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Anxiety can interfere with and disrupt your otherwise healthy, happy life. If you’re feeling anxious right now, it can be quite uncomfortable and overwhelming. To say goodbye to anxiety and improve your mood instantly, there are many effective methods you can apply. To reduce the likelihood of future anxiety, you can combine some self-help exercises and lifestyle changes. You may also consider seeking professional help if anxiety is negatively impacting your daily life.
Steps
Use Temporary Anxiety Relief Techniques
Practice deep breathing. Deep breathing with your diaphragm is one of the most effective ways to quickly reduce anxiety. You can practice deep breathing anywhere and only need a few minutes to feel the effects.
- To practice deep breathing, find a quiet place and either sit comfortably or lie down in a relaxed position.
- Place your hands on your stomach, just below your rib cage.
- Inhale slowly and deeply while counting to 5. It’s better to focus on breathing into your stomach rather than just into your chest.
- Hold your breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly.
- Continue breathing slowly through your stomach for about 10 minutes.
Apply Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Practicing progressive muscle relaxation is an effective way to quickly reduce anxiety. This technique involves tensing and then relaxing muscle groups in your body simultaneously, starting from your toes and working up to the top of your head.
- To begin, lie down in a comfortable position.
- Close your eyes and curl your toes to tense them.
- Next, release and tense your feet by flexing them upward.
- Relax your feet, then repeat the process with your calves.
- Continue this sequence, tensing and relaxing muscle groups all the way up to your forehead.
Call a Friend. Reaching out to someone and expressing your feelings can help alleviate anxiety. Try calling or meeting a friend to talk about your emotions and thoughts.
- Avoid expressing your feelings via text or social media; instead, contact someone by calling or meeting in person. Video chat is also a good option if you can't leave home or the office.
Engage in Physical Activity. Any physical activity can help soothe your mind. Exercise is even considered an effective treatment for anxiety. If you're feeling anxious, working out is a great choice. You can choose whatever you enjoy, but aim to exercise for at least 30 minutes each day.
- Go for a walk. Walking is one of the simplest forms of physical activity. Try walking briskly around your neighborhood.
- Join a yoga class. Yoga offers exercises that increase endurance and flexibility, combined with deep breathing and meditation techniques that help reduce stress and anxiety.
- Dance in your living room. You don’t need to go outside to exercise. Play your favorite music and dance around your living room or bedroom.
Visualize a Peaceful Scene. Picture a calm and serene place in your mind to help you regain composure. Imagine your favorite place, paying attention to how it looks, the sounds you hear, any smells, and how it makes you feel. Spend as much time as you need immersed in this imaginary space.
- For example, you could imagine sitting on a beautiful grassy field during summer, surrounded by wildflowers, smelling the fragrance of grass and flowers, hearing the sound of a gentle breeze, and feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin.
Distract Yourself from Worry. Taking a brief break can help lessen your anxiety. Try focusing your attention on something else while you’re feeling anxious. In about 10 to 15 minutes, the worry will likely dissipate on its own.
- For instance, you could choose a book and start reading, take a relaxing bubble bath, play with your cat, or organize your study desk.
Use essential oils to promote mental relaxation. Lavender is widely known for its ability to ease anxiety, especially before stressful events like exams. Consider applying a lavender-scented body lotion or keeping a bottle of lavender essential oil nearby to enjoy its calming aroma regularly.
- Other essential oils such as chamomile, passionflower, lemon, and bergamot orange can have similar relaxing effects.
Listen to calming music. Music has the power to alleviate anxiety. In fact, music therapy is already being utilized to support patients awaiting surgery.
- Try listening to gentle, soothing genres like classical music, jazz, or ambient music.
Self-Soothing Techniques for Your Mind
Ask yourself probing questions about your anxiety. Make a list of purposeful questions to challenge the root causes of your anxiety. Taking time to explore and articulate your feelings can lessen the burden. You might ask yourself questions like:
- Is there any evidence suggesting this is incorrect?
- What proves the situation isn't as bad as it seems?
- What indicates that the worst-case scenario is unlikely?
- What other potential outcomes could occur?
- What advice would I offer a friend experiencing this anxiety or something similar?
Schedule time for your anxiety. Since anxiety can arise at times, setting aside specific moments to address it can be very helpful. This technique helps limit the amount of time you spend worrying instead of letting it control your day.
- Set aside 15 to 30 minutes each day exclusively for worrying. It's most effective when you do this at the same time and place each day.
- If anxiety strikes outside of your scheduled time, jot it down in your notes and remind yourself that you'll focus on it later.
- When you reflect on your worries during the allocated time, you might notice that some of them dissipate when you're actually prepared to deal with them.
Write about your emotions. Identifying your emotions and jotting them down can help improve your mood. If you are feeling anxious, take a moment to sit down and express what you're feeling on paper. You may even want to start journaling to preserve all your thoughts. A useful method for organizing your thoughts in a journal is by dividing them into three columns.
- The first column could ask: What's happening? Or, what is the situation? Here, you can describe where you are, what you are doing, who you are with, etc.
- The second column could ask: What am I thinking? In this section, you can write about your current anxiety.
- The third column could ask: How anxious am I? In this column, you can rate your anxiety from 1 (not anxious at all) to 10 (extremely anxious) to show your anxiety level.
Remind yourself that your emotions are temporary. Sometimes when facing anxiety, it can feel as though it will persist forever, leaving you never to feel at ease again. This feeling can be quite frightening, so it’s important to remind yourself that it is only a temporary emotion.
