Equally, for those who deal with anxiety on a constant basis, there are longer-term ways to address anxiety. Here are eight, science-backed methods, to lessen feelings of anxiety, both in the long- and short-term.<\/p>\n
Short-term tools to lessen your anxiety<\/h2>\n1. Distance yourself from your anxieties<\/h3>\n
Bouts of anxiety often begin with catastrophic thinking about an upcoming event.<\/p>\n
You start imagining the myriad ways you\u2019ll make a fool of yourself on a\u00a0first\u00a0date; you picture yourself tongue-tied\u00a0during\u00a0an interview; or you conjure vivid images of the various ways that an aeroplane can malfunction.<\/p>\n
One way to dampen anxiety is to calm these racing thoughts. Don\u2019t do this with brute mental force \u2013 simply trying to stifle the thoughts and push them out of your mind is unlikely to work and could even backfire.<\/p>\n
Instead, try to create some distance from the thoughts, to help you realise that thoughts can be wrong and are not self-fulfilling.<\/p>\n
Say to yourself: \u201cI am having the thought that\u2026 I am going to embarrass myself on this first date [obviously replace this with your own anxious thoughts]\u201d.<\/p>\n
Having created this distance, calmly weigh the evidence for why you might make a fool or yourself, and then spend as much effort listing the ways that you might not. Also remind yourself of times in the past when you\u2019ve coped well.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n If your mind is racing with catastrophic thoughts about what\u2019s going to happen, your body responds in kind: the sympathetic nervous system kicks in, bracing you for a threat \u2013 your breathing becomes fast and shallow,\u00a0and adrenaline races to your muscles, which can cause you to tremble and feel faint.<\/p>\n A great way to dampen this reaction is to practise exercises that activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which has opposite effects on the body\u00a0to the\u00a0sympathetic\u00a0nervous\u00a0system, such as lowering your heart rate and blood pressure,\u00a0and slowing your breathing.<\/p>\n One\u00a0exercise\u00a0is called \u2018grounding\u2019, which helps\u00a0you connect with the present moment and the environment around you, rather than being consumed by fears about the future.<\/p>\n One popular\u00a0way to do it\u00a0involves pausing and naming five things you can see; naming four things you can feel; three things you can hear; two things you can smell; and one thing you can taste.<\/p>\n Another technique that activates\u00a0the soothing parasympathetic nervous system\u00a0is to\u00a0stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart and lean forwards as if you\u2019re going to touch your toes \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter how far you can actually reach \u2013 and then just hang there for a minute or so (you can also do this in a seated position by leaning forwards and allowing your head to hang comfortably between your legs).<\/p>\n The idea behind this exercise is that it sends a strong signal to your body that all is safe, and you can relax.<\/p>\n Another way to calm your body down, promote parasympathetic nervous system activity and break the anxiety cycle (in which your body\u2019s fear reaction to your thoughts makes you even more anxious) is to practise a controlled breathing exercise.<\/p>\n There are many different exercises you can try, but one of the simpler and more effective\u00a0examples\u00a0is known as \u2018box breathing\u2019 or \u2018square breathing\u2019, so called because you breath in, pause and\u00a0then\u00a0breathe out each for the same amount of time.<\/p>\n To do it, sit somewhere comfortable and focus on your breath.<\/p>\n The idea is that this will help to get your breathing rate and depth back under control, which is an effective way to calm the entire body.<\/p>\n If you find that your worries keep coming back, even after you\u2019ve calmed your mind and body, it can be very unsettling and give you the sense that you\u2019re stuck in a loop.<\/p>\n You might even come to form unhelpful beliefs, such as that you need to engage in worry to try to \u2018solve\u2019 a dilemma or to prevent a bad thing from happening \u2013 these are known as \u2018meta-cognitions\u2019 because they\u2019re your beliefs about your thoughts.<\/p>\n However, unless you\u2019re forming genuine solutions or constructive plans in your mind, then churning the same worries around and around is futile, like a car\u2019s wheel spinning in the mud. Trying to banish these worries from your mind is unlikely to work.<\/p>\n A better approach is to plan a \u2018worry window\u2019 \u2013 a set period of time, about half an hour or so (ideally not too close to bedtime) when you\u2019ll allow your mind to give vent to its worries.<\/p>\n The rest of the time, whenever your worrisome thoughts surface, you can remind yourself that you\u2019ll be turning your attention to them later.<\/p>\n This can be an effective way to break out of a perpetual worry loop and allow you to get on with your life.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s natural to want to avoid the situations that make you anxious but,\u00a0in the long-term,\u00a0this is only likely to fuel your anxiety.<\/p>\n When you avoid anxiety-provoking situations, not only do you risk missing out on opportunities in life, but you never get to \u2018reality-check\u2019 your worst fears \u2013 for instance, going on a date without it being a disaster, or flying on a plane and finding that it stays in the air.<\/p>\n Unconfronted fears can grow and fester, assuming an out-of-proportion aura of doom.<\/p>\n In contrast, when you face your fears and find that the worst doesn\u2019t happen, psychologists call it an \u2018expectancy-violation\u2019. You burst the baleful balloon.