Trying to manage your anxiety?
If you are feeling any of the symptoms of anxiety, then it's imperative you visit a GP to get professional help.
However, there are ways you can manage your anxiety by yourself in-between doctor’s visits. Managing your anxiety alleviates all the problems that comes with it - like muscle tension, fast breathing and worrying.
Useful tips to manage your anxiety
Be kind to yourself
Understand that you are not weak, there is nothing wrong with you. You are simply dealing with a mental illness, one that will pass with the right treatment and support.
Breathe slowly
When you are anxious you start breathing faster. Slow down your breathing to keep calm. Start by taking a deep breath, count to three and breathe out slowly.
Stay in the present
Anxiety has a way of projecting awful futures that have no chance of happening but terrify us all the same. To prevent that from happening, stay in the present.
Relax your muscles
Seek out a quiet place to meditate. Close your eyes and slowly relax each muscle in the body. Hold the tension for three seconds before releasing.
Challenge self-talk
Anxiety overstates the danger of a situation and underestimates our ability to handle it. Challenge these thoughts that make you anxious.
Know your anxiety
The best way to manage your anxiety is to get to know it. Keep a diary with you to make notes of when the anxiety is at its best or worst. Find its patterns.
Healthy lifestyle
Eat healthy, spend time with friends and family, do activities you enjoy and be in nature. Leading a healthy active lifestyle is the best way to reduce your anxiety.
Set aside time
The best way to manage your anxiety is to set aside time to worry. Spend 10 minutes each evening writing down each concern that pops into your head.
Talk to your peers
Get in touch with others who have gone or are going through anxiety. You can learn how they recovered and you will feel a lot better knowing you are not alone.
Manage your anxiety by creating a ‘stay well’ plan
A stay well plan helps you identify your triggers along with right strategies for you. You will identify warning signs of an anxiety attack and develop the best methods to counter it. If you have recovered, a ‘stay well’ plan lets you identify early warning signs of a relapse and intervene early.
To build your stay well plan, you need to consult people that you trust. Talk to your GP, psychologist, counselor, friends and family to make the best stay well plan for you. Your stay well plan is a work in progress and needs to be reviewed. Working with people you trust is important in shaping a stay well program.
Remember that recovery is a process and there will be setbacks. Don’t be discouraged and use these setbacks as a learning process to improve your stay well plan.
Types of anxiety
Learn about the different types of anxiety
Causes of anxiety
Understand the indicators of anxiety
Signs and symptoms of anxiety
Learn about the causes of anxiety
Learn how to manage your anxiety better
Get in touch with us to better understand your condition and how to navigate through the adversity.
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