- Try saying things like: "This is just a short period of my life." Or, "These feelings will not last."
Redirect your thoughts to the present. Focusing on the past or the future can lead to anxiety; therefore, training yourself to focus on the present is an effective way to reduce anxiety. Being present also helps you address the issues at hand more effectively.
- To anchor yourself in the moment, focus on what’s happening around you. Who is around you? What do you see? What do you smell? How do you feel?
- You might want to practice mindfulness meditation to help you stay more centered in the present. Sitting in meditation is also a great way to reduce anxiety.
Seek Help
Consult a specialist for help. If your daily life is being disrupted by anxiety, it might be a good idea to seek help from a mental health professional, such as a therapist or psychiatrist. Talk therapy is an effective method for managing anxiety and learning how to handle anxiety-inducing situations.
- For example, you may need therapy if you're feeling the urge to isolate from family or friends, avoiding places that scare you, or if you're experiencing difficulty concentrating on work or studies due to your anxiety.
Apply cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy focuses on changing thoughts and behaviors to reduce anxiety. By undergoing cognitive therapy with a licensed mental health professional, you will identify, challenge, and replace the negative thoughts that contribute to your anxiety.
- For example, you might realize that you often think of yourself as "I will fail," and this thought causes anxiety. Through cognitive therapy, you'll learn to recognize this thought when it occurs and challenge it, or transform it into a more positive thought like "I will do my best."
- You should only receive cognitive therapy from a licensed professional. Ask your doctor if cognitive therapy could be incorporated into your treatment plan.
Exposure therapy. Exposure therapy helps you confront the fear that has been causing anxiety. Gradually, you can increase the exposure level or face the fear for a longer duration. This will help reduce the anxiety related to the fear.
- For example, if you are afraid of flying, you might start by imagining yourself on a plane. Gradually, you can visit an airport, take a short flight, and eventually, the goal could be to take a longer flight across the country or even abroad.
- You should only receive exposure therapy from a licensed professional. If your fear is causing anxiety, ask your doctor if exposure therapy could be part of your treatment plan.
Ask about medication options. There are several types of medications for treating anxiety that you may need to consider if you're struggling with other treatments. Remember, you must consult a psychiatrist (a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry) to get prescribed medications. Some medications to consider include:
- Benzodiazepines. These are the most commonly used anti-anxiety medications. They work quickly to reduce anxiety but can be habit-forming. It’s best to only use this medication for severe anxiety. Some examples of benzodiazepines include Xanax (alprazolam), Valium (diazepam), Klonopin (clonazepam), and Ativan (lorazepam).
- Antidepressants. Some antidepressants can help alleviate anxiety, but they may take about 4-6 weeks to show results. Common antidepressants used for anxiety include Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil (paroxetine), Prozac (fluoxetine), Lexapro (escitalopram), and Celexa (citalopram).
- Buspirone. This is a mild sedative that works after about two weeks. It's similar to benzodiazepines but is lighter and has fewer side effects. Buspirone is also less likely to be addictive.
- Beta blockers. Some blood pressure medications called beta blockers can also help treat physical symptoms caused by anxiety. These are considered off-label medications since they are primarily used for heart and blood pressure conditions. Some beta blockers include Tenormin (atenolol) and Inderal (propranolol).
Change Your Lifestyle to Reduce Future Anxiety
Expand your support network. You often turn to family and friends when feeling anxious. However, identifying the people you're most comfortable talking to and confiding in can be incredibly helpful.
- Learn how the people around you affect you. Some individuals may worsen your anxiety because they themselves struggle with it. For example, if a friend also has anxiety, she may not be the best person to call when you're feeling anxious.
Eliminate stimulants. Stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine can worsen anxiety. If you consume a lot of caffeine, try to reduce your intake. If you smoke or use other tobacco products, do everything you can to quit.
- If you're a smoker, quit smoking as soon as possible. In addition to increasing anxiety, smoking can cause serious health problems like heart disease, stroke, cancer, and emphysema. Ask your doctor about smoking cessation programs available in your area.
- Aim to consume no more than 200 mg of caffeine per day. Similarly, try to limit your coffee intake to no more than 2 cups (227 ml) per day.
Limit alcohol consumption. Alcohol may provide temporary relief, but it can exacerbate anxiety over time. Try to reduce your alcohol intake and avoid using alcohol as a way to cope with anxiety.
- If you tend to drink excessively or binge drink to manage anxiety, you may need help to stop drinking. Talk to your doctor about treatment options.
Adopt a balanced diet. Some studies have shown a connection between eating habits and anxiety levels. Therefore, abandoning unhealthy foods or processed foods in favor of fresh, wholesome options may positively impact your anxiety. Aim for balanced, healthy meals that include a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and complex carbohydrates.
- Ensure your meals contain fish, such as salmon, which is rich in omega-3. Consuming omega-3-rich foods regularly can help with anxiety management.
- Reduce your intake of sugary snacks, breakfast cereals, baked goods, and other sugary foods. Opt for fruit when you're craving something sweet instead.
- Make sure your meals include complex carbohydrates like oatmeal, quinoa, and whole-grain bread. These types of carbs can increase serotonin levels in the brain, helping you feel calmer.
Sleep more. Not getting enough sleep can contribute to anxiety, so it's important to aim for at least eight hours of sleep each night. Try to go to bed at the same time every night and establish a routine to prepare yourself for sleep. Some steps to help include:
- dim the lights
- take a warm bath
- listen to soothing music with a calming rhythm and frequencies
- read a book