<\/p>\n By undermining your negative expectations like this, you gradually teach your brain to be less anxious. The technical term for confronting your fears and anxieties is \u2018exposure\u2019.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a good idea to start gradually. Choose a situation or challenge that you only find mildly anxiety-provoking and give it a go (using your emergency tool-kit before, during and after as appropriate).<\/p>\n If real-life exposure is too daunting \u2013 you can even try doing it in your imagination.<\/p>\n Building opportunities for physical exercise into your lifestyle isn\u2019t only good for your body, it\u2019s good for your mind too.<\/p>\n Studies have shown that exercise can boost mood and stave off depression<\/a>. People who are more physically active also tend to show benefits to their personality traits years down the line, including keeping their neuroticism in check.<\/p>\n Other research shows that regular exercise can help prevent the risk of developing an anxiety disorder<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are many reasons why exercise has these benefits, including distraction, camaraderie and improvements in physical health \u2013 which can break the known links between poor health and anxiety.<\/p>\n Yet another reason why exercise \u2013 especially vigorous exercise \u2013 is a great tool for beating anxiety is that it can get you used to the kind of physical sensations that fuel anxiety, such as a racing heartbeat and\u00a0a feeling of\u00a0breathlessness.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re used to these sensations in your weekly run or boxercise class, they won\u2019t be so disconcerting the next time you have to give a speech or go for a job interview.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s in your morning espresso or an energy drink at the gym, caffeine might be such an integral part of your routine, that you don\u2019t stop to think that it\u2019s actually a psychostimulant \u2013 a drug that acts on the brain.<\/p>\n Specifically, caffeine acts to block the brain chemical adenosine, which usually serves to calm us down physiologically, such as by lowering our blood pressure and slowing our breathing.<\/p>\n This neural action is great in terms of making us feel more alert and hyped up but not welcome at all if you\u2019re prone to anxiety.<\/p>\n So, one modest lifestyle change to make over the long term to reduce your anxiety levels is to consume less caffeine, remembering that it\u2019s also present in chocolate and tea.<\/p>\n Indeed, if you\u2019re an anxious person and you currently consume an excessive amount of caffeine, it\u2019s feasible that it could contribute significantly to your problems \u2013 psychiatry even recognises \u2018caffeine-induced anxiety disorder\u2019 as a subtype of the formal diagnosis of \u2018substance or medication-induced anxiety disorder\u2019.<\/p>\n If you come to believe that being anxious is a fundamental, permanent part of who you are, then whenever you\u2019re confronted by situations that make you feel uneasy or afraid, you\u2019re more likely to succumb to the discomfort and withdraw as quickly as you can.<\/p>\n In contrast, if you can try to see anxiety as a temporary, fleeting state \u2013 one which is part of being human and can affect anyone at any time \u2013 then you\u2019re more likely to find the motivation to ride out the discomfort and seek more constructive ways to deal with it.<\/p>\n Psychologists call this latter perspective a \u2018growth mindset\u2019 as opposed to a \u2018fixed mindset\u2019.<\/p>\n You might have heard these terms used in relation to intelligence and learning, but emerging research suggests the distinction also applies to how we think about our experiences of anxiety. So, consider your relationship to anxiety and remember it can be useful and it can be tamed.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n Whether its in the short- or long-term, there are lots of different techniques that can help you deal with anxiety. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":30016,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"9"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind.jpg",1200,511,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind-300x128.jpg",300,128,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind-768x327.jpg",768,327,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind-1024x436.jpg",800,341,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind.jpg",1200,511,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/07\/how-to-beat-anxiety-8-simple-concrete-strategies-to-take-control-of-your-mind.jpg",1200,511,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Whether its in the short- or long-term, there are lots of different techniques that can help you deal with anxiety.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/30015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Ground yourself<\/h3>\n
![\""Woman\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2023\/07\/ground-yourself-42a0fb2.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C566"\" "\\"\"Woman\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>3. Regulate your breathing<\/h3>\n
4. Plan a \u2018worry window\u2019<\/h3>\n
Long-term tools to lessen your anxiety<\/h2>\n
1. Confront your fears<\/h3>\n
![\""Man\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2023\/07\/confront-your-fears-21c0d2a.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Man\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>2. Exercise regularly<\/h3>\n
3. Go easy on the caffeine<\/h3>\n
![\""Man\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2023\/07\/caffiene-350cd28.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"caffiene\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>4. Consider your long-term relationship with anxiety<\/h3>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"