How to deal with anxiety is a question that many people ask. This is because everyone feels anxious at some point. Where people differ is how it impacts them and what anxiety symptoms result. Dealing with anxiety starts with being able to identify symptoms and then being able to implement effective management and coping mechanisms. Which means that if you have the right anxiety tools, your anxiety can be managed.
This article is part of SACAP’s Anxiety Awareness Series, exploring the roots, symptoms and strategies to manage anxiety across different life stages. It briefly outlines what anxiety is and unpacks how to deal with anxiousness by providing a toolkit for the short- and long-term management of anxiety.
What is Anxiety
Anxiety manifests differently for each person, and anyone, from young children to teenagers and adults, can experience it. Anxiety can be rooted in biological, psychological and/or environmental causes. What brings about stress in one person and triggers anxiety symptoms might not have an impact on someone else. There are two types of anxiety: normal anxiety and anxiety disorders. There are 7 types of recognised anxiety disorders, they are Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia), Specific Phobias, Agoraphobia, Separation Anxiety Disorder and Selective Mutism.
Normal anxiety manifests as a temporary feeling of apprehension or nervousness. It’s usually in response to something specific, for example, going into an unknown situation, a job interview or meeting someone for the first time. It is also a normal adaptive response for detecting and preparing for potential threats. An example of this is when you see a lion, your body will then go into a fight or flight mode. As a result, you experience anxiety-related symptoms such as increased heart rate, breathing and muscle tension. For most people, once the stressful situation has passed, they’re no longer anxious. Often, this type of anxiety can have a positive impact. Positive anxiety can help motivate, get us to prepare and pay more attention to a situation at hand. Within the Cognitive-Based Therapy (CBT) model, positive anxiety is called optimal arousal.
6 Examples of Common Anxiety Symptoms
- Feeling restless
- Increased heartrate
- Rapid breathing
- Sweating
- Dizziness
- Trouble sleeping
The second type of anxiety is one which isn’t necessarily linked to a specific situation. An anxiety disorder is characterised by persistent and excessive fear and/or nervousness. When these symptoms manifest continually for weeks, months or even years, they are diagnosed as an Anxiety Disorder. An anxiety disorder can be identified by symptoms that have a crippling effect on someone’s daily functionality and their ability to accomplish tasks. It can also have a detrimental impact on relationships and negatively impact overall wellbeing.
How to Cope with Anxiety: Short-term vs Long-term
There are practical ways of how to deal with anxiety. A good anxiety tool kit provides both short-term anxiety coping strategies and ways of managing anxiety in the long term.
Short-term Anxiety Coping Techniques
When anxiety symptoms manifest, there are a number of things which can help decrease your anxiety symptoms while they are happening. As not everyone is the same, you will need to determine which could work best for you when you get anxious. Additionally, which anxiety-decreasing approach you use might depend on where you are.
6 Ways to Decrease Anxiety in the Moment
1. Practise deep breathing
By focusing on your breath, you can refocus your mind and help calm yourself, thereby regulating your anxiety. Inhale slowly, counting to four, then hold your breath and count to four again before exhaling while counting to four. This is called box breathing. Repeat it until you feel calmer. Many people find it helpful to close their eyes while they focus on their breathing.
2. Focus on an image
Think of a place, a person or an animal that brings you comfort. Close your eyes and create a mental image of them or being in your safe space.
3. Try grounding techniques
By doing something practical, you can refocus your mind away from what’s triggering your anxiety. For example, washing your hands or face with cold water, holding a specific object or drinking some water. It can also be helpful to eat something and focus on its texture, taste and temperature. Alternatively, close your eyes and focus on what you feel around you – the floor on your feet, a chair you’re sitting on or the feel of a breeze.
4. Connect to nature
Taking off your shoes and walking on the grass, sand or dangling your feet in water can help decrease anxiety symptoms. Alternatively, press your hands into the ground, trail your fingers in water or feel the leaves of a plant.
5. Repeat a phrase
Repeating an affirmation or phrase that you find calming can help deal with anxiety as it happens. For example, tell yourself “I am safe”, “This too will pass” or “I can do this”. You can also list things that you enjoy doing, your favourite foods or describe your surroundings.
6. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Start by tensing a specific group of muscles, for example, start with your feet and hold the tension for 5-10 seconds. Then relax and focus on the resulting relaxed feeling as your muscles untense. Do this for 20-30 seconds. Repeat this process using a different set of muscles each time, working from your feet to your face.
Coping with Anxiety in the Long-Term
In the long term, there are practical strategies for dealing with anxiety. Here are five effective anxiety tools to help you manage and cope better with anxiety and its symptoms.
1. Accept It
The first step towards regulating anxiety is to be aware of it and its triggers. Triggers are individualised and can be linked to actual or perceived threats. Don’t try to hide that you are battling with anxiety. If you are honest and let people you trust know what you are experiencing, then you can also get support to help you cope with your anxiety.
While anxiety is often the result of fears, it can also be something that you fear and therefore become a perceived threat in and of itself. This can make the actual anxiety worse. In mindfulness-based therapy, the focus is on the distress experienced through anxiety, not the anxiety itself. The psychologist helps the person remain present while they focus on their body’s response and thoughts which arise when they are anxious. Through this non-judgemental awareness, the urge to avoid, withdraw or fight anxiety symptoms is decreased. The result of this is that the person feels less overwhelmed and more able to engage with life.
2. Let Go of Control
As we go through life, we often begin to feel bogged down by mounting responsibilities, workloads and conflict. And so, we also get caught up in experiencing and seeing the world around us as confusing and turbulent. In an attempt to feel less vulnerable and insecure, we often try to control situations. However, many of these situations are actually out of our control.
To begin the process of changing your perspective, start by determining what you can and can’t control. Remember, no one is perfect, so try to stop trying to strive for perfection and instead ask what you need and can do. Another longer-term coping mechanism is to practise mindfulness and/or learn how to meditate. These approaches can help bring you pause, bring you back to being present and enable you to better assess and thereby deal with a situation.
By accepting that all of life isn’t controllable, we are more likely to be able to think through and better respond when we are in a situation which tends to cause us to be anxious.
3. Positive Thinking
Cognitive restructuring is an approach utilised by psychologists to assist individuals in challenging negative or problematic thoughts. It helps to develop more helpful and constructive ways of thinking and thereby decreases anxiety levels. Essentially, cognitive restructuring can shift habitual appraisals/automatic thoughts toward more balanced, helpful interpretations.
“You can rewire your brain to tend towards positive and happy thinking.”
Often, feelings of anxiety are the result of repetitive negative or unhelpful thoughts. In addition to this, anxiety increases negative thinking patterns. Thus, setting up an endless cycle of worry and doubt. Therefore, consciously choosing to think about something else, specifically something happy or positive, can stop anxiety from rising. It will also rewire the automatic pathways in your brain. Which means, with practice, you will tend towards thinking, as well as being, more positive and thereby be less anxious.
How to Become More Positive
- Keep a Positivity Journal.
- Remind yourself to smile when you’re by yourself as well as at people around you.
- Spend time with positive people.
- Look for the good in people.
- Practice being kind.
4. Get Excited
Research shows that the most effective way of dealing with anxiety is not to fight it but to reframe it. Essentially, when trying to combat anxiety, it’s often more effective to convince yourself that you are excited than to try to tell yourself to be calmer. This approach to coping with anxiety is helpful in performance situations.
“Psychologically, feeling excited and anxious are the same. However, being excited increases our performance.”
Getting excited is a positive emotion, which means that it doesn’t come with negative side effects and can improve performance. Whereas anxiety is a negative, adverse emotion which tends to harm performance. How to reframe anxiety as excitement begins by using positive self-talk. For example, instead of thinking “I’m nervous” or “What if I fail?” say to yourself “I’m excited” or “Let’s do this now – I know I can!”. It can also be helpful to talk yourself through things by stating what you’re fearful of. Then acknowledge to yourself that it’s not harmful but something you can cope with. Over time, using positive self-talk has also been shown to boost self-esteem, which can assist in better coping with anxiety.
