Chronic Anxiety: 5 Tips to Prevent It From Taking Over Your Life

We have all worried about the future. It’s normal to find your heart pounding because of an upcoming job interview, or a presentation in front of a large crowd. But once your worry starts interfering with your daily life, and makes it difficult for you to function normally, then you may be facing a more complex problem: anxiety.

When you have anxiety, you may often feel like something dangerous will happen, or that people will judge you in social situations. Because anxiety prevents your mind from relaxing, it often leads to stress and physical symptoms such as muscle tightness and shortness of breath.

To help you manage these symptoms, we put together a list of coping strategies, from physical activities to mental exercises.

1. Start journaling

Set aside at least five minutes every day to write down your thoughts, and identify the things you are really concerned about. It may seem counterintuitive to give attention to your fears, but believe it or not, writing about your worries can greatly help to get them out of your head and to take action to deal with them. Once you’re done writing down your feelings, and the situations that are causing you to worry excessively, think about the most difficult life challenges that you were able to overcome in the past. Look back on your wisest moments, and try to think if you could show the same resilience and strength in facing the obstacles you are facing now. Doing this will allow you to remember that you have the strength you need to handle what comes your way in the future.

2. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is all about focusing your full attention on what is currently happening, what you are doing, and what your thoughts are. It is a great way to manage your anxiety, because you are training your mind to focus on the present moment, rather than constantly looking out for any unfortunate event that may happen tomorrow, or the weeks after. Practicing mindfulness helps break the vicious cycle of anxiety and worry because it improves your mind’s control over unwanted thoughts.

When you first begin practicing mindfulness, you will most likely find it difficult to sit in silence and block out distractions. You will be more accustomed to meditation as you spend more time doing it. Since you are new to mindfulness meditation, we recommend practicing it for no more than five minutes to start. Meditation can have a real impact not only on your mind, but also on your physical health!

3. Mind your physical health

As you probably already know, exercise is good for the body because it helps you maintain a healthy weight, strengthen your heart, and keep blood pressure under control. In addition to these benefits, exercise can improve your mood and energy levels, and reduce insomnia so you can enjoy quality sleep and wake up feeling refreshed the next day. A good night’s sleep can stop the cycle of rumination, which usually happens during bedtime.

4. Open up about your fears

This may seem like a simple solution to a rather complex problem. But the truth is that sharing your worries with your loved ones or with a professional therapist will allow you to see things from a different perspective, and give you a better chance of coming across solutions you may not have thought of before.

5. Seek professional support

There are numerous mental health services in Perth like Brain Wellness Spa that offer a drug-free alternative to managing anxiety symptoms and ultimately reclaiming your quality of life. So if you have trouble concentrating and feel like you are always on the edge because of chronic worry, do not bottle things up. Instead, get professional help for your mental health.