Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time. Moments of anxiety may be warranted because it can motivate you to stay alert and aware, or motivate you to make positive change. When it’s a healthy level of anxiety, it’s not impacting your functioning. But it needs to be proportional to the circumstances. Maybe in the moment it impacts you, but it’s short lived and ends when the crisis ends. If it peaks at a high level, is sustained, and impacts your ability to function on a long term basis, that’s when it becomes a problem that needs to be addressed.
Steps to Manage Your Anxiety
Notice Body Signs and Cues
What is happening in your body when your anxiety starts to rise? Begin to notice the physical symptoms you’re feeling. Take a moment to do a body scan – Are you sweating? Do you feel your stomach clenching? Is your heart racing? Do you feel nauseous? Whenever you feel anxious, your body will let you know so you can begin to detect the early warning signs, label the feels as anxiety, and prevent it from getting worse.
Identify What Kind of Anxiety You Have
Being able to identify what kind of anxiety is affecting you can help you manage it. Is it actually a crisis? Or is it creating disproportionate fear? What is triggering this fear? Is it a lack of the unknown and you don’t have the answers? Is it an actual threat? Do you fear that you’re not going to be able to sustain whatever you have, like losing a relationship, job, or money? Now ask yourself, is this fear based in reality? Is what you are fearing actually going to play out, or is it a disproportionate worry? Or are you worrying about something that already happened and you keep replaying it over and over again in your head?
There are a lot of factors that are out of your control, and while it may make sense to be anxious, don’t let it overwhelm you. Let it motivate you to do the work and find a solution. Stay focused, problem solve, and talk to people, and don’t catastrophize or worry about the “what ifs”.
Empower Yourself
Empowering yourself means not letting the anxiety control you or dictate your behaviors and thoughts. It means taking control over the things that are in your control, and acknowledging what’s not in your control and letting go of trying to control those things. When you have anxiety, managing it means being able to self-regulate. Accept that you are feeling this emotion and use it as a motivator; use it as information and not something you shouldn’t be feeling.
Part of self-empowerment is to recognize what’s happening in your body and label it and know if it’s proportionate. Evaluate what’s going on – is there anything you do have control over? Even if it’s minimal, like taking a deep breath. You have control over your body and your reaction to the situation. How can you turn this anxiety into positive action? Is there room for problem solving? Can you look for answers, ask for help, or use coping tools in the moment to keep yourself on track? Is there anything you can do to prepare? For example, if you are anxious about an upcoming presentation you have to give, let that anxiety motivate you to run a practice presentation with a trusted person.
Stay Present In Your Anxiety
When you have anxiety, stay in the present. You will have to ride that wave and let it be. For example, if there’s a natural disaster, you can only do what you can do and then ride it out. Pay attention to what is actually happening in reality, focus on how you can stay present in the moment by practicing mindfulness, and don’t get caught up in what is out of your hands right now. Remember to use breathwork and mindfulness techniques so you can stay focused and present.
Remind Yourself You Are Going to Be OK
Part of managing anxiety is reminding yourself you ARE going to be ok. Unless there is a real, physical threat, things will be figured out. Put what you are experiencing into proportion. Even if you don’t have the answers right now, things will fall into place. It might not be the most ideal situation, it may be the lesser of two evils, but never lose that sense of hope that something can change and improve. But in order to hang onto that hope, you have to keep that level of self-empowerment within yourself. There’s always the change that things could get worse, but as long as you keep trying, there’s always room for positive change. It’s about finding that balance between staying present, acknowledging reality, and holding on to hope.
Therapy Can Help You Manage Anxiety
Therapy can help you change your relationship with anxiety so you can take control, feel less overwhelmed, have a productive life, and find inner peace. Dr. Heather Violante offers compassionate and judgment-free teletherapy (online video therapy) to adults living in Florida and New York, as well as all PsyPact enrolled states. Using a combination of mindfulness techniques and CBT, she can help you manage your anxiety. Contact her online or call (754) 333-1484 to request a HIPAA compliant online therapy session.
Offering Online Therapy Across the Country
I am a licensed psychologist in the states of Florida and New York. Additionally, I have Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT) from the PSYPACT Commission. I provide telehealth (online video therapy) to adults living in participating PSYPACT states. For a list of current PSYPACT participating states, please visit the PSYPACT website at: https://www.psypact.org/psypactmap.