5. Make Positive Lifestyle Changes
Change doesn’t happen overnight, and changing negative or harmful habits takes time and concerted effort. However, the benefits of changing a bad lifestyle are big when it comes to decreasing anxiety.
How to Change Your Lifestyle for the Better
- Exercise: Exercise helps with anxiety management because it increases endorphins, which help to reduce stress and anxiety levels. Exercise also releases muscle tension. Getting more active could mean regularly going for a walk with friends, doing some gardening or cleaning your house. Alternatively, play with a pet or children in a park. For an immediate exercise fix, you could keep a skipping rope handy, climb some stairs, do some star-jumps or run on the spot. Joining an in-person aerobics, dance, pilates or yoga class are great options, or you can opt to do an online video/class.
- Healthy Eating Habits: Studies show that there is a connection between healthy eating habits and reducing anxiety levels. Remember, healthier eating is about enjoying food more, not miserable and restricted compliance. To implement a healthier diet, plan meals ahead, and instead of eliminating, find healthier substitutes. For example, instead of a fizzy sugar drink, high-caffeine or energy drink, opt for water flavoured with lemon juice. Many people find comfort in food. When chocolate or sweet cravings hit, have some berries on hand, and if your crunchy snack is chips, then try carrot or celery sticks.
- Sleep: Make sleep a priority. This also means finding out what can improve your quality of sleep. For example, practicing sleep hygiene, being cool or warm enough, or using earplugs or white noise. Having a good night’s sleep will help you cope with stressful situations as well as be able to manage anxiety better.
When Do You Need Extra Support to Cope with Anxiety?
Admitting you’re battling with anxiety and your anxiety symptoms are negatively impacting your life isn’t a reflection of failure but a mark of strength. Anxiety treatment is an excellent way of gaining additional tools to help manage and calm anxiety. Additionally, getting professional assistance to deal with anxiety can help you to succeed more easily in your career as well as in relationships.
Managing anxiety, particularly for people with an anxiety disorder, requires establishing a support system. This could be in the form of regularly touching base with someone you trust or attending an anxiety support group.
For many people, seeking professional help is a very good way of dealing with anxiety. A professional health carer can advise if you need medication to help you and/or which form of therapy could assist you most. Alternatively, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) can help you find someone.
How to Help Someone who is Anxious
If you are looking for a career that helps people with anxiety, then explore the study opportunities at the South African College for Applied Psychology (SACAP). Options range from the comprehensive, 3-year Bachelor of Applied Social Science degrees, to the 1-year (or 2 years part-time) Higher Certificate in Counselling and Communication Skills. Alternatively, SACAP’s Applied Psychology courses will allow you to study towards becoming a registered psychologist. For more information, enquire now.
SACAP Global online short courses are grounded in Applied Psychology. These everyday psychology courses are designed for personal and professional growth. To learn more about how to support and assist someone with anxiety, choose from one of the courses below or click here to browse the full range of courses:
FAQ:
1. What are 5 ways to cope with anxiety?
Five effective ways to cope with anxiety are to accept it, let go of things you can’t control, practice positive thinking, get excited and make positive lifestyle changes.
2. How do I calm down quickly when anxious?
You can quickly decrease and regulate anxiety by practicing deep breathing, focusing on a comforting image, using grounding techniques, connecting with nature or repeating a reassuring phrase.
3. Are there techniques I can use daily to manage anxiety?
Daily management of anxiety requires using short-term coping mechanisms for regulation, such as deep breathing and grounding techniques. As well as implementing longer-term mechanisms, such as learning mindfulness and positive lifestyle changes.
4. When should I seek help for anxiety?
When anxiety negatively impacts your daily life and ability to effectively function then it is time to seek professional assistance for anxiety.
Related Courses
Higher Certificate in Counselling and Communication Skills
Applied Psychology
1 year, full-time | 2 years, part-time
Diploma in Counselling and Communication Skills
Applied Psychology
2 years, full-time | 3 years, part-time
Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Majoring in Psychology and Counselling)
Applied Psychology
3 years, full-time | 5 years, part-time
