5 Coping Strategies For Anxiety

Dealing with anxiety is a challenge on its own. When you throw a mental illness into the mix with that anxiety it makes everything even more difficult. There are varying degrees, or levels, of anxiety that a person can experience.

Sometimes it's just light anxiety and you can still continue on with your day as normal. Other times though, the anxiety can be so bad that a person cannot bring themselves to leave their house or even their bedroom.

If you are someone who suffers from anxiety, having a tool bag of coping strategies will be extremely useful and helpful. Knowing simple things you can do whenever that anxiety hits can make a huge difference in your day and your ability to lessen the anxiety and in some cases even get rid of it.

The following are some coping strategies for anxiety. Some of them can be done anywhere, no matter where you are and who is around and no one will know that you are using one of these strategies. Some will require either being at home or having access to a private space.

Deep Breathing

The way we breathe can make a difference in how we are feeling. The best example to give for this is by observing a baby and the way they are breathing when they are calm and relaxed and when they are upset and crying.

When a baby is calm, you'll notice that they breathe from their belly. When they are upset and crying you'll notice that they are breathing from their chest.

As we grow older we tend to breathe from our chests most of the time. Just because we are breathing from our chest doesn't mean that we are anxious, it has just become a habitual way for us to breathe.

A great way to lower your levels of anxiety when you are feeling anxious is to take deep breaths from your belly. This is one of my favorites because not only does it work but if you are out in public or around other people, no one knows that you are using a coping strategy for your anxiety.

You want to take a deep breath from your belly and focus on your belly expanding as you take a deep breath. Try doing it to the count of 5. If you can wait to the count of 3 before slowly exhaling to the same count of 5.

Repeat this until you start to feel your anxiety levels go down. You can do this for as long as it takes.

Practice Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness is a great coping strategy and not just for anxiety. This can help with other mental health disorders. Once you've practiced enough and have the hang of it, it can help in so many ways with letting go of thoughts that affect your anxiety levels and moods.

Don't get discouraged if you've never tried this before when you start. In the beginning, you will probably notice you get all kinds of thoughts that come in, and sometimes you will find yourself getting hung up on a certain thought for a long time before you can let that thought go and come back to a mindful place.

This took me a long time to get down, but once I learned how to do it, and disciplined myself and my mind, it has been a great tool for both my anxiety and my depression.

The idea behind mindfulness is that you are taking some time to just be mindful of what is going on in the present. Sounds you may hear, things you may see, what your body is feeling, all in the present moment. If you get a thought that comes into your mind, recognize it but let it drift away and don't follow the thought. Visualization often helps with this, such as putting the thought on a cloud and watching it drift away.

When first starting out it is much easier to follow along with some guided mindfulness exercises. You can find all kinds of free guided mindfulness on Youtube, the mobile app store, and even on websites doing a google search.

Go For A Walk

While this might sometimes be hard when you're experiencing anxiety, physical exercise such as going for a simple walk can help quite a bit. Put in some earbuds, put on some of your favorite music, and go for a 20 or 30-minute walk.

While you are walking, you are getting some fresh air, hopefully, some sun if the sun is out, and you are focused on your surroundings. Anxiety is also a type of negative energy and if you're walking you're getting rid of and using up energy. The things you see or sounds you hear may also trigger some other thoughts that are happy and they will slide in and push out the anxious thoughts.

Not only is walking a good coping strategy for anxiety but it also helps with physical well-being and will also help with your mood in general.

Start A Journal Or Just Write Down Your Thoughts At The Time

Anxiety can be triggered without any specific thoughts. I have a general anxiety disorder and sometimes there are no thoughts or situations that I am in that the anxiety suddenly comes on. However, other times there are thoughts that I am having that is triggering the anxiety.

Writing things down helps you to get them out of your head and will usually cause the mind to stop thinking about that specific thought. This is similar to waking up in the middle of the night with a thought. It sometimes is hard to get back to sleep because your brain wants to keep thinking about that thought so that you don't forget. Often times if you use your phone or a piece of paper, and write down the thought, your brain will calm and you fall back to sleep faster.

There doesn't have to be a specific format or way of doing it. Just write down everything that is on your mind and get it out of your mind and on paper or another device.

Identify Your Triggers

In most cases, there is usually a trigger that causes your anxiety. Even if you aren't aware of it, it is still there. Keeping a record of what you are doing, listening to, watching, talking about, where you are, etc. when the anxiety starts can help you to identify your triggers.

Ok so now you know some or all of your triggers, now what? Once you know what your triggers are you can either try to avoid those situations when possible and if not you can prepare yourself beforehand.

For example, one of my triggers is just going to and being at work. I arrive about half an hour before my shift starts. I do this so that I can get my mindset into a work mode, I can work on some deep breathing and just be there to allow my mind and body to adjust to being at work.

Visualizing yourself in those trigger situations can also be helpful. This is a form of desensitization where you imagine yourself in that situation, what you would be doing and what you would be feeling. Over time, you can reduce the amount of anxiety you will feel when you are actually in that situation.