How To Overcome Anxiety: Five Simple Ways
While the feeling of anxiety is generally easy to recognize in oneself, how to overcome anxiety is not such a simple matter. Characterized by feelings of discomfort, agitation, nervousness, fear, panic or a number of other physiological and psychological feelings, anxiety affects thousands of people worldwide, whether as a momentary feeling or a medical disorder. Some forms of anxiety are fairly normal to experience, passing as momentary lapses of emotion. But anxiety can also be experienced in the form of an anxiety attack, in which the feeling is more intense and lasts for longer, thereby making it difficult for a person to push it into the background. For these people, the question of how to overcome anxiety is a very critical one, as it affects their daily life and comfort.
Luckily, anxiety can easily be overcome, with or without medical support.
coping strategies
Trace the root cause of anxiety
Anxiety is generally triggered by some stress inducing factor, and it helps to know what those factors are. From a medical point of view, the body triggers the feeling of anxiety in response to feeling a threat in the surrounding environment. In certain ways, it is a natural coping mechanism of the body. These threats can be of real danger, such as the fear felt on a dark night, or they can be of a more psychological variety, such as the discomfort felt in a large crowd. If you find yourself often getting anxious, look around and assess the situation you are in. Sooner or later certain patterns will begin to emerge which might help you trace the root causes of your anxiety. These causes can also be conditioned as reflexes based on incidents that have taken place in the past. For example, if you faced a car accident in the rain it is possible that driving in the rain will induce a feeling of anxiety in you. Once the causes of your anxiety are clearer you will be able to take steps towards addressing why you feel concern related to those causes, and then eventually working past that concern.
You can trace the causes either by observation or by keeping a log of the situations you find anxious about. If you keep a log, it is important that you focus on the good feelings that you feel as focusing excessively on the negative stimuli around you is likely to highlight them.
Cut off things that make you anxious
Once you have understood what the causes of your anxiety are you need to work on getting past them. This can be done in two ways – either eliminate the factors that cause you anxiety or change how you react towards them. More often than not, however, you will find yourself doing the latter. In fact, you will probably find that although your reasons for being anxious are justified, they are also sadly beyond your control. For example, you might find yourself anxious while driving on crowded streets or you might find yourself anxious before looming deadlines, no matter how manageable they are. As a result, you should not work on eliminating those stress inducers, but on how you feel about them. If large crowds disturb you, ask yourself whether it is because you feel you will get lost in them or whether you are claustrophobic. If deadlines bother you, work on better time management so that they do not make you anxious but rather motivate you. Without knowing the triggers, how to overcome anxiety will be a tough nut to crack.
It is important to remember that anxiety towards something is caused by some inherent fear related to the trigger, not the trigger itself. Most fears can be logically addressed and dealt with, thereby giving you the confidence to work past them, so long as you have a clear idea of what it is that you exactly fear. In some cases, it is best to seek psychological help if you find yourself unable to logically trace the causes of your fear.
Think Positively: stop thinking about how to overcome anxiety
Because anxiety is a psychological state, that is, affecting the brain directly from cause to trigger, the way to combating anxiety also lies in your mind. There is no doubt that most situations you encounter will have some reason or the other for you to fear them, especially if you think about it long enough. Almost every aspect of a situation can be pushed out of context and made to be feared. Hencem It is important that you think about situations only within reasonable means of care. While you should be aware of the general situation around you, to dwell on all the negative possibilities that may arise is unnecessary and should be avoided. If you think positively, then you will find yourself more relaxed and calm. As the unpleasant possibilities of a situation fade in your mind, they will generally fade in actuality too. Thinking positively about situations will also keep you more optimistic in general, thereby reducing the probability of attaching negative feelings to situations. You will find yourself more able to cope with a situation, even if it has a negative outcome, so long as you think about it positively and focus on the better part of it rather than the worse.
While positive thinking might be a conscious effort at first, you will find that with time it becomes second nature, and it will feel just as natural as thinking negative might have once seemed.
Live a healthy life
How to overcome anxiety is as much a physical exercise as it is a mental one. While the roots of your anxiety and the resulting fears are a part of your mental mind, your ability to deal with them successfully and live a happy, comfortable life lies in the physical state of your mind. Although it may be hard to believe, eating well, getting plenty of exercise and sleeping a full night's sleep regularly every day is likely to make you a calmer person overall. Good sleep and nutrition are known to reduce stress by infinite times and so should not be overlooked in your progress to overcome anxiety.
Talk to someone about it
Finally, if you find that you are unable to help yourself past your anxieties, you should look into talking to someone about them. You can start by talking to friends and family, either on a daily basis about the small things or situations that bothered you, or to a doctor if you see the need. This not only helps alleviate daily stress, but it also allows you have a second perspective into your situation.
