Anxiety is a complex mental health problem that affects large numbers of people around the world – including people with and without anxiety disorders. In fact, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting more than 40 million people, or 19.1% of the population.
Although anxiety disorders are as common as many mental health issues, they are still rarely talked about due to the stigma surrounding mental health issues. This may mean that a person with an anxiety disorder may not have the education or understanding to recognize anxiety within themselves, or the tools to know how to deal with it when it arises. Anyone who has taken the MSN FNP online course knows that anxiety can affect anyone from young children to seniors, and it does not discriminate based on any condition – anyone can have an anxiety disorder.
A certain level of anxiety is normal, such as when dealing with particularly stressful times or when facing potential danger. When anxiety starts to become a regular occurrence or take over other parts of your life, it may be time to consider whether you have an anxiety disorder.
If you are concerned about your anxiety levels, the first and most important thing you should do is contact a mental health professional who can help you with diagnosis and treatment. However, when you’re feeling anxious, there are strategies you can adopt to help yourself soothe.
Focus on breathing
One of the most common symptoms of high anxiety is shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, so using focused breathing techniques is an important self-soothing method for many people.
Focus on exhaling slower than your inhalation and try techniques like the 3-4-5 breathing technique. To do this, simply breathe in for three times, hold your breath for four times, and exhale for five times. You may find that this helps regulate your breathing when you have difficulty breathing, and helps you return to “normal” more quickly during events such as anxiety or panic attacks.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a great mental health tool in general, but it can be especially helpful for relieving symptoms of anxiety. Mindfulness is a fairly broad term that describes any activity that brings a person into a mental state in which they are able to be fully focused on the present moment, focused on calmness and awareness of their thoughts, emotions, and physical environment.
You can practice mindfulness in a variety of ways, and different people will find different methods work better for them. For some people, direct meditation, whether self-guided or with the help of video or audio instruction, is ideal. For others, activities like journaling and practicing gratitude are better.
Regularly practicing mindfulness activities can help improve overall mental health, and using mindfulness during peak anxiety can be a great way to help self-soothe and get through those difficult moments.
basic exercises
Sometimes, trying to control your breathing or anxiety-induced thoughts when you feel intense anxiety or panic can be very difficult. Grounding exercises may be a good option in these situations because they provide a practical way to redirect your attention away from the things that are causing your anxiety and help regulate your symptoms. They help calm the body’s fight-or-flight instincts that may arise during periods of intense anxiety.
The “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” technique is one of the most popular basic exercises. It asks you to name five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can feel, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste, Encourages you to focus on your senses in the present moment.
It’s a very simple concept, but that’s why it’s so effective. You can use this technique almost anywhere, whether on your own or with others.
do something you love
Play music that makes you feel better, hug your pets, imagine your favorite places, watch your comfort shows—these may sound like simple, even silly suggestions, but sometimes they have to do with the things and people you love. Exposure can be incredibly soothing to stress at certain times.
Try focusing on the things that bring you joy, just like you would with mindfulness activities, and let them be your sole focus.
Anxiety can be a scary thing—but to some extent, it’s completely normal and relatively common. If your anxiety becomes a problem or affects your daily life in any way, but if you only find yourself in need of calming methods in the odd situation where you experience high levels of anxiety, it’s important to talk to a healthcare professional, or before formal treatment. As a strategy for outside use, you may find these self-soothing techniques helpful.
