Anxiety is Sneaky
You’re doing fine, and then suddenly you feel like you can’t breathe. Maybe your chest hurts, and you’re convinced you’re having a heart attack. Maybe something happened, like your car won’t start or you heard layoffs might be coming at your company. Or maybe you can’t pinpoint why you are feeling like you are – you woke up in the middle of the night sweating and with a feeling of dread.
You are probably having an anxiety attack — an extreme reaction to stress. Even if you aren’t having a full-blown panic attack, anxiety can leave you feeling apprehensive, uncertain and fearful, paralyzing you with indecision and avoidance.
What is Anxiety?
It’s normal to feel anxious when facing a challenging situation. However, if your worries and fears seem overwhelming and out of proportion with what’s happening and interfere with your daily life, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. Common symptoms of anxiety include a surge of overwhelming panic, feelings of losing control or going crazy, a racing heart, heart palpitations or chest pain, feeling like you’re going to pass out, trouble breathing or hyperventilation, trembling or shaking and nausea or stomach cramps. If you have chronic anxiety, you may feel like you are living with constant feelings of apprehension or dread, have trouble concentrating, feel tense or irritable a lot of the time and tend to anticipate the worst.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problems affecting children and adults. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, an estimated 40 million adults (18% of the U.S. population) suffer from anxiety disorders. Only about one-third of those suffering from an anxiety disorder receive treatment, even though anxiety disorders are highly treatable. Below are some steps you can take yourself to manage your anxiety.
10 Steps to Reduce Anxiety, Worry and Stress
1. Get Active. Ride your bike, take a walk, go to a yoga class or go to the gym. There’s no better therapy to reduce the physical sensations of an anxiety attack than to get your blood pumping and endorphins moving through your body with exercise.
2. Cut out all caffeine. Caffeine adds to that tense, jittery, anxious feeling. Sources of caffeine include chocolate, beverages like coffee, tea, soda, and some prescription and over-the-counter medications, like Excedrin.
3. Avoid stressful conversations when you’re tired, overwhelmed, or stressed. For instance, tell your kids that you’re simply not available for problem solving after 8 p.m. Try to protect a “trouble free” time, especially before bed, when you don’t address difficulties but focus instead on pure relaxation.
4. Get sleep. Buy a white-noise machine and use it when you go to sleep. The soothing sound will help you fall and stay asleep. A good night’s sleep is critical when you’re stressed, since sleep deprivation fuels anxiety even as anxiety leads to sleep deprivation.
5. Write about one thing that is making you anxious. Sit down and write out all the fears you have about that one thing. If it’s money, write down what would happen if you lose your job and can’t pay your bills. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen? Now look at each item and mark it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being highly unlikely it would ever happen, 10 being likely that it would happen. You’ll be surprised at how few items rank above a 5. This understanding should help reduce your anxiety. If something does rank higher than 5, you may want to develop a coping plan for it. Nothing works better to calm anxiety than turning from pure worry to an action plan.
6. Practice mindfulness meditation. Relax your body from the toes up. Follow your breath as you observe and detach from your thoughts. Center yourself in the moment (e.g., feel your head upon the pillow, or your feet on the ground, etc.). When your mind wanders, don’t judge it. Simply bring your attention back to your breath.
7. Don’t focus on future problems. Many people get into a cycle of predicting and worrying about future concerns. Ask yourself, “Is this something that could actually happen and, if so, can I do something about it right now?” If the answer to either of these questions is no, tell yourself you will focus on it later. Keep a journal of what makes you anxious. Then revisit these same items when you’re feeling calm and develop plans to deal with them.
8. Experience your anxiety for 45 minutes. That’s usually all it takes for you to become used to it and for the anxious feeling to dissipate. The worst thing you can do is try to ignore your feelings because anxiety tends to fight back if you push it down.
9. Talk to yourself. Remind yourself of how you handled similar situations in the past, your strengths, and how long you will need to get through it. Show yourself that this anxiety is manageable and time-limited.
10. Get busy. Go to the museum, see a movie, read a good book, or take up oil painting (or some other hobby). Rent a comedy and watch it. Let yourself laugh out loud. The act of laughter stimulates endorphins that help blow stress hormones out of your system the way a good thunderstorm can blow away hot, humid weather.
How To Get Help for Your Anxiety
The Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center of Silicon Valley specializes in anxiety, worry and stress in adults, children and teenagers. With our convenient location just a 1/2 mile from highways 85 and the Saratoga Avenue exit, we serve the Silicon Valley communities of San Jose, Saratoga, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Cupertino and Campbell, CA. Contact us at (408) 384-8404 for more information on how we can help you overcome anxiety, worry and stress.