5 ways to combat anxiety

Anxiety can feel horrible. That awful feeling in the pit of your stomach, the sense of utter panic, and your mind churning over endless worries.

But anxiety is very treatable. There are a variety of approaches, including psychological therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and sometimes medication.

Many people find relief from anxiety symptoms through a combination of these methods.

In the meantime, there are ways to help manage your own anxiety. Here are 5 practical actions you can take when anxiety strikes.

Of all the tips to manage anxiety, this is the most common. Sounds easy, right?  When you’re stressed, you tend to breathe faster, but not as deeply. This means you only use a portion of your full lung capacity.

Breathing in this way can make your heart pump at a much faster rate, making it feel as if your blood is rushing through your body. This is what causes that adrenaline surge that often accompanies anxiety. Breathing slowly and deeply can slow things down and help you to regain control.

Put one hand under your rib cage, and one hand over your heart. Inhale and exhale through your nose, noting how or if your stomach and chest move as you breathe. The aim is for your stomach, not your chest to move as you breathe.

While inner dialogue can be a helpful tool for problem-solving, a big part of anxiety lies in the way you talk to yourself. Learning to control your self-criticism can help you manage your anxiety.

By managing your thoughts, you can work out whether they’re helping or hindering you. This technique is the cornerstone of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). It helps you become aware of negative thinking, so you can respond to situations in a more effective way.

CBT has long been regarded as one of the best therapies for treating anxiety disorders.²

Anxiety can really get its hook in, convincing you that the worst that could happen, will happen. This can easily lead to constant worrying about the ‘what ifs’.

A catastrophe scale can help those who suffer from an anxiety condition understand and manage their emotions. It works by ranking the severity of situations or feelings on a scale from zero to 10.

Your situation may feel like a 10, but ask yourself: has anyone died? No? That’s a 9. Is anyone in danger? No? Move it down to an 8, and so on until you find its proper resting place.

This will help you to put things into perspective and determine an appropriate emotional response.

Anxiety may make you want to hide your worries and not talk to anyone about how you’re feeling.

Even though the last thing you may feel like doing is talking to someone about your anxious feelings, talking them through can be an effective way to ease anxiety.

Finding trusted people to whom you can open up is a key part of managing anxiety. It can make you feel less alone, provide stress relief, find a different perspective and stop you feeling overwhelmed. Talking it out may also prompt you to seek further professional help.

Around 75% of people who seek out psychological help are recommended to do so by someone they know³. The more you talk about anxiety, the more normal it becomes, and the more help you’ll be receptive to.

So, talk to a trusted friend or ask your GP for recommendations for a therapist.

Systematic desensitisation is the term used for a behavioural technique that gradually exposes someone to something that makes them feel anxious.

Using a ‘step plan’ can help desensitise you, so you’re able to better manage your anxiety on your own. Set yourself a challenge: next time you feel anxiety hit you like a wave, sit with it, before noticing the wave going down.

Keep a success journal where you note down the times you’ve overcome your anxiety or had small wins. Acknowledging you have the power to do this can positively impact your thoughts.

It’s important to remember that when dealing with anxiety, you’re not alone.

With these tips to manage anxiety, plus support and help from both professionals and friends, you can get through the anxiety.

If you’re concerned about your mental health, or that of someone you know, your GP is a good place to start.

If your life or someone else’s life is in danger, dial 000 immediately.

You’ll find a complete list of national and state support services here.