How to Cope with Crippling Anxiety

There is a crippling anxiety epidemic going on in our world. To make things more complicated, many people don’t seek treatment for their anxiety, which leaves them attempting to navigate the difficult waters of mental health on their own.

Today, as you learn more about how to handle anxiety, it’s important to understand that none of these tips for living with anxiety are meant to be a replacement for working with a medical professional.

Seeking professional help for your anxiety is not only a brave decision, but it’s also one of the most responsible things that you can do. While our modern society has certainly taken strides in destigmatizing mental illness, there’s a lot of work to be done.

Tragically, many people assume that they need to fight their battles with anxiety in silence and solitude when that’s not the case at all.

If you had heart problems, you would see a cardiologist. If you had rental problems, you would see a nephrologist. If you have a toothache, you go to a dentist. If you’re battling anxiety, you owe it to yourself and those around you to seek professional help.

However, there are some steps you can take in addition to working with a mental health professional that can help you cope with anxiety. Anxiety itself is incurable.

Even with the right medication such as for anxiety headaches, it’s not something that you can make go away. Instead, you must learn how to handle anxiety by living your best life despite your disease.

Understand the Magnitude of Your Anxiety

One of the most difficult aspects of living with anxiety is dealing with the fact that not every instance of anxiety is the same. If you’ve ever found yourself dealing with audible or silent panic attacks, you know that they are a much more severe manifestation of anxiety than an uneasy feeling or a “pit in your stomach.”

Coping with anxiety begins when you understand how severe your anxiety is. If you’re like most people who struggle with this mental health disorder, your anxiety likely presents with a wide range of symptoms.

Some days, you probably wake up with a gnawing feeling that something is wrong. That’s a form of anxiety.

On other days, you may struggle to get out of bed as you deal with crippling anxiety. If anxiety is a constant companion in your life, whether you have anxiety in the morning or panic attacks at night, take the time to measure its magnitude as you go.

Identify Your Triggers

One of the best tips for living with anxiety involves spending some time identifying your triggers. While anxiety is a mental health disease, there are certainly some things that make it worse.

When you recognize what those things are, you can either take steps to avoid them or prepare yourself for them.

As hard as it is to admit, sometimes relationships are triggers. You may be holding onto some relationships out of habit, even though those relationships trigger anxiety. It’s OK to let yourself let go of people who bring nothing but anxiety into your life.

Unfortunately, some triggers are unavoidable.

For instance, if you’re experiencing anxiety because you have a big presentation coming up at work, or you’re getting ready to take a huge test in an important class, there’s nothing you can do to avoid the trigger. With that in mind, put in some extra time to prepare yourself.

Often, anxiety is the result of questioning how you’re going to perform a certain task. When you put in the work to set yourself up for success, you can calm yourself by reassuring yourself that you’re truly ready for what’s ahead.

Take a Breath

Actually, you should take several breaths. Most experts agree that if you’re trying to figure out how to manage anxiety attacks, deep breathing is one of the most effective methods since it combats some of the physical symptoms.

When you’re battling severe anxiety, you probably notice that your heart rate speeds up, as do your respirations. The physical manifestations of anxiety make it harder for you to rationally think through what’s troubling your mind.

It's also a good idea to implement deep breathing even when you’re not dealing with moments of severe anxiety. Experts agree that making deep-breathing exercises part of your daily routine can help you alleviate anxiety and minimize the impact it has on you in your worst moments.

Some studies indicate that there are some situations in which deep breathing is more effective than certain medications. By refocusing your body on deliberate, deep breathing, you can also reset your mind.

The next time you feel your stomach tightening, your pulse speeding up, and your breathing becoming more rapid, close your eyes and take ten slow, deep breaths. Focus only on the feeling of breath entering and leaving your lungs.

Take Care of Your Body

Deep breathing isn’t the only way that taking care of your body can help you deal with your anxiety. Making self-care a part of your routine has been proven to improve your overall mental health.

Getting enough sleep is one of the most proven stress relievers that we know about. Most adults need roughly seven hours of sleep each night, and failure to get quality sleep can leave you feeling irritable and stressed.

If you’re someone who already deals with anxiety, adding more stress due to a lack of sleep is a recipe for disaster.

Your diet also has a direct impact on your mental health. Several studies have been conducted on people who have received diagnoses involving anxiety and depression.

While there is still a lot of research to be done about the topic, we do know that diets that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to help alleviate some symptoms.

Finally, regular exercise is a proven method of dealing with anxiety. This doesn’t mean that you have to join a gym and commit hours to working out.

Moderate exercise, which includes something as simple as taking a walk around the block each evening, releases endorphins in your brain. These endorphins are your body’s natural defense against anxiety and stress.

Talk to Someone

If you have received an anxiety diagnosis, you probably already have a mental health professional in your corner. However, it’s not realistic to assume that your therapist is always going to be available.

With that in mind, it’s important that you have other people who you can talk to, especially when you’re dealing with panic attacks. Severe anxiety can leave you feeling completely helpless and hopeless, so having someone who can help you through those worst moments is crucial.

As hard as it can be, find someone in your life, a friend, family member, or religious leader, who you can be totally transparent with regarding your anxiety. Let them know that there may be some situations in which you need to talk to them.

While this doesn’t mean that they need to live their lives waiting for you to call or text, it’s reassuring to know that there’s someone you can talk to.

Keep a Journal

Journaling has gained a lot of popularity in the mental health field in recent years. It’s been proven that writing about your thoughts and feelings, including those that you’re facing in your most severe moments of anxiety, can help you process them in a healthy way.

However, the benefits of journaling go beyond the moment that you’re writing.

When you keep a journal that focuses on your thoughts and feelings, you can go back and look at your victories later on.

For instance, if you’re overwhelmed by anxiety because of a meeting that’s coming up at work, write about how you felt before the meeting and how you managed your anxiety.

Later on, when those feelings pop back up, you can go back to your journal entry and remind yourself that everything worked out before.

Celebrate You

Finally, take the time to celebrate your victories over your anxiety, no matter how small they may seem at the time. It’s completely acceptable for you to provide yourself with positive reinforcement.

By celebrating the small victories and rewarding yourself for the times that you don’t let anxiety win, you can create a new pattern in your life.

The next time that you feel an anxiety attack creeping up on you, use some of these steps to take control of your life. Once you’ve overcome that source of anxiety, reward yourself with something.

It doesn’t have to be a big, extravagant celebration, but take the opportunity to remind yourself that you did something worthwhile.

Crippling Anxiety Doesn’t Have to Win

Understanding how to handle anxiety can help you put yourself back in the driver’s seat of your life. When your anxiety levels reach a certain point, it’s easy to feel like you’re nothing more than a spectator, but that doesn’t have to be the case anymore.

Coping with crippling anxiety isn’t something that happens quickly, but when you equip yourself with the right tools, you can take control and live your best life.