Living with anxiety can make even the most mundane of situations difficult to deal with. To get through the day often requires you to use coping mechanisms that others don’t understand or have no patience with. It can cost you your relationships, job, and self-esteem.
Although anxiety is a serious, chronic condition, there are ways that you can help manage it yourself if you are determined to get it under control. Here are 5 ways that you can work through your anxiety every day.
How to Keep Your Anxiety Controlled
1. Try some teas. It sounds like putting a band-aid on a serious wound, but there are numerous scientific studies that show that teas like chamomile and lavender have calming properties that work to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety.
Chamomile, for example, has certain compounds that connect to the same receptors in your brain that drugs like Valium do. If tea isn’t your thing, you can often find chamomile and lavender naturally in supplement form.
2. Take a mental health break. Your entire future depends on what you do in each moment, and when you are making decisions with anxiety ruling your actions, it can be dangerous to your long-term health.
Instead of letting your anxiety mess up your chances for a successful, happy life, try to take mental health breaks when you need them. Go on a trip, visit friends, keep your mind off of things that make you inherently anxious. And if you need to take time off of work to avoid serious complications, you might want to look into short term disability for anxiety.
3. Get some exercise. It can seem like the hardest thing to do when you are in the throes of anxiety, but force yourself to get out of the house. You don’t necessarily have to hit the gym and spend an hour doing cardio. Even a brisk walk around the neighborhood is often enough to shake most people out of their anxious state in that moment.
4. Watch your food intake. Certain foods trigger feelings of anxiety, and others help reduce those triggers. If you aren’t getting enough vitamins and minerals, like folate or phytonutrients, your body may be kicking into panic mode or displaying symptoms of anxiety that could have easily been avoided if you were simply eating right.
5. Get real with yourself. When you catch your mind delving into those “What ifs” and nightmare predictions that might or might not come true, inhale a few deep breaths, take a break from what you are doing, and try to pinpoint what’s real versus what you may be blowing out of proportion.
Consider whether what you are worrying about so much is actually likely to happen, then take it a little further and explore the consequences that could occur if it did happen. Chances are, they aren’t as bad as you are building them up to be.
Then, take it a little further and ask yourself what you can possibly do to stop it from happening. If, as things do, life must unfold by itself without your superhero tendencies, then you should just do the best that you can do and let everything else happen as it will.
You Don’t Have to Take Anxiety Laying Down
None of these suggestions will work for everyone with anxiety, and if you have a serious case of this condition, you should speak with your doctor. However, the first step to healing is to admit you have a problem and then attempt to take control of your life.
With these 5 ways to manage anxiety yourself, you can put your life back on track and get a handle on your anxiety.
