Anxiety: what it is and how to cope with it.

Today with want to talk about anxiety and how you can cope with anxiety. Since anxiety is getting more and more common we want to make sure you can all spot anxiety as well as understand how to deal with it.

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is the feeling of constant fear and worry. You may feel like things are worse than they actually are. It can affect us at different time. You will probably feel stressed if your taking a test or exam; have money worries or relationship problems, and these feeling’s will come and go.

Anxiety can be persistent feelings of dread and you may not know the cause. It’s the feeling of being anxious all the time for no reason at all. You may struggle to control your feelings and find that it is affecting your daily life and routine hence why we need to be able to cope with anxiety.

What causes Anxiety

No one really knows the answer to that. There are certain things that may lead someone to have anxiety such as past experiences, mental health issues, current situations, hormonal issues leading to hormonal anxiety. Stress and trauma play a big part, especially if this happens when you are young. Current situations such as a stressful job, working long hours, money problems, losing someone, feeling lonely or isolated. These can all cause Anxiety.

Symptoms of Anxiety

• Increased heart rate or increased muscle tension
• Tension headache
• Hot flushes or increased perspiration
• Difficulty in breathing
• Tingling in the hands and feet
• Feeling sick
• extreme tiredness or lack of energy
• stomach aches and sickness

Along with the physical symptoms, there are also psychological ones, and they can be any of the following:

• Feeling like you are having a heart attack
• Feeling detached from your environment
• You want to run away or escape from a situation
• You constantly feel on edge and nervous

Further there can be a few symptoms that are quite easily to miss or relate to anxiety- you’ll find those here.

How to cope with anxiety

You may also want to avoid situations that make you feel anxious, like large numbers of people. This may help you in the short term, but what can you do to help yourself in the long term. Whilst there is no actual cure for Anxiety, there are many things and treatments you can do, so try some of them out and see if any of them work for you.

If you suffer from Anxiety with Panic attacks it is a horrible feeling, at best you feel like your having a heart-attack, at worst you think you are going to die. Physical symptoms can easily appear with a panic attack. You may feel short of breath, you heartbeat will be racing, you may feel dizzy and light-headed, you can feel nauseous, or feel like you can’t breath and have pain in your chest. These are very real and scary feelings you can have in the middle of a Panic attack, and it’s hard to calm yourself down, to convince your mind you are OK and you are not going to die. Then you will worry that you are going to have a panic attack, maybe when your out with friends, and it leaves you feeling like you don’t want to leave the house. All of these symptoms are very real, so what can you do about it.

Helping with Anxiety

• Meditation – this is a big one for me, and I do go on about meditating all the time, but it is an amazing thing to do.
• CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) – It helps to work through your thoughts and feelings, questioning negative behaviour, it is a very popular option.
• Medication – Discuss any options with your doctor. Most medication prescribed will be to increase the serotonin level in your brain.
• Relaxation techniques – I find these really useful if you suffer with panic attacks too, it help to focus and calm yourself.
• Self-help techniques – this can include looking after yourself physically, talk to someone you can trust, try to manage any worries you may have, keep a diary or journal is good for helping to discover your triggers, keep note of when you have any anxiety episodes or panic attacks. Alternative therapies can also help, things like Aromatherapy, Massage, Hypnotherapy, Flower remedies, Yoga and meditation. These are all worth looking into.

There is no one rule for everyone, we are all different and react to things differently, so take the time to get to know what your triggers are, focus on relaxation, and try to be as stress free as possible, which can be difficult in current times. But always seek the help of you doctor and discuss any concerns you may have with them so that you can cope with anxiety better.

Anxiety and everyday life

People can live with Anxiety their whole lives and have learnt how to control it. Some people really struggle with it, and the worry makes everything worse. It is so hard to choose one thing to do, that might work for someone but not you. So please listen to your body, try and keep a diary or a journal so you can write down how you are feeling or when you have anxiety or a panic attack. Is it a constant worry or does it just appear and you struggle to control it. It really does help to try and find out what your triggers are, as you can then focus on changing the situation and looking at it another way.

But always remember you are never alone. Life can feel very lonely at times, especially in light or recent events. But there are many people you can turn to. There is help out there if you are struggling. It is always good to talk, even to a member of you family who is understanding, or friend who is always ready to listen with a cup of tea, maybe a glass of wine. But don’t let your feelings rule your life, make the most of it while you can.

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