Do you struggle with managing your anxiety?
Anxiety is a mental health disorder that can cause symptoms like rapid heart rate, sweating, restlessness, and more. Anxiety disorder includes generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorders, and more.
For people who experience anxiety in their day-to-day lives, learning how to manage it is crucial. Whether it’s the workplace, home life, or being out and about, it helps to lower your levels of anxiety so you can focus on the present moment and improve your wellbeing.
If you want simple tips to overcome your anxiety, here are 3 to help you get started.
Acknowledge It
Many people try to manage their anxiety by pretending it doesn’t exist or ignoring how it makes them feel. Like any issue, you must learn to face it head-on instead of pushing it to the side.
Anxiety greatly impacts the way you think and feel, especially about yourself. Without admitting how much of an effect it has, you give it the power to multiply beneath the surface. Although it’s scary and uncomfortable, fully feeling and acknowledging your anxiety is the first step to overcoming it.
If you struggle with this, mindful meditation can help a lot. This practice helps you stay in the present moment and confront what’s on your mind and causing stress. Without judging these thoughts, you simply let them come and go and take note of how they make you feel.
Reduce Time on Social Media
Whether you notice it or not, social media greatly affects your mood and overall wellbeing. Too much time scrolling through others’ content can cause you to make comparisons, experience FOMO, and feel sad.
Social media can be a great tool for business owners wanting to sell workout programs or people who want to keep up with friends and family. However, it’s important not to give social platforms too much of your time. Before you know it, you’ve spent hours digesting other people’s lives instead of focusing on your own.
Staying up late to browse social media can also affect your sleep schedule and lead to problems falling asleep. As a result, you may experience worsened sleep quality and heightened anxiety.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, it’s best to stay away from screens and bright lights for at least two hours before going to bed. It also suggests getting sun exposure during the day and using dim red lights at night for the best sleep results.
Perform a Fact Check
A lot of anxiety stems from people making assumptions without having any proof that it’s the reality of the situation. This leads to unnecessary worrying and unfortunate miscommunications.
When you feel yourself start to get anxious because of your thoughts, ask yourself if they’re true. How do you know for a fact that your friend is upset with you? Did they tell you that, or are you making an assumption and basing your feelings off of that?
Most of the time, it’s just your anxiety riling you up and giving you false narratives. People with anxiety are likelier to gravitate towards worst-case scenarios and see things in black and white. But it’s important to lay out the facts and focus on what’s real and true. The more you validate the truth, the less you’ll feed into your assumptions and keep your anxieties at bay.
Over to You
If you struggle with anxiety disorder, you’re not alone. Many people deal with anxiety on a daily basis yet have no idea how to manage it. Acknowledge your feelings, spend time away from social media and screens, and fact-check your thoughts. These tips will help you get started on your journey to overcoming anxiety and living your best life.