Living With Anxiety: 5 Ways to Cope

What is anxiety?

Most people have experienced it at some point in their lives but it is difficult for sufferers of anxiety to highlight the differences between anxiety and normal worry. A person who is afflicted with anxiety typically experiences physical symptoms in addition to anxious thoughts. Physical symptoms can manifest in a variation of ways. Such as, sweaty palms, fast heartbeat, upset stomach. Notice that these physical symptoms mirror how a person reacts if they were in danger.

Every human emotion and behavior was developed at one point to be helpful. From an evolutionary perspective anxiety is meant to show us that we are in fact in danger. Historically, it could have been a bear in the woods is about to attack you or present day a car at fast speed is coming at you. We would want our bodies and brains to become anxious and alert us of this danger so we can take action. This is often referred to as the ‘fight or flight’ response. Our bodies start pumping chemicals to induce us into either going to fight the bear and or prepare to run away.

So when anxiety is activated and there is no imminent danger, no gnarly bear coming at you or a car speeding down about to hit you—why do we sense such intense fear?

The fear is based in our perception and thoughts of the event we are facing. A person with anxiety experiences these heightened feelings at all times in regards to many events. We often hear people say “I’m so anxious about my presentation”, “I’m so anxious to meet his family”, these can be high stakes events where people likely do experience anxiety. However, a person living with anxiety will excessively worry about every event. They question themselves at every turn if they have made the right decision, worded their email correctly and then intrusive thoughts can kick in. “I made a typo in the email, my boss probably thinks I’m an idiot now” and it is the repetition of this thought over, and over, again that influences the person’s behavior and emotions. Thinking this thought to be true, leads the person to excessively apologize for their typo and feel bad about themselves. Physical sensations such as a headache, rapid breathing, lack of sleep can kick in as well.

5 Ways to Cope:

When you sense that you are spiraling begin to ask yourself these questions and write them down and review them when you begin to feel anxious. The purpose is to challenge these thoughts and remember, our anxious thoughts are not reality.

Ask:

1. What is the benefit of believing this thought is true? What is my evidence for it and against it?

(As silly as it may feel to push yourself to ask yourself for evidence do it anyway, see what you

come up with).

2. Quantify it, how likely is it that my boss does believe I’m an idiot? (0-100)

3. What is the worst case scenario if this thought is true?

4. Meditate for 5 minutes.

Mediating does not mean sitting with your anxiety and trying to push it away but is being aware of the moment. Let the thoughts move through like clouds in your brain. Take notice of the thoughts but do not pay attention. Pay attention instead to your surroundings and to your breathing. Your brain may jump again to the thoughts but this is normal the more you practice to redirect to the moment the better you become at mediation.

5. Finally, ask yourself how can I live in the moment today?

This is not a distraction technique but an effort to reorient ourselves in the present. Ever heard of stop and smell the roses? Take in your environment, pay attention to your body, and don’t live in autopilot.

These coping strategies are not meant to be a quick fix and certainly anxiety can become so unmanageable that coping strategies cannot be implemented in time.

If you relate to this article and suffer from anxiety, it is important to take the first step and meet with one of our therapists. Together, we can explore the roots of your anxiety and begin your journey to healing! Schedule a call with us, we look forward to see you!