How to overcome anxiety is a simple enough task once the causes of your anxiety have been sought out. It is imperative that all such feelings be traced and dealt with because anxiety is a negative feeling that can get in the way of living a happy, healthy life.
Coping with stress
Luckily, anxiety can easily be overcome, with or without medical support.
coping strategies
Trace the root cause of anxiety
Anxiety is generally triggered by some stress inducing factor, and it helps to know what those factors are. From a medical point of view, the body triggers the feeling of anxiety in response to feeling a threat in the surrounding environment. In certain ways, it is a natural coping mechanism of the body. These threats can be of real danger, such as the fear felt on a dark night, or they can be of a more psychological variety, such as the discomfort felt in a large crowd. If you find yourself often getting anxious, look around and assess the situation you are in. Sooner or later certain patterns will begin to emerge which might help you trace the root causes of your anxiety. These causes can also be conditioned as reflexes based on incidents that have taken place in the past. For example, if you faced a car accident in the rain it is possible that driving in the rain will induce a feeling of anxiety in you. Once the causes of your anxiety are clearer you will be able to take steps towards addressing why you feel concern related to those causes, and then eventually working past that concern.
You can trace the causes either by observation or by keeping a log of the situations you find anxious about. If you keep a log, it is important that you focus on the good feelings that you feel as focusing excessively on the negative stimuli around you is likely to highlight them.
Cut off things that make you anxious
Once you have understood what the causes of your anxiety are you need to work on getting past them. This can be done in two ways – either eliminate the factors that cause you anxiety or change how you react towards them. More often than not, however, you will find yourself doing the latter. In fact, you will probably find that although your reasons for being anxious are justified, they are also sadly beyond your control. For example, you might find yourself anxious while driving on crowded streets or you might find yourself anxious before looming deadlines, no matter how manageable they are. As a result, you should not work on eliminating those stress inducers, but on how you feel about them. If large crowds disturb you, ask yourself whether it is because you feel you will get lost in them or whether you are claustrophobic. If deadlines bother you, work on better time management so that they do not make you anxious but rather motivate you. Without knowing the triggers, how to overcome anxiety will be a tough nut to crack.
It is important to remember that anxiety towards something is caused by some inherent fear related to the trigger, not the trigger itself. Most fears can be logically addressed and dealt with, thereby giving you the confidence to work past them, so long as you have a clear idea of what it is that you exactly fear. In some cases, it is best to seek psychological help if you find yourself unable to logically trace the causes of your fear.
Think Positively: stop thinking about how to overcome anxiety
Because anxiety is a psychological state, that is, affecting the brain directly from cause to trigger, the way to combating anxiety also lies in your mind. There is no doubt that most situations you encounter will have some reason or the other for you to fear them, especially if you think about it long enough. Almost every aspect of a situation can be pushed out of context and made to be feared. Hencem It is important that you think about situations only within reasonable means of care. While you should be aware of the general situation around you, to dwell on all the negative possibilities that may arise is unnecessary and should be avoided. If you think positively, then you will find yourself more relaxed and calm. As the unpleasant possibilities of a situation fade in your mind, they will generally fade in actuality too. Thinking positively about situations will also keep you more optimistic in general, thereby reducing the probability of attaching negative feelings to situations. You will find yourself more able to cope with a situation, even if it has a negative outcome, so long as you think about it positively and focus on the better part of it rather than the worse.
While positive thinking might be a conscious effort at first, you will find that with time it becomes second nature, and it will feel just as natural as thinking negative might have once seemed.
Live a healthy life
How to overcome anxiety is as much a physical exercise as it is a mental one. While the roots of your anxiety and the resulting fears are a part of your mental mind, your ability to deal with them successfully and live a happy, comfortable life lies in the physical state of your mind. Although it may be hard to believe, eating well, getting plenty of exercise and sleeping a full night's sleep regularly every day is likely to make you a calmer person overall. Good sleep and nutrition are known to reduce stress by infinite times and so should not be overlooked in your progress to overcome anxiety.
Talk to someone about it
Finally, if you find that you are unable to help yourself past your anxieties, you should look into talking to someone about them. You can start by talking to friends and family, either on a daily basis about the small things or situations that bothered you, or to a doctor if you see the need. This not only helps alleviate daily stress, but it also allows you have a second perspective into your situation.
How to overcome anxiety is a simple enough task once the causes of your anxiety have been sought out. It is imperative that all such feelings be traced and dealt with because anxiety is a negative feeling that can get in the way of living a happy, healthy life.
Coping with stress