Levels of anxiety are normal; it’s part of most peoples lives. However, when it gets out of control and starts impacting detrimentally, it can cause problems to your life day to day.
Common anxiety signs and symptoms include:
- Feeling nervous, restless or tense
- Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
- Having an increased heart rate
- Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Feeling weak or tired
- Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
- Having trouble sleeping
- Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
- Having difficulty controlling worry
- Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
We lead very busy lives; this comes with responsibility and a lot on our shoulders for the most part.
So why do some people seem to be more anxious than others? We have this inbuilt in us – the fight or flight response. Do you face things head on, or do you run away and avoid or get emotional?
Anxiety occurs due to our various experiences, how our childhood was for instance? Did you feel good enough? Were you praised or told you could have ‘done better’? Are you always trying to prove yourself and be perfect? How do you live now? Are you settled or is there fear?
If you work, what is the culture, what are your responsibilities? Do you feel responsible for everything and everyone? Are you able to accept that you may make mistakes or is this held against you? Medical conditions can also impact on whether you have anxiety, such as medications or changes in your hormones.
These are just some examples of how life can affect you and cause anxiety. The trick is how to recognise it, manage the feelings, emotions and symptoms and take back some control. You may be able to do this yourself, or you may need help from a professional, for example, either through counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or medication.
I want to really make a point here, having anxiety is not a weakness. It is your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right and its way of coping. Sometimes, we all need to be gentler with ourselves and sometimes, we need help in getting back to the way we can cope in the main with life. That is what makes us human.
Coping Strategies
Be completely honest with yourself. You can keep saying you are fine, but if you aren’t, you will not become less anxious. So here are some tips.
- Learn techniques on how to ground yourself – For example, find 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. The impact of this slows you down, gives you comfort to be able to feel in control of the situation.
- Take some time out, do something for you. Meditate (it took me a long while and I’m still work in progress on this, but Headspace is great and even my son uses it), get a massage (I have one every week, it is now a bill and it’s for my wellbeing – I do not feel guilty for this), listen to music, learn and do things to relax, take a step back to help clear your head
- Eat well and healthy – the odd naughty thing isn’t going to make that much of a difference, so don’t go hard core, otherwise you’ll never keep it up
- Reduce your alcohol and caffeine – I tend to only drink decaf these days and my gin club has now gone quarterly!
- Sleep – do you get enough? Have a regular sleep routine, take a bath before bed to relax you
- Exercise – go for a walk in nature, park your car a little bit further so you take a bit longer after work to get to it, take a walk at lunch time, do some yoga. Little steps, try things out to see if they are for you, experiment and build it up – it releases natural endorphins
- Breathe – deep from your tummy – you can do this with guided meditation also. It slows your body down. In some situations, count to 10, breathe, if that’s not enough, count to 20
- Do your best, but be realistic – no-one, absolutely no-one, is perfect, you cannot control everything, sometimes bad things happen for good things to happen, keep things in perspective and try not to overthink. I read ‘The Chimp Paradox’ and that really helped me understand how the brain works
- Laugh – some things are sent to try us and humour also goes a long way in helping you with how you bounce back from things that can affect you. Surround yourself, if possible, with people who build you up and don’t want to tear you down. This can help you with positivity in that not everything is unsurmountable or unable to be dealt with
- Learn what triggers your anxiety – start keeping a diary or journal – when you get that feeling, look deep as to what has happened and reflect back over these entries for a pattern
- Talk – Sometimes we don’t want people to know we are feeling overwhelmed, especially I have found with those in authority or responsibility. Find a trusted colleague, friend, leader or professional that you can talk to. They may not be able to solve the problem, but a problem shared helps support your wellbeing
Supporting Materials
30 Grounding Techniques – Healthline.com
The Chimp Paradox – The Mind Management Programme by Dr Steve Peters
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – and it’s all Small Stuff – By Richard Carlson
Mind – Anxiety and Panic Attacks
A Guided Walkthrough to calm Anxiety Attacks
Toby Robbins – How to stop overthinking
Headspace – available to download as an app
Calm – available to download as an app
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