Five Recommendations for Controlling Anxiety
Controlling anxiety remains one of the most recurrent problems among people. This feeling of anguish, apprehension, worry or fear towards certain events or activities, can appear in specific situations or give shape to more serious clinical conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder.
On the other hand, you should know that despite the high incidence of this psychological condition, not all people take the step to seek specialized help.
Moreover, data such as those revealed in a study carried out by Dr. Jordi Alons, from the Institute for Medical Research in Barcelona, Spain, indicate that health services still need to greatly improve the identification of these cases.
Be that as it may, there’s one aspect you can never leave aside. Anxiety disorders should be treated as soon as possible, it’s necessary to be sensitive to this type of reality and always seek expert and specialized help.
Likewise, and in a complementary manner, you can also improve your lifestyle habits. Let’s take a look at some more data in this regard.
Controlling anxiety and predisposition factors
The onset and maintenance of anxiety depends on multiple factors, such as:
- Predisposing factors: genetics. Studies such as the one carried out at the University Hospital of Würzburg reveal that there may indeed be a biological predisposition to the development of certain anxiety disorders.
- Activating factors: such as the social context and the way of reacting to certain stimuli
- Maintenance factors: personality, educational style and lifestyle also determine the onset and maintenance of anxiety
Recommendations for controlling anxiety
Despite being a complex problem, there are many different ways to address your symptoms. These are simple approaches, techniques you can apply on a daily basis and with which you can’t only reduce the impact of anxiety, but also (and not least) prevent it.
Express your emotions
One of the most common problems for people with anxiety is difficulty expressing thoughts and feelings. Thus, there’s always the day when you hold back on a disagreement, when you keep silent about an offense, when you keep your worries to yourself so as not to burden the people around you.
This common practice ends up creating psychological exhaustion. Therefore, you must avoid keeping quiet, letting yourself be eaten by doubt and fatalism and, instead, try to verbalize your needs in an assertive way, name your emotions, share your concerns, defend your boundaries.
Expressing emotions, after all, is the key to mental health.
Write down your feelings
Therapeutic writing is another great tool to better manage and cope with anxiety.
- This exercise is great and very effective to clarify your needs, to expose concerns and to translate your mental tension into words
- A notebook and a pencil are enough. This will give yourself time to write down your emotions on a blank sheet of paper.
Look at some Ideas for Old Notebooks
Take time to get to know yourself
There are many different activities you can try out to mitigate symptoms and help with controlling anxiety. One of these alternatives is to get to know yourself a little deeper.
How can you do this?
- Knowing what your real needs are
- Understand what motivates you, where your limits are, where your potential lies
- Find your purpose. One where you can awaken new dreams and at the same time extinguish part of your fears.
Controlling anxiety: mindfulness
As revealed by studies such as the one carried out at Boston University, mindfulness is a cathartic and healing practice to reduce the effects of stress and anxiety.
- It allows you to be more present, to connect with your needs, and to learn to breathe better
- Likewise, this type of approach allows you to integrate new relaxation techniques. This can reduce mental tension and have more control over your thoughts and emotions.
- Mindfulness is a tool accessible to everyone which makes use of a fuller consciousness, improve your attention, and learn to seize the opportunities of the here and now
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Do physical exercise
Going for a walk, jogging, dancing, swimming, cycling… All of these common exercises help produce endorphins, oxygenate the brain, increase serotonin and reduce the level of cortisol in your body. Therefore, physical activity is always an excellent and healthy tool for reducing the symptoms of anxiety.
In conclusion, don’t hesitate to include these strategies in your daily routine to reduce the impact of this psychological condition. It’s just a matter of making use of what suits you and your particular needs.
However, don’t forget the most important thing: consult with specialized professionals if you have concerns or feel you need to express what you’re thinking.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Kasper, S., Boer, J. A. d., & Sitsen, J. M. A. (2003). Handbook of depression and anxiety (2nd ed.). New York: M. Dekker.
- Root, B. A. (2000). Understanding panic and other anxiety disorders. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
- Veeraraghavan, V., & Singh, S. (2002). Anxiety disorders: psychological assessment and treatment. New Delhi; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
