Anxiety 101: 11 Coping Tips To Maintain A Normal Life

Feeling anxious at certain moments in your life is normal, and it’s also common for many to experience. However, for people with anxiety disorders, living can be a struggle. They tend to feel excessive fear, panic, and terror in almost every daily situation. On top of that, the feelings brought by the condition can adversely affect the quality of one’s life as those interfere with day-to-day activities and prevent the person from functioning well.

Anxiety And Its Symptoms

Anxiety happens when people respond to certain situations, persons, or things with excess fear and worry. Short-term anxiety isn’t a problem, and this usually occurs during certain events like going to an interview, joining a competition, or taking a board exam. But when it happens every day despite ordinary circumstances, prolonged anxiety becomes a mental health disorder. Its symptoms often include the following:

• Sweating
• Feeling nervous
• Trembling
• Panicking
• Feeling helpless
• Increased heart rate
• Overthinking
• Hyperventilating

As harmless as some of these may be, they’re difficult to control and could lead a person to avoid people, places, or situations despite not being in danger. Simply put, having excessive anxiety can affect the person’s relationships and hinder them from living a normal life.

Common Causes Of Anxiety

There are various reasons why someone can have the condition, be it short-term or long-term. Some of those are:

• Relationships
• Work- or school-related stress
• Financial issues
• Trauma or abuse
• Substance use
• Health problems

Doctors may prescribe you medication for chronic or long-term anxiety or suggest counseling from mental health treatment centers like Apibhs.com.

Tips To Cope With Anxiety Every Day

Aside from medications and therapy, various coping strategies and lifestyle changes can positively affect your situation and allow you to deal with the disorder. To serve as your guide, here are some coping tips to help you lead a normal life despite your condition:

1. Learn About What You Are Going Through

The first step toward coping with anxiety is knowing everything you can about it. Consult a professional therapist and similar health care providers to give you accurate details about your condition and what treatments are suitable for you. Be open and honest about the symptoms you’re experiencing, and ask questions when necessary.

The more you know about your condition and its possible causes, the easier it’ll be for you to face it head-on. You can also involve your family and friends and let them show their support by accompanying you to consultations or therapy appointments.

2. Stick To Your Treatment Plan

Your health care provider has probably already provided you with medications and treatment plans specifically for your needs. Thus, make sure you habitually stick to those as directed. If they schedule any appointments related to your care, always ensure that you attend them. Your consistency when it comes to medication and therapy can make a significant difference in successfully coping with anxiety and living a normal life.

3. Socialize And Stay Involved

When symptoms begin to appear, most people may start isolating themselves from their loved ones. They may begin declining social gathering invites or lock themselves up inside their rooms. They pull away from the people they usually spend time with and try to keep everything to themselves. Unfortunately, doing this will only worsen the symptoms and make you even more isolated from your family, friends, and the whole community.

As much as possible, remember to socialize and stay involved. Avoid isolating yourself too much—when you’re constantly alone, anxiety may start playing tricks on your mind and lead you to believe that no one will ever understand or relate to you, which is definitely not true.

Stay in touch with those closest to you, and don’t be afraid to share your feelings and thoughts. Venting those out can do your mental and emotional health plenty of good. Moreover, ask around in your area or community to see if you can participate in events, support groups, or organizations you’re genuinely interested in. Participating in group events and activities will foster a sense of belonging and give you a feeling of purpose.

4. Eat Well

The food you eat can influence your physical, mental, and emotional health. While eating unhealthy foods may not always cause anxiety, they can certainly impact your mood.

For instance, consuming processed foods and sugary snacks can cause unstable blood sugar levels, influencing your feelings of fatigue and restlessness. So lead a healthy lifestyle by choosing to eat nutritious foods as they’ll help improve not only your mood but your overall health as well.

5. Do Physical Exercises

This will boost your body’s production of endorphins (also called ‘feel-good’ hormones) and relieve body tension (another symptom of the condition). Exercising is a great way to manage symptoms, including stress. Don’t worry because you don’t need to do complicated workout plans. Even as simple as walking or jogging around the park is enough to trigger feel-good hormones.

It’s also a good idea to try new exercises every once in a while. Doing new things will induce excitement and make you look forward to something every day. See to it that you exercise at least three to four times a week for best results.

6. Get Enough Sleep

When a person experiences anxiety, they may find it difficult to sleep, especially when they’re also experiencing symptoms like overthinking, worrying, and constantly fearing the present or future. To help you get enough rest, create a manageable nighttime routine to help your mind and body relax and prepare for bed.

Some excellent habits you can practice to ease tension and prevent overthinking include reading, journaling, taking a warm bath, and meditating. Doing relaxing activities like these will help your brain dump negative thoughts and feelings that could hinder you from having a good slumber.

7. Practice Breathing Exercises

Shortness of breath, a tight chest, and faster heartbeat are among the symptoms of anxiety. Whenever you’re having one of your episodes, instead of panicking, try to do some breathing exercises to calm yourself down. Give yourself five or even 10 to 15 minutes to control your breathing until your heart rate returns to normal and you can breathe normally.

8. Find A Reason To Laugh

One of the reasons people hate going through anxiety is because it robs you of fun, joy, and laughter. When experiencing any of the symptoms, you’re only filled with fear that it’s almost impossible to see the good in things.

Thus, as much as possible, take the time to do something that’ll make you laugh and have fun in the moment. You can read funny books, watch comedy videos or movies, and find other sources of humorous material. The more you incorporate joy into your days, the less likely you’re going to feel anxious over anything.

9. Engage In Positive Activities

You’re the one in control of your life, not the disorder. So look for strategies that’ll help you keep a positive attitude every day. Some of these may include the following:

• Write down positive affirmations every morning when you wake up and every night before you sleep.

• List down the things you’re thankful for every day.

• Read inspirational quotes or listen to uplifting music.

• Make time to immerse yourself in nature and enjoy its beauty.

• Do things for yourself (self-care).

• Enjoy your bath time (sing or dance in the shower).

Surround yourself with positive things, thoughts, and words, and they’ll radiate that kind of energy toward you.

10. Stay In The Present

Among the reasons people feel anxious is that they keep thinking about the past or the future. Remember that the past is already over, and the future isn’t even here yet. So always remind yourself to be present and stay in the present.

In case you find your thoughts wandering into the past or future again, distract yourself by chewing a piece of mint or gum and savoring its flavor. You can also grab something heavy and concentrate on its weight and texture. This’ll distract your mind from thoughts that could lead to anxiety.

11. Focus On One Thing At A Time

Trying to do multiple things will instantly overwhelm you and make you feel anxious. In whatever situation you find yourself in, remember to do only one thing at a time. If you’re at work, focus on a single task and don’t think of another unless you’re done with the first one. If you’re cleaning, deal with one area at a time. If you’re stuck in traffic, keep your eyes on the road and don’t let your mind wander off to anything related to your house or job.

Various activities will help your mind practice concentrating on one thing at a time. It can be coloring a book, knitting, writing a journal, or completing a crossword puzzle. These activities will enhance your mind’s ability to pay attention.

Takeaway

Remind yourself that anxiety doesn’t define you and that it can be influenced by many factors, including your environment, family history, genetics, and life experiences. Most importantly, remember that you’re not alone in this.

The condition may be an obstacle for now, but it doesn’t have to dominate your life and hinder you from living to the fullest. So whenever you’re experiencing anxiety, keep the coping tips above in mind and see which combinations work for you in the long run.