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Key points
- Positive self-talk can be used to reframe anxious thoughts.
- Instead of focusing on achievement of goals as a measure of success, think about progress toward a goal.
- It is important to be patient, kind, nonjudgmental, and supportive of oneself when living with anxiety.
People with anxiety often ask for reassurance about their safety from their loved ones. If given, the reassurance usually provides only temporary relief, especially for patients whose anxiety is part of an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
When people seek rapid relief of their anxiety through reassurance from others, they avoid learning how to diminish their anxiety through their own efforts, such as:
- Exposing themselves to anxiety triggers, which can help desensitize their anxiety response.
- Working with a mental health professional.
- Learning to apply self-regulation techniques to cope with their worries through actions they can take on their own. This blog reviews seven helpful methods to do so.
1. Positive Self-Talk
Positive Self-Talk can be used to reframe anxious thoughts. For instance, instead of thinking, “I’m afraid I’m going to become sick,” the thought can be restated as, “I want to remain healthy.”
The benefit of doing so is that the mind is directed to thinking about how to stay healthy, which can lead to undertaking healthy habits, rather than being paralyzed by the idea of becoming sick.
2. Calming Oneself
Achieving a calm state of mind can be an antidote to anxiety because anxiety and calmness activate opposing physiological, neurological, and emotional states. Ways to achieve calmness include:
- Breathing: Repeating slow, deep breathing a few times triggers physiologic changes that lead to a calmer state. One way to do this is to inhale through the nose for a count of 3, hold your breath for a count of 5, and exhale slowly through the mouth for a count of 7. Deep breathing is achieved through allowing the abdomen to expand with each inhalation.
- Hypnosis: To use hypnosis for calming, you can imagine being in a calm, safe place. Imagine what you might see, hear, smell, feel, and taste in this place. Notice how you are becoming calmer as you spend a few moments in this state.
- Meditation: A simple meditation technique involves imagining a sailboat at the lower tip of your sternum (breastbone). Observe how the sailboat rises with each inhalation and falls with each exhalation. Focus on the sailboat for several minutes. When you find your mind wandering, gently guide it back to the sailboat image. Be patient and accepting of yourself as you become more comfortable with repeated meditation practice.
- Going Out Into Nature: Walking in a comfortable natural setting can be calming in so many ways, including providing:
- An environment that lacks distractions and stressors
- Exposure to soothing sounds, sights, and smells
- Release of feel-good endorphins because of the physical activity
- Daytime exposure to natural light that helps reset the body’s internal clock
- An opportunity to gain perspective by contemplating the grandeur of natural phenomena
3. Healthy Lifestyle
Four lifestyle approaches that lead to good health and longevity should be followed throughout life, beginning in childhood and continuing through old age. This is true for all people, including those with anxiety.
- Sleep: Adequate sleep (9 to 11 hours/day for children, 8 to 10 for adolescents, and 7 to 9 for adults) is essential in many ways. Particularly, patients with anxiety should recognize that their anxiety worsens when they are tired. The understanding that sleep is beneficial in maintaining a healthy immune system should be of help to people who worry about their health.
- Diet: A well-balanced, regular diet can be very helpful in dealing with anxiety. Inadequate intake of vitamins, minerals, and proteins can lead to disruptions in the function of mood-affecting chemicals in the brain. Fluctuations in blood sugar caused by eating too many carbs or skipping meals can lead to the development of anxiety. Excessive caffeine can lead to anxiety, as can dehydration due to insufficient fluid intake.
- Exercise: Exercise (aerobic exercise for at least 150 minutes/week and strength training at least twice weekly) helps improve mood by lowering stress hormones and boosting the release of chemicals that improve mood, such as endorphins and neurotransmitters. Exercise can also improve sleep and brain health, which helps decrease anxiety.
- Social Life: An active social life can be very helpful for anxiety because of the emotional support that can be given by friends and social groups. It is helpful when friends are positive in their approach to life, which can help counter some of the negative thinking that often affects people who are anxious. Social interactions can lead to laughter, which reduces stress hormones and increases release of endorphins.
4. Focus on the Journey
Many people feel anxious because they fail to achieve their goals. In fact, some people set high expectations that are not easily reachable, and hence they are chronically unhappy and anxious.
Instead of focusing on achievement of goals as a measure of success, a better strategy is to think about progress toward a goal. People can ask themselves, “Am I closer to my goals this week than last?” If so, they can be satisfied and relieved that they are on the right path.
5. Interactions With the Inner Self
Learning how to listen to the inner self can yield great wisdom, insights, and comfort. For instance, a patient who is worried about their health might query their subconscious as to whether they need to worry.
In most cases, the answer is a simple “No,” which provides sufficient reassurance. The query can be repeated as often as needed. This method is especially helpful for people who obsess about their health and do not want to keep asking other people for reassurance.
One way of interacting with the subconscious is to imagine a whiteboard and ask the subconscious to provide written responses on it. This method usually works best in a quiet place with no distractions.
It is important that the person asking questions of their subconscious wait until something appears on the imagined whiteboard rather than thinking about what might appear on the whiteboard. (This process can take up to half a minute for each question, although it is often much faster.)
6. Be Honest With Yourself
People often make excuses about why they do not want to do certain things, which sound believable but do not represent the true reason. For instance, a person with anxiety about meeting new people might state that they are uninterested in participating in a social function because they think it’s boring.
To take control of anxiety, it is important to be as honest as possible about it, which sometimes requires professional help. Once anxiety is identified as being the core issue, there are many alternatives for dealing with it, including the self-regulation methods described in this blog, acupuncture, art therapy, biofeedback, cognitive behavioral techniques, herbal remedies, medications, music therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, support groups, and yoga.
7. Self-Compassion
Dealing with anxiety can be a long-term endeavor. It is important to be patient, kind, nonjudgmental, and supportive with oneself throughout the process of living with anxiety. Otherwise, other psychological issues can complicate matters.
For instance, someone might become depressed because of the intensity of their anxiety, lose self-esteem because they feel they should be more resilient, or obsess about overcoming it immediately, all of which end up intensifying the anxiety.
Takeaway
Accepting one’s anxiety allows individuals to patiently and effectively utilize many of the self-help skills described in this blog.
