How to deal with anxiety | News, Sports, Jobs

The holiday season is here. People have a lot of anxiety this time of year. Presents to buy and wrap. Gatherings to plan. Travel. Decorating along with all of your everyday activities and work. All these things can cause anxiety. There are many ways to deal with anxiety including: –A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE: eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep can help reduce anxiety. –RELAXATION TECHNIQUES: meditation, yoga, visualization, and deep breathing can help ease anxiety. –THE 3-3-3 RULE: When you feel anxious, look around and identify three things you see, three things you hear, and move three parts of your body. –TALK TO SOMEONE: sharing your feelings with a trusted friend, family member or mental health professional can help. –PRACTICE GOOD SLEEP HYGIENE: turn off screens an hour before bed, and make your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. –LEARNING ABOUT ANXIETY: the old adage ‘knowledge is power’ applies here–learning all about anxiety is central to recovery. For example, education includes examining the physiology of the ‘flight-or-fight’ response, which is the body’s way to deal with impending danger. For people with anxiety disorders, this response is inappropriately triggered by situations that are generally harmless. –MINDFULNESS: when feeling anxious, a person can spend a significant amount of time caught up in anxiety-provoking thoughts. Mindfulness guides us to bring our attention back to the present moment and unhook from thoughts that may be unhelpful. –COGNITIVE THERAPY: cognitive therapy focuses on changing patterns of thinking and beliefs that are associated with and trigger anxiety. The basis of cognitive therapy is that beliefs trigger thoughts, which then trigger feelings and produce behaviors. For example, let’s say you believe (perhaps unconsciously) that you must be liked by everyone in order to feel worthwhile. If someone turns away from you in mid-conversation, you may think, ‘This person hates me,’ which makes you feel anxious. Cognitive therapy strategies include rational ‘self-talk’, reality testing, attention training, cognitive challenging and cognitive restructuring. This includes monitoring your self-talk, challenging unhelpful fears and beliefs, and testing out the reality of negative thoughts. –EXPOSURE THERAPY: exposure therapy involves deliberately confronting your fears in order to desensitize yourself. Exposure allows you to train yourself to redefine the danger of fear aspect of the situation or trigger. –CORRECT BREATHING TECHNIQUES: the physical symptoms of anxiety may be triggered by hyperventilation. It can be helpful for a person who suffers from anxiety to learn how to breathe from the diaphragm, rather than their chest, to safeguard against hyperventilation. The key is allowing your belly to expand as you breathe in. DIETARY ADJUSTMENTS: the mineral magnesium helps muscle tissue to relax, and a magnesium deficiency can contribute to anxiety. Inadequate intake of vitamin B and calcium can also exacerbate anxiety symptoms. Make sure your daily diet includes foods such as whole grain cereals, leafy green vegetables and low-fat dairy products. –EXERCISE: the physical symptoms of anxiety are caused by the ‘flight-or-fight’ response, which floods the body with adrenaline and other stress chemicals. Exercise burns up stress chemicals and promotes relaxation. Physical activity is another helpful way to manage anxiety. Aim to do some physical activity at least three to four times every week, and vary your activity to avoid boredom.

As you can see, there are a lot of things you can do to deal with anxiety. Pick which one(s) work best for you. If you need or want to talk about what is making you anxious, call Becky or Deb at (515) 391-3233 and we would be happy to talk to you. You can also stop by our office at 8 West Church Street M-W-F 9am – 4pm or T-TH 1pm – 4pm.

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Becky Brown and Deb Williams are the cofounders of Together We Can, a mental health nonprofit based in Marshalltown.