Anyone who has had a past of experiencing anxiety or who would consider themselves a “naturally anxious” person knows that it’s not just a diagnosis. It’s a type of mindset that can sometimes be beneficial, sometimes have no real impact, and sometimes take over your mind to detrimental effect. As such, aside from seeking treatment, there are a lot of little steps we take to better manage the noise and fuss in our heads. Here are a few examples.
Keep an Eye On Your Stress Levels
Stress and anxiety are joined at the hip. People who experience anxiety disorders are also likely to experience high levels of stress and even chronic stress. When people are living with social anxiety, these stress levels are often elevated.
As such, managing your stress levels by finding new ways to relax can help you tremendously. For a lot of people, practices such as mindfulness meditation can do a lot of good. This form of meditation not only helps you get your emotions under check but also helps you inspect the mental and emotional habits that can lead to moments of high anxiety.
Play Some Mind Games
Anxiety takes place primarily in the head. While there are physical things, such as hormonal levels, that can lead you to be more prone to bouts of anxiety, you may be able to win the fight in your own mind as well, using behavioral experiments. One way to do this is that if you are feeling anxious about a certain subject, you can perform a thorough experience that compares scenarios A and B.
A is the scenario in which your anxieties play out how you fear, and B is the other alternative, usually involving things going well. Take the time to inspect which of the scenarios is more like and why, specifically, as well as whether the fear of scenario A really justifies avoiding the possibility in the first place.
Try a Natural Solution
Perhaps you are already using prescribed medication, or perhaps you want to avoid the pharmaceutical option due to the side effects it presents. Whatever the reason, there are more natural solutions that could help keep your anxieties under check. Aromatherapy works for a lot of people, for instance, while others might want to choose something that affects their mindset more directly. If you are on any prescription medication, just make sure to check with your doctor before taking anything new that might affect it.
Do Good for Others
It has been shown that helping out in the community does genuinely have a net positive effect on feelings of anxiety. Anxiety is often connected to poor self-esteem or self-confidence, so you can look for things like volunteering opportunities with the help of sites like One World 365. Not only can you feel good about yourself, but you can also put your energy into something that really helps others.
Rather than being something that we truly “solve,” anxiety tends to more often be something that we learn to manage and live with. Taking that approach and knowing what little habits and choices help you out can keep you in control.
