How to Deal with Anxiety Disorder

Have you ever experienced the feeling of faintness while entering your exam hall, the sweaty palms during a speech, or the intense heartbeat on a first date? If yes, that feeling is called anxiety. It is your body’s response to stress while you are faced with an overwhelming event or task.

But, anxiety does not always have to be perceived as a negative feeling, as said in publications like the Wisdom of Anxiety. The first step to dealing with anxiety is identifying your triggers. While on the path to do that, here are some other ways to deal with anxiety disorder.

Turn Anxiety into a Form of Motivation

Rather than considering anxiety as a form of hindrance or barrier in your day-to-day life, you have a choice to deal with it by seeing it in a different light. Stress can help you feel motivated and prepared when you face new situations and challenges in life.

Publications like The Wisdom of Anxiety talk about how anxiety, when dealt with positively, can help improve performance, especially among students and athletes who take up tests and participate in competitive sports.

Recognize the Source of Your Stress

Before you start thinking about ways to deal with anxiety, identify the root cause of your stress. You can maintain a stress diary to write down the stresses and anxious thoughts that you experience every day. Once you find the source of your anxiety and stress, you can deal with it better as you will know your triggers.

Cultivate Positive Thoughts

People dealing with anxiety often dive into self-sabotaging behaviors and thoughts after a mental breakdown or anxious episodes. When such negative thoughts arise, one good way to deal with them is writing down your reviews. Once you jot down the negative thoughts, immediately note down the opposites of those thoughts.

As you start writing down the positive thoughts and affirmations, simultaneously visualize the successful scenarios you hope to feel and see. This way, your body, and mind start to relax and get your anxiety under control.

Adopt Relaxation Techniques

Deep breathing exercises are relaxation techniques that help control anxiety and stress to a great extent. If you are dealing with short-term anxiety, practicing deep breathing exercises will help you regulate your thoughts effectively, especially during anxiety or panic attacks and meltdowns.

When you start to feel anxious, try to take ten or twenty slow and deep breaths to calm yourself down. You can also try other relaxation techniques like mindfulness and relaxation.

Eat Healthy and Exercise More

Limiting certain drinks and food that you consume can help lessen anxiety together with maintaining a balanced and healthy diet and staying hydrated.

Besides food, regular exercise also strengthens your stress tolerance. Include a few minutes of physical movement and training in your routine to relieve stress, especially when anxiety creeps up.

Yoga and the 4-7-8 breathing technique also help manage anxiety and keep intrusive thoughts in control.

If you think the way you are currently dealing with anxiety is not helping, and if the symptoms are worsening, you may want to consider reaching out to a professional for support.