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Dealing With Anxiety: What's Normal and What's Not
Risk Factors For Anxiety
- Being female (women are twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than are men
- Caving into societal pressures to be ‘nice’ or be a high achiever
- Being a perfectionist
- High reluctance to share feelings
- Childhood trauma
- Cumulative stress
- Genetic predisposition
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Normal And Clinical Anxiety
Short-lived episodes of anxiety are normal and can actually enhance productivity. But if they last beyond truly stressful moments and seep into everyday situations, they can be a clinical problem.
Too much anxiety can affect your relationships, your work, and even your health. So it’s important to know how to differentiate between healthy anxiety and a potential anxiety disorder, and what to do if you see your anxiety getting out of control.
Tips For Treating Anxiety
- 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.
When Anxiety Becomes Clinical
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.
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Use Aromatherapy
Whether they’re in oil form, incense, or a candle, scents like lavender, chamomile, and sandalwood can be very soothing.
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Go For a Walk Or Do Yoga
Walking away from an anxiety inducing situation can be very effective. Taking some time to focus on your body and not your mind may help relieve your anxiety.
Write Down Your Thoughts
Writing down what’s making you anxious gets it out of your head and can make it less daunting.
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Stop And Breathe
Anxiety is typically experienced as worrying about a future or past event. But anxiety loses its grip when you clear your mind of worry and bring your awareness back to the present.
When a...
A Simple Breathing Technique
- Sit in a comfortable position.
- Close your eyes and inhale slowly through your nose.
- Exhale deeply.
- Continue to breathe deeply and fully. Allow your breath to be a guide to the present.
- With each breath in, think to yourself “be” and with each breath out, focus on the word “present. ”
Figure Out What's Bothering You
The physical symptoms of panic and anxiety, such as trembling, chest pain, and rapid heartbeat, are more obvious than the reason you are anxious. But, to get to the root of your anxiety, you need to stop and think about your thoughts and feelings.
Writing all that bothers you or talking with a friend can help you understand your anxious feelings.
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Worry
Worry is the cognitive part of anxiety, with it's repetitive and obsessive thought patterns in our mind. Worry is sometimes essential for us to solve problems or take action, provided we are not st...
Stress
Stress is a biological response(or a reaction) to external changes and forces beyond one's resources. Signs of stress include a rapid heart rate, shallow breath, and an adrenaline rush.
Acute stress or temporary stress is normal and even beneficial. Chronic stress is linked to health concerns like heart disease and a weakened immune system.
Ways to Handle Stress:
- Exercise daily.
- Focus your energy on what you can control.
- Know that your stress response is unique to you.
Anxiety
Anxiety is the culmination of worry and stress. It is a state of body and mind which is stressed and worried for no apparent reason, like a response to a false alarm.
An anxiety disorder is an acute form of anxiety and a serious medical condition.
How to Handle Anxiety:
- Curb your sugar, alcohol and caffeine consumption.
- Calm yourself by deep breathing and refocusing on your body parts.
- Distract yourself by listening to music or a little exercise.