Top tips on busting through anxiety

Friday 24 May 2013


                           


Whether you are making a speech at wedding, attending an interview, have a fear of spiders, or have a full blown panic attack every time you step outside the house, anxiety can effect most of us in some way and to different degrees at different time. You can over come anxiety though or a least keep those worries to a minimum, learning some simple tricks to combat them can make all the difference.


While some people experience a slight flutter in their stomach when doing something new for the first time, other live with full blown anxiety disorders day in day out which are bought on by various situations, thoughts and ideas. For anyone who experiences anxiety it can be baffling and sometimes very terrifying and knowing what to do about it or how to handle it can be just as hard as trying to overcome it.. 

There are so many different options on dealing with these feelings all depending on when and why you get anxious. For serious, debilitating, life altering anxiety -  and believe me some people are living like this - you should seek support from your GP, on the most part they will understand and be able to help you and ensure you get the care you need to overcome or at least learn to manage it. 

There is also some amazing work going on right now to break down the barriers for people who are living with serious mental health issues and it should be treated as seriously as any other condition that people have to live with on a long term basis. Some great websites to look at are Time to Change who are working hard to break down the barriers associated with mental health, another amazing organisation is Mind who help support people who experience serious conditions like schizophrenia, to mums suffering with Postnatal Depression.

Did you know there are some simple self help techniques you can do to help manage anxiety? 
Also talking therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and counselling can really help as well as investing in some relaxation techniques like acupuncture or reflexology.

Here are my top tips for when anxiety strikes that you can practice yourself

  • Learn how to breath - try this exercise.
  • Get outside, what ever the weather fresh air can help you to put the breathing techniques in to practice and help you to feel calm.
  •  Learn some yoga moves to help you start your day in a relaxed frame of mind.
  • Visualise your solution, close your eyes and think about what could really help you to feel better, write it down and then spend some time figuring out how you can achieve this.
  • Ask for help, having people to support you through the bad moments will help you overcome them more quickly and suffer less in the long run, talking about how you feel can be clarifying and powerful, don't suffer in silence.
  • Ask yourself what is the worst that can happen, write down your fears and thoughts, this can help you to realise what lies at the crux of your anxiety, address the matter and solve the problem. 

Give them try, see what happens, experiment with what works for you, taking control yourself is the key to not letting anxiety rule your world.





6 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:58 am

    Great advise, thank you. When I feel anxious I know I need to talk to someone kind or go for a long walk in nature to help my mind relax and gain a new perspective. From Claire

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    1. Thanks lovely, I really strongly believe that having space and time to share your anxiety with others is such an important factor to overcoming it, a problem shared definitely helps and it's a way I deal with my own anxieties a lot. I have never really used exercise or getting outside to have some reflection time until recently and have found it such a helpful way of dealing with my feelings, I will be using this a lot more now.

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  2. I suffer it when having to speak to a large audience. I have tried everything and to no avail. In fifteen years of work, I forced myself to volunteer for every public speaking opportunity in the hope the experience would help. But no. I still get seriously anxious. Apparently, no one is able to tell but I hate every minute.

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    1. Ahhh, but what is really courageous is that you keep putting yourself out there, that's true inspiration. I used to be able to get in the car and drive anywhere, without a second thought but now as Im older and don't drive a lot I get get anxious driving to new places, I still challenge myself to do it but I find it's getting worse as time goes on!

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  3. I suffer from anxiety and it's horrible. The slightest thing can trigger a major episode. I think my best advice is to talk about how you are feeling with people, be it professionals or family and friends. Also anxiety can be a vicious circle that you can't get out of so it's knowing how to stop the circle. If you are feeling anxious, ask yourself what you need to do to deal with the issue that's making you anxious and try to do it.
    x

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    1. Excellent advice - I also believe that sharing your anxiety holds the key to overcoming it, knowledge is power as they say! X

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