Anxiety can be difficult to manage, especially when you feel like you are right in the thick of it. If you cannot figure out how to shake your anxiety, you are not alone. Just trying to help yourself feel better, even when you think you can’t calm your anxiety, can be essential to sustaining your mental wellness.
When your anxiety just will not quit, there are a few things you can try to ease your stress. In this article, we will review tips and tricks for managing intense anxiety.
Tips To Try
Journaling: If you are not used to journaling, it can seem like an intimidating hobby to start. However, even jotting down a few short, honest sentences can be a good way to start. Getting your thoughts onto paper can help ease your brain and give your thoughts a place to live.
Breathing: “Just breathe!” is often not the best response for someone experiencing anxiety. When you are stressing out, breathing does not feel like it can solve your problems. That said, it can be important to take a minute for a deep breath or a glass of water in order to slow down. Some breathing practices attempt to slow or regulate breathing in an effort to reduce hyperventilating or slow a racing heart.
Meditation: There can be a stigma about meditation that leads people to believe that meditation is just sitting in a quiet room with eyes closed, letting your thoughts come and go. While that is a form of meditation that some people enjoy, there are a lot of ways to explore the benefits of meditation and many apps that you can download that will guide you through your meditation. Guided meditation and deep breathing practices often go together.
Working Out: Instead of slowing down, perhaps you need to speed up. When your anxiety is at an all-time high, try going for a run, taking a walk, or hitting the gym to help release some of that excess energy and help you hone in on your thoughts.
Scheduled Worry: Similar to journaling, scheduled worry is essentially the commitment of carving out time to put your concerns onto paper each day. Knowing that you will give your concerns attention will oftentimes help keep them at bay since you know you can address them later.
Resting: If you have been running yourself into the ground, sometimes your anxiety will let up when you take the time to rest. Even if you do not like taking naps, just lying down and closing your eyes for 10 minutes can help you slow down and find a sense of calm.
Talk to a friend: Once you have gotten a hold of your anxiety, talking it out with a friend can be helpful. First, decide whether you want advice/solutions or if you just want to vent. The best way to begin a conversation with a friend when discussing anxiety is to be transparent about what you want. When your friend knows that you just want to vent, they will be more equipped to sit back and listen.
Speak with a counselor: If your anxiety is too much to handle by yourself, or even too much to express to a friend, leaning on the assistance of a therapist can be the best way to help ease anxiety. When you work with a counselor, you are able to develop a relationship with a professional who can help you discover exactly what you need and help you stick to a treatment plan.
Not every solution will work every time. Sometimes your anxiety will change in intensity and will need different solutions. The better you know yourself, the better you will become at problem-solving when anxiety begins to increase. Give yourself the gift of patience when you are figuring out how to ease your anxiety, and remember to ask for help if you need to.
Marie Miguel Biography
Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health- related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with MyTherapist.com. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.
