What to Know and How to Cope
Feeling worried every now and then isn’t unusual, but anxiety can have you feeling nervous much more often. Anxiety disorders can cause you to struggle with feeling helpless and anxious. You might also feel a sense of impending doom and have other symptoms, such as a faster heart rate, rapid breathing, and sweating. Anxiety symptoms can affect your day-to-day life, so it’s important to learn how to cope with them. The following tips for dealing with anxiety can help you out.
Know Your Triggers
Being in certain situations, such as having to speak in front of others, can trigger your anxiety or make symptoms worse. Try to identify the triggers that make you feel stressed or anxious. Once you know what they are, you can work on dealing with them. You might not be able to avoid these triggers completely, but you can work on handling them in a healthier way.
Prioritize Sleep
Getting enough sleep on a regular basis might help ease stress and anxiety. Make sure your bedroom provides a comfortable place to sleep, which might mean turning on a fan to make it cooler, using a white noise machine to block sounds, or getting a new mattress and pillows. You can also improve sleep by doing a calm activity before bed, such as reading, and avoiding caffeine and napping later in the day.
Practice Stress Management
Handling stress is one of the challenges that come with having an anxiety disorder. Finding ways to deal with stress more effectively can help prevent symptoms from becoming worse. Consider taking up yoga, meditation, or other techniques that help you feel calmer and ease stress.
Limit Caffeine
Caffeine can make anxiety symptoms worse. Limit your caffeine intake, especially if you drink coffee or tea on a regular basis. Keep in mind that cutting back also includes limiting chocolate and other foods and beverages that contain caffeine. Lowering your caffeine intake can help you cope with anxiety and get a better night’s sleep.
If you’re looking for more tips for dealing with anxiety, watch my series of educational videos.
I so appreciate your website and videos. They are fantastic! Have you ever thought about doing some videos on mental health specifically designed for teens? I am a high school counselor in North Carolina and try to offer mental health support to the students in my school. You are so incredible in your information and explanations, that I thought I would just see if you could do anything aimed for this very important population. I would also love any referrals you have regarding websites, videos, etc that are beneficial for teenagers. Thanks for all you do to move the needle in mental health!
Hi Elizabeth. I realize this is a huge need. I have a teenager and I see it!! I wanted to speak at the local schools about anxiety in teens but those efforts never got off the ground (it takes a lot of work to get into the schools). Since I treat adults, I gear my videos to adults and admittedly don’t have much on teens. A great resource though is https://gozen.com/ She focuses more anxiety though