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What Can I Do to Help My Anxiety?

By February 12, 2018November 19th, 2020Anxiety, Dr. Jenny Yip

When you feel as though your anxiety is beginning to take over your life and consume your days, it’s time to start exploring some different ways to help yourself beat it. Anxiety can be overwhelming and at times confusing, and sometimes it’ll leave you feeling helpless and exhausted. While it might seem like there is nothing you can do to help it, there are steps you can take to help yourself feel better. Below are some things you can do to help reduce your anxiety.
 
Use Tools or Techniques to Help
 
When you notice yourself growing more anxious, there are several different things that you can do to help prevent your growing anxiety. One good way to help reduce anxiety is to keep yourself busy. Start off your day by getting up right away and making breakfast and doing some exercises. Not only does this help keep your mind busy, it also helps you get into a healthy routine that your body can benefit from. If you’ve kept yourself busy and still feel anxious, you may want to stop and try focusing on something specific like breathing techniques or writing something. This can help release tension in your muscles and relax your mind.
 
Cut Out the Bad Stuff
 
As small as this may sound, if you feeling yourself growing anxious, stop and recognize what is causing your anxiety. Take a moment to recognize your surroundings, and what you are doing. By doing this you are giving your mind something to focus on, and you’re identifying a stressor. After you’ve figured out whatever the problem is, you can cut that stressor out of your life, or at least reduce it which in turn will reduce your anxiety. There is no need to do something if it’s not going to help you feel your best. Sometimes even specific food or drinks like caffeine and sugar can raise anxiety, so it’s important to be aware of those factors as well. Reducing your daily anxiety could be as simple as replacing your morning cup of coffee with lemon water or caffeine-free tea.
 
Increase the Good Stuff
 
On the other side of things, if you notice that you’re feeling better and less anxious, note what you are doing at those times. If you recognize what helps you, you can add more of it into your daily routine. This could include things like yoga, or baking, or any other hobbies and activities you find yourself enjoying. The more you’re doing things you enjoy, the less anxious you’ll be.
 
While anxiety can be such a big part of our lives, it is important to remember that we have a choice. We can let anxiety and fear control our lives and how we live them, or we can have the courage and face our anxieties so that we can live life how we want to. You don’t have to defeat all your demons at once, you can face one at a time until you’re in the place where you want to be.