Tips for managing anxiety

It is common to worry sometimes, we all do. However, when this develops into worry about many different areas of your life and starts to impact your day to day functioning, your sleep, your relationships with others or even your health, it can become problematic.

What can you do?

It is important that you develop an understanding of your worry. Skills are likely to be ineffective if they are not targeting the underlying problem.

Keep a thought and symptom log– Try to notice when your mind starts to worry. Note down what is your mind telling you, what stories is your mind coming up with? Identify how these thoughts leave you feeling, both emotionally and physically. Once you are able to identify what is happening for yourself, spend the time identifying where this came from, what was happening around you or within yourself at the time that these thoughts started.

For Example:

Learn Your triggers– Begin to understand what situations lead to your worry and anxiety. Learning what these are, means you can begin to introduce preventative skills to manage. It also means you are using skills when they are most effective.

Thought Challenging– The problem is not the problem, the problem is the way we think about it. We can challenge our unhelpful thinking styles, our shoulds, our catastrophizing, our personalization to change the way we feel and therefore the way we respond. Asking yourself

What is the evidence that my thoughts are true and helpful? What is the evidence that they are not true or helpful?

What is the best, worst and most likely outcome?

What is a more helpful way that I can think about this situation?

Social coping strategies– when we feel anxious it is common to avoid, withdraw and isolate. It is important to engage with our support network during these times. Finding a trusted friend, family member or professional can help to express our worries in a safe manner and to develop ideas to problem solve and move forward.

Mindfulness– Often when we worry, we are getting caught up in the past and all the things we should have done differently, or we get caught up in the future and all the things we need to prepare and plan for. Anxiety stops us being present in the moment, the only time we have any real control. Mindfulness helps us to center back on our body and our present.

Mindfulness includes skills such as grounding, meditation, breathing exercises, muscle relaxation and prayer. My personal favourite is re-focusing on your senses- what can you see, hear, touch, taste and smell. Spend a moment trying to identify these things around you now.

Practice Acceptance– Sometimes we cannot change the situation and we cannot challenge our thoughts. In these times we can practice acceptance of our thoughts and emotions and commit to actions that lead us towards our goals and values. Practicing disconnecting from our thoughts is a helpful way to do this. For example when you notice an anxious or worried thought repeat that thought to yourself, adding “I am having the thought that…” and “I am noticing that I am having the thought that…”. See how this changes the power of the anxious thought.

Physical Coping strategies– It is important to keep your mind and body healthy. Eating well, exercising regularly and making sure that you are getting restful, quality sleep.

If you or a loved one is struggling with symptoms of Generalised Anxiety it is recommended that professional support is considered. If you would like to seek further information, foster some of these skills or get additional support with managing signs of anxiety, please contact us at Prosper Health Collective.