What Is Anxiety?
Anxiety is something we all feel. It is a normal response to many different types of stressful situations e.g. sitting an exam, worrying about meeting new people, or making a presentation in work, etc.
When worry becomes excessive about everyday life experiences people may have developed a problem with their anxiety. In this case you may need extra support so please reach out to your GP or main doctor.
Some Common Types Of Anxiety.
There are many types of anxiety. I’m not going to go into detail about theme here as I’ve covered them in previous blogs and video. You can check out the most common types by clicking the various links below.
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive anxiety and worries about everyday life events for no obvious reasons.
Social anxiety disorder is the fear of social situations that involve interactions with other people.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to, or witnessing, a terrifying event or ordeal.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
Panic Disorder is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by unexpected and repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms.
Phobias are an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place, situation, feeling or animal.
Knowing the symptoms of anxiety can help us reach out more quickly for support when we need it.
Symptoms Of Anxiety.
As I said anxiety is a common everyday feeling. But it can become a problem when anxious feelings persist for more than a couple of weeks. If you experience any of the following symptoms please contact your GP or main doctor for a correct diagnosis and treatment.
- Excessive, ongoing worry and tension including physical tension.
- Unrealistic view of problems
- Restlessness, Trembling or feeling “edgy”
- Irritability
- Headaches
- Sweating more than usual
- Difficulty concentrating or having our minds go blank
- Nausea
- Frequent urination
- Tiredness
- Sleep difficulties
- Startled easily
People with anxiety often experience other mental health issues also such as depression, PND, Eating Disorders drug or alcohol misuse.
What Causes Anxiety
The exact cause of anxiety is not fully known, but a number of factors appear to contribute to its development including: Genetics, Brain chemistry, Environmental factors including Traumatic and stressful events.
7 Tips To Help Your Anxiety.
All of the following tips can be implemented very quickly and most are not time consuming either. You are in fact after a lifestyle change if you wish to tackle your anxiety. But if you find yourself unable to start with so many then just pick one and begin there to change your lifestyle.
Please remember that if you are struggling then it is important you reach out.
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Move Your Body To Reduce Your Anxiety.
Even a 15 minute daily walk will be a really quick and practical way you can help reduce your anxiety and release those stress hormones. Or if that doesn’t appeal then some yoga, tai-chi, a short run or swim. Any kind of exercise that uses up those stress hormones and reduce your anxiety in the process.
- Pay Attention To Your Sleep.
Sleep is particularly important if you are anxious. If you are having difficulties sleeping I have a list of well research sleep tips here that you can use. Again all of them are easy to implement and include sticking to a regular sleep/wake routine. We all need between 7 to 9 hours sleep time, anyone who tells you otherwise is being untrue. Anything less than 7 hours and you are setting your mind and body up for all sorts of problems.
- Ease Up On The Caffeine.
Caffeine will only increase your anxiety symptoms. So if you cut it back you will reduce your anxiety and stress. Cutting it back will also help improve your sleep as caffeine interferes with the second control for sleep called the sleep hunger drive (homeostatic sleep drive). We need this sleep drive to build naturally during the day so that by the time we reach bed it has built up enough that we need to sleep.
Try to watch your sugar intake also as it also worsens your anxiety and if you are not getting enough sleep you will crave it. It’s kind of a negative cycle that we need to break in order to help our anxiety and sleep.
- Create A Worry Period If You Need It.
It’s okay to allow yourself to worry. But make it proactive by creating a 20 minute worry period in which you journal about your thoughts. You can then use this time to also challenge them and catch your triggers also. So try to write out one worrisome thought at a time, and then ask yourself what is the worst that could happen?
Now remember you have handled stressful situations before so also write down how you could handle this worst case if it arrived? Be realistic here. Anxiety tends to overestimate the outcomes and mistakes we would make. So who could help you and what could you do? By even writing down one or two practical steps that we could do will help us to see we have a plan in place to tackle the issue.
- Breathe Deeply.
Take even 3 minutes a day to breathe deeply will help reduce your anxiety. The 3 minute breather will help you here. It is one quick and easy meditation that you can use anywhere and anytime. This breather will help you refocus and re-centre the mind. It reminds our body and mind that we are safe and there is no need to get stressed or anxious. It is a simple method that can help you feel calmer while on the go. Plus the added bonus is you just completed your meditation for the day and took one small step to your new self-care routine. I’ve created a free podcast explaining how to complete this type of meditation. You can find it here.
You can also use the 54321 game for on the go support. It uses our senses to raise our awareness back into the here and now. Thus allowing us to relax or enable us to get through a difficult moment. You should feel reoriented and calmer after doing this but repeat again if needed.
The procedure:
- Begin by naming 5 things you see right now.
- Now name 4 things you can feel right now.
- Then name 3 things you can hear right now.
- Name 2 things you can smell right now.
- Finally name 1 thing good thing about yourself.
- Surround Yourself With Positive Support.
Anxiety can cause us to isolate ourselves. But it is important that we reach out for positive support if we are to help ourselves. The emphasis is on positive here so start deleting those negative people.
It can be hard to see the positives we have in life when we are feeling anxious. So reaching out for those positive supports will really help. We really need positive people who will understand, listen and support us more than ever. Giving and receiving that support is one of the basic needs we have as humans.
- Watch What And Who You Are Listening To.
Mute your Social Media notifications and the news during the day. Have set times, and for how long, you will engage with these things during the day.
If you want to reduce your anxiety then one way is to reduce the amount of interruptions and distractions we get from social media during the day. These notifications can not only disrupt our time with our families, friends, and work we need to do. But they supply us with information over load and keep us addicted to our phones and tablets.
Social media apps and the news also increase our anxiety levels particularly as they are predominately negative. Muting your devices, turning off the TV or radio, doesn’t mean you never get to hear and see what is going on. It just means you get to take back control over the when and how much of your time you will give to social media and to watching or listening to the news.
Instead find something positive to listen to such as positive podcasts, relaxation apps, or create your own uplifting or relaxing playlists.
As I’ve said if you are really struggling with anxiety and stress pleas reach out. You can see you GP, or main doctor, or self-refer for treatment if you already have a diagnosis.
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