Anxiety is a mental health issue that we all experience at one time or another. But some people such as myself, have more severe and persistent struggles with anxiety, and learning how to manage these feelings is very important. There’s help out there and there are strategies that can be used to improve the way in which you deal with feelings of anxiety.

For many, anxiety is a day to day reality, and for others it can really hold them back in various areas of life. That’s obviously not a situation you want to be dealing with, but inaction will lead to your anxiety problems getting worse in most cases. That’s why finding the best ways of dealing with anxiety is so important.

We’re going to talk today about some of the techniques you might want to use in order to deal with your feelings of anxiety better when they arise. In doing so, you should be able to minimize the impact your anxiety is able to have on your life. So read on now to find out more about all of this.

Recognize the Problem

First of all, you need to recognize the problem and accept that there is a problem to begin with. This can often be the most difficult part of all. But the good news is if you’re reading this, the chances are you’ve already realized that something is not quite right and that your feelings of anxiety are problematic for you. That means you’ve admitted that something is wrong and that something really needs to change about the whole situation. Only when you know something is wrong can you go about the task of finding a resolution.

Get to Know Your Triggers

Getting to know your triggers is definitely something that you can think about doing. For some people, there will be particular experiences of occasions that cause them to feel anxious. If that’s the case for you, it really will pay off to get to know what those triggers are and what they look like. They’re different for different people, and you can spot yours by simply paying attention to your feelings and recognizing the patterns that occur on the occasions when you’re feeling anxious or stressed out.

Get Support Via Talking Therapy Sessions

It’s important to know that there is plenty of mental health help and support out there if you are struggling. It’s often difficult to address your problems alone or to find a way out. But many people find it easier to overcome their anxiety problems when they talk to a therapist about it. It can be difficult to admit that you need some sort of support and it can be daunting to try therapy for the first time. Nevertheless, you’ll find that getting help will make a big difference to you and make you feel less alone with your feelings.

Know When to Step Back and Take a Time Out

When you’re feeling anxious, you need to quickly work out how you can reverse those feelings and find balance again. If you can calm yourself down relatively quickly, it’s pretty easy to avoid the worst of the anxiety. However, if you let it build and build, it’ll just get worse. That’s not the situation you want to put yourself in, so it makes most sense to take a step back from the situation that’s causing your anxiety and to take a time out to cool down and rationalize things a little.

Question Your Thought Processes

Questioning your thought processes that are causing you to feel so anxious and on edge is a good idea. This is a way of bringing some rationality to your thinking. And that’s useful because most of the time, you’ll find that your anxious thoughts are not really about what’s rooted in reality. You need to question things and tell yourself that the things you’re worried about aren’t worth worrying about at all. You can often talk yourself around and realize how ridiculous those anxious thoughts were.

Use Exercise to Combat Anxiety

For lots of people, the very best weapon against feelings of anxiety is exercise. If you can work out consistently and use that as an outlet, you’ll find it much easier to keep your anxiety at bay. Some people find it useful to work out and be active at the times when they can feel themselves start to feel anxious. That way, the exercise works as a kind of outlet that’s healthier than other ways of dealing with the anxiety or the stress that they’re experiencing at that moment.

Practice Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is another technique that’s often used as a way of combating feelings of anxiety and fighting them back when they start to feel overwhelming. Deep breathing techniques are all about focus and focusing on one’s self. You should do your best to learn about some deep breathing techniques and consider whether they might offer what you’re looking for. They make it easier to relax and leave anxiety driven thinking behind you. Instead, you’ll be focusing on nothing more than your breathing.

Address the Specific Root Causes of Your Anxiety

There are often specific causes of your anxiety, and we’ve already talked about recognizing those triggers, but that alone isn’t enough; you also need to address the specific root causes of your anxiety so those feelings can be avoided entirely. For some people, returning to the office after working at home is a source of anxiety right now, but being hygienic, following safety rules and wearing masks can all help you to deal with your feelings of anxiety in practical ways that make a real difference. That’s what you should focus on.

Process Your Thoughts Through Writing

Some people find that the best way to process their anxious thoughts is to work through them via writing. It can offer another opportunity to add a dose of realism to these anxious thoughts. Writing them down and reading them back can also help people to notice how ridiculous their anxious thoughts and worries actually are. The act of writing them down alone can be very therapeutic and a way of working through things and thoughts that would otherwise be trapped in the mind. It can be very healthy and helpful.

Try Meditation as Part of Your Routine

Another thing you might want to try out is meditation. If you can learn some basic meditation techniques and weave them into your regular daily schedule, you’ll start to notice a difference in no time at all. It can help to rid your mind of anxious thoughts and thinking patterns. Meditation is all about being present in the moment and focusing on clearing the mind, and that’s exactly what you need when you’re feeling particularly anxious about something. So be sure to give it a try if you haven’t done so already.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

Your diet and the way in which you fuel your body can have a significant impact on your mental health. We now know how clear these links are. So if you want to avoid anxiety and keep your mental health in the best possible condition, you should try to find some time to maintain a healthy diet. Green tea and some other types of foods and drinks are directly associated with lowering anxiety levels, so there are many ways in which your diet and your mental health correlate. So eat your greens and keep it as healthy as you can do.

Open Up to Those Close to You

If you’re really struggling, it can do even more damage if you’re constantly pretending that you’re fine and telling those close to you that nothing’s wrong. It’s much healthier for everyone involved to understand what you’re going through and to have the information they need come directly from you. If you open up to those closest to you in life, you’ll be surprised at how willing they are to help you out and talk things through with you. They’re not going to want you to go through all of this alone.

Confront Some of the Things You Fear

If your anxious feelings come about as a result of you being nervous and unsure about something, it can often help to face those fears head on. When you grab the bull by the horns and do the things that make you feel uncomfortable at first, it can really help you to leave your comfort zone and reap the rewards from doing so. Tackling your problems head-on will show you that you can do it and that you can be the person you wanted to be, and you’ll prove to yourself that you can take on the things you fear.

As you can see, there are lots of strategies and techniques you can use to try and deal with your feelings of anxiety better. It’s not something that has to hold you back, as tough as things might feel right now. So make the most of the ideas discussed above.