How To Deal With Anxiety and Stress (20 Tips)
Learning how to deal with anxiety and stress can sometimes be hard,
Life can be difficult and sometimes you may find yourself in situations that can cause you extreme stress and panic and this is absolutely normal…
But what happens when this stress becomes so overwhelming and repetitive,
So much that when you are stressed you feel like you can’t breathe…
This is what is known as anxiety….
Before we dive head-first trying to find solution to your anxiety problem,
let’s make sure you actually do have one…
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Symptoms Of Anxiety And Stress
Someone who suffers from anxiety and stress would typically have the following symptoms especially when they are having an anxiety attack:
- Feeling nervous
- Feeling helpless
- A sense of impending panic, danger or doom
- Increased heart rate
- Hyperventilation
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Obsessively thinking about the panic trigger
Tips On Coping With An Anxiety Disorder
Having anxiety and stress is quite normal,
It is something everyone experiences a number of times during their lifetime,
So there is no need to panic if you notice you might be experiencing any of the symptoms listed above.
It simply means that you just need to calm down and relax because you are stressed…
To help you cope with anxiety and stress, these tips will help…
20 Tips On How To Deal With Anxiety And Stress
1. Exercise Regularly And Be Physically Active:
Whenever you are under a lot of stress, the last thing you want to do is to exercise..
Usually because you feel like exercising can be even more stressful, but it’s actually the opposite.
Going out for a jog or taking some simple exercise classes can be a great stress reliever and help distract your mind from being overwhelmed.
Here are some simple yet effective exercises you can try to help you relieve anxiety and stress.
2. Learn About Your Anxiety And Stress Patterns:
If you are someone who is always under a lot of stress and anxiety, you might start to see a pattern of how it starts to how it gets worse.
You should try to identify things that could potentially set off your stress or anxiety,
These are called your triggers, it could be anything from someone yelling at you, saying some specific words or even pressure from your boss at work.
Recognizing and identifying these patterns can help you avoid situations that could lead to you being stressed.
3. Follow The Treatment Plan Given To You By Your Doctor:
In severe cases of stress and anxiety,
You may be given a prescription by your doctor to help you calm down or relax especially when having an anxiety episode.
You want to make sure that you stick to your prescribed treatments judiciously so that you get better or even if you do have an episode, it’s not as bad.
4. Watch A Comedy:
The bad thing about stressing is that if you do not actively do something that distracts your mind from it,
You can get so frustrated thinking about what has caused you to be stressed over and over and over again.
Comedy is a really great way to distract you and pull you out of a stress episode.
Try watching stand up comedy videos on YouTube or even full comedy movies on Netflix, to help get your mind off things.
5. Stay Away From Alcohol & Recreational Drugs:
Studies show that the intake of alcohol and other recreational drugs can make your anxiety worse and also increase your stress levels.
The best practice would be to avoid taking any of these substances especially when you know you are really stressed or are having an episode.
6. Stop Smoking And Reduce The Caffeine Intake:
Just like alcohol, caffeine and nicotine which are the main substances found in cigarettes and coffee,
They can actually worsen your anxiety and make you even more stressed out than you already are.
Since the main purpose of taking coffee is to stay awake and agile,
It increases the adrenaline in your body which can cause some overwhelming reactions if you have an anxiety disorder.
7. Learn To Manage Stress And Relax:
The root cause of anxiety or stress is usually external factors that result in repetitive thinking,
In this way, you want to learn to manage your thinking so that you can reduce your stress level.
Try doing relaxing things