Dealing With Anxiety: What's Normal and What's Not

• Visit your primary care doctor. Your symptoms may be from another condition with similar symptoms.
• Ensure your chosen mental health professional is well versed in cognitive behavioral therapy, which involves the active restructuring of anxious thoughts and behaviors.
• Consider skipping the caffeine and other stimulants that may exacerbate anxiety.
• Exercise. Research indicates that routine exercise wards off the development of panic-related disorders.
• Remind yourself that it’s okay to be anxious—in fact, the more demand you put on yourself to not be anxious, the more stressed you become.
• Recognize, identify and cope with your anxiety to stay in control.

This chronically worried condition can lead to debilitating panic attacks—feelings of intense fear accompanied by adrenaline-charged symptoms like chest pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath. It can also cause introspective ruminating behaviors resulting in loneliness, withdrawal, and depression.