Ever so often, trying new anxiety management strategies is a good idea because anxiety has a way of sticking around long past when its welcome. Dealing with symptoms of anxiety day after day can be discouraging. When you’ve tried anxiety management strategies but anxiety still hangs on, it might be time to switch your approach. Most likely, you’re well aware of the need to try new ways to reduce anxiety. So often with anxiety, we know what we need to do, but because anxiety takes control of our thoughts, emotions, and actions, we feel stuck. The list that follows contains ideas for managing old anxiety symptoms with new anxiety management strategies.
Anxiety Management – Anxiety Schmanxiety
If you're asking yourself, "Do I need therapy for anxiety?", this article will help you find an answer. Anxiety therapy can be extremely helpful in reducing anxiety and taking back the person you know you are and miss having around. As bad as anxiety can be, we often are unsure of whether or not we need therapy for anxiety. We wonder if we’re making too big of a deal out of things. Should we just keep trying to deal with anxiety symptoms by ourselves? Wondering when to enlist the help of a therapist is common. This checklist can be a useful tool in deciding whether you need therapy for anxiety or not.
Being hard on yourself is an unfortunate effect of anxiety. We blame ourselves for this and we chastise ourselves for that. We ruminate about the past and beat ourselves up with worry. We fear things that might happen in the future because we think we’re not good enough to handle this or that. Being so hard on yourself cannot only be an effect of anxiety, but it can also cause increased anxiety. Anxiety and self-hatred exacerbate each other so that it seems that we’re stuck in this awful place forever. In reality, you don’t have to always be so hard on yourself. There are ways to stop and to even start liking yourself.
I’m frequently asked about my favorite anxiety-reduction techniques. On one hand, choosing approaches to overcoming anxiety is difficult because there are so many different tools and techniques. Also, each and every one of us is a distinct individual and our experience with anxiety is unique. That said, I do, indeed, have favorite anxiety-reduction techniques. Here’s a look at my favorites and why I love them.
You probably want to control anxiety attacks and panic attacks because they are frightening experiences that make anyone who has them feel out of control. Of course people feel out of control with anxiety attacks. They are all-consuming. It’s as if the world shrinks around us like cling wrap -- squeezing, crushing, and suffocating us. And at the very same time, panic attacks make the world feel like it’s growing bigger and bigger so that there’s nothing to ground us, leaving us to spiral dizzyingly out of control. Is it even possible to control this terrible aspect of anxiety? Happily, there is. This checklist can be your guide to control anxiety attacks or panic attacks.
Wouldn't you love an anxiety-free day? Is that even possible? While living fully free from anxiety isn’t humanly possible (or even desirable, as anxiety can be a positive force), we all do have the power to make our days less about anxiety and more about mental health and wellbeing. To borrow from solution-focused therapy, what would your day be like if anxiety weren’t a problem? What would you put in its place? How would you live and thrive today without anxiety in the way? Thinking about those answers, let's create your anxiety-free day.
Does social media cause anxiety or not? Though social media is often seen as something that provokes anxiety, I find that social media platforms can be useful in alleviating my anxiety symptoms. I am anxious when I see disturbing news or opposing political views on my social media. But having an online support group for my anxiety disorders and my life, post-divorce, has been invaluable to me. For this and many other reasons, I find my social media to be a bit of a double-edged sword regarding anxiety management and knowing whether social media is causing anxiety.
How often do you feel anxiety over time? Do you feel pressured and rushed, anxious because there’s never enough time or because time seems to be flying by too quickly? Time and anxiety are cruel partners, getting in your head and causing worry, even panic. William Penn said it well: “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” We want extra time, and when we feel it slipping, we become anxious. The notion that we’re not spending our time well can haunt us, plague us with guilt and cause more anxiety. Even if you’re strapped for time, read on for helpful information.
You can use words as a tool to conquer anxiety by changing the anxiety words in your vocabulary. The saying is true: "The pen is mightier than the sword.” Fighting anxiety, struggling, and thrashing against it keeps your energy and focus on anxiety. But how can you replace fighting -- with your words. Specifically, change the anxiety words in your vocabulary. Changing how you think will change how you act, how you are, and how you live.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) doubt and uncertainty is something I've struggled with since I was a young child. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is often dubbed “the doubting disease” because it makes you second-guess yourself. And uncertainty about life can make my anxiety skyrocket. Obsessive-compulsive disorder doubt and uncertainty about life can be debilitating, but I am finding small ways to cope.