical level. You may be bothered by palpitations, nausea, sweating, sleep disturbances, a lump in the throat, pressure, and chest pains. Shortness of breath, resulting shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing are frequent symptoms. People with anxiety often have shaky hands, pale skin, pain, and dizziness, and may even faint.
Psychologically, anxiety is associated with depression, helplessness, uncertainty, heightened emotionality (reactions to everything are excessive, and tearfulness often occurs), mistrustfulness, and irritability. It is also accompanied by low self-esteem and, in some cases, depression.
If you constantly worry about anxiety, the behavior will likely change: you will adjust to the condition. When you refuse to go to parties, which you have always loved, or are afraid to leave the house, this is a clear signal of anxiety. Anxious people have a high degree of impulsivity, absent-mindedness, obsessive thoughts, constant fatigue, and detachment from what is happening. They may think more slowly and have difficulty expressing themselves.
Suppose your anxiety lasts more than six months, and there is no apparent reason for it. In that case, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
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Causes of Anxiety
Constant anxiety is often a symptom of more complex and dangerous diseases, primarily disorders. In addition to generalized anxiety disorder, there is an obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorder. Anxiety can also be part of chronic stress and asthenia.
The body may react with anxiety to changes it doesn’t like. These can be hormonal spikes, vitamin deficiencies, taking medications, low sugar, an unbalanced diet, a sedentary lifestyle, and also the result of taking alcohol or drugs.
Anxiety often grows from childhood, when a child was raised by overly emotional parents, constantly demanding the impossible compared to others, etc.
Anxiety can also respond to trauma in adulthood, a challenging life experience. Often a person is afraid of repeating situations from the past, for example, an accident, a natural disaster, etc.
Anxiety is caused by various stimuli from the outside world, including the unknown environment that is subconsciously perceived as dangerous. Anxiety can appear against crowding, the need to make a choice, fear of death or condemnation, etc.
Sometimes anxiety is an integral part of a person’s character and thinking. Then we speak of personal anxiety. It can be caused, for example, by a specific type of nervous system or a pessimistic outlook on life.
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How to Overcome Anxiety: Useful Tips
There are different ways to get anxiety under control without going to a specialist. It won’t solve the problem, but it will keep anxiety from developing into panic and ease your worries.
Breathe
Slow, deep breaths and exhalations (5-10 seconds) help stabilize the emotional state. Superficial breathing, on the other hand, always contributes to nervousness. Try additionally counting to ten, get your pulse rate, and you’ll be able to distract yourself.
Listen to Relaxing Music
Choose something you like: blues, classical music, nature sounds, etc. Lie down and close your eyes to completely relax and immerse yourself in the melody. By the way, the opposite method works for some people: playing heavy music to drown out the unpleasant thoughts in your head.
Use the Grounding Technique
It’s a way to focus on the feeling of your body right here and now. There are different techniques, grounding, such as walking slowly and consciously, concentrating on the sensations in your feet. You can even lie on the floor and concentrate on the contact of your body with the surface. Another option is to look in your surroundings for objects you can touch, smells you can feel or sounds you can hear.
Switch Attention
If you know your anxiety triggers, try to reduce the number of them in your life. For example, if an attack is triggered by the news, stop watching social media, or if it’s a disaster movie, turn on a comedy. You could read a book, listen to a podcast, or go outside for a walk.
Limit your Internet Exit
The World Wide Web is a significant source of negative news that appears endless and does not always have validation. Anxious people are better off turning off push notifications from various channels, sites, and groups.
By the way, this will free up a lot of time for something exciting and positive.
Keep Your Hands Busy
Sometimes distracting your brain with other information is not enough, and you need some activity. Then find yourself a hobby in case of an anxiety attack. This can be growing flowers, cooking, collecting puzzles, drawing, knitting, etc.
By the way, cleaning and activities with your child or pet also help distract you from intrusive thoughts and worries.
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Meditation
Start monitoring your own thoughts. As soon as you feel anxious, accept it and immediately dismiss the unpleasant thoughts. With willpower, try not to return to them – think about something else. The simplest variant is to concentrate on any subject of an interior and to look at it attentively. Choose any meditation (even with mantras) that will help you relax or keep your attention on an object that doesn’t bother you.
Visualize
If your brain keeps drawing pictures of a scary future, make it think positively by imagining a positive outcome of a situation in great detail.
For example, if you are afraid to take a plane and thoughts of falling do not let you go, start drawing in your head how you are flying in business class, drinking expensive drinks on a seat near a window, and watching an excellent new movie.
Go For a Massage or a Spa
Physical activity prevents anxiety from showing up, but getting rid of anxiety is already helped by completely relaxing your body. Warm water, scented oils, candles – in a pinch, you can arrange an evening in your bathroom. Cosmetologists, by the way, believe that almost all beauty procedures help to calm down. So you can go to the barbershop and get a manicure or correction of your eyebrows. Alternatively, give yourself a festive makeover, even if you don’t have anywhere to go.
Reconsider Your Lifestyle
Usually, anxiety levels decrease when a person takes more responsibility for their life, adding control to it. This is facilitated by forming a daily routine: morning runs and walks, eating at the same time 3-5 times a day, comfortable sleeping patterns, etc. To feel your body better, you can do yoga and different sports.
And it’s also important to remember that all bad habits have a detrimental effect on the body, so giving them up is the first step to reducing anxious thoughts.
Stop Criticizing Yourself
Treat yourself more delicately to feel that you can control even the most challenging situation. Avoid harsh judgment and negative evaluation of your actions. Praise yourself more often, for example, by using positive affirmations.
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Don’t be afraid to Talk
Sometimes talking to friends and family in a moment of anxiety is the best option. They can distract and support you and dispel negative thoughts. Sharing your worries is an excellent way to relieve accumulated tension.
Just remember to ask permission for such a conversation and recognize the toxic person who underestimates or even ridicules your problem in time.
Immerse Yourself Completely in the State
Suppose you are afraid of something specific that can happen to you. In that case, you can try not to run away from experience and imagine it happened. It is desirable to do this without excessive emotion and objectively assess the situation. If this does not work, get over the fear for a few seconds and come to terms with it.
Start Keeping a Diary
Taking notes will help you distract yourself and find patterns in your condition. Rereading the journal will help you learn a lot about yourself and begin to notice more details around you.
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See a Doctor
The surest way to work through your anxiety is to go to a psychologist or psychotherapist. A specialist will listen to you carefully, ask the right questions and find the best therapy.
This Film Will Help You Understand the Subject
Ordinary People
The death of the Jarrett family’s eldest and most beloved son significantly strained the relationship between his father, his hardened mother, and his younger brother, who attempted suicide.
IMDb 7.70 – Ordinary People
Trouble happens in the wealthy and respectable American Jarrett family. The eldest of the two sons of a prosperous lawyer dies in an accident. His surviving brother, Conrad, a delicate and vulnerable young man, takes the tragedy so hard that he attempts suicide. He feels guilt for not being able to replace his parents with Buck, the pride and hope of the family.
To save the boy, Calvin, Conrad’s father, suggests that he attend psychotherapy sessions. Trying unsuccessfully to win his mother’s love, Conrad is also going through a difficult time: he quits the school swim team. He shows interest in Janine, a girl from his singing class, and at the same time seeks a meeting with Karen, with whom he was in the clinic.
Dr. Berger seems to help him gradually come to his senses, but Karen’s suicide finally throws Conrad off balance. His mother tries to run away from her son, who reminds her of her loss, and Calvin realizes how badly he knows his wife. Neither of them has any idea how this will turn out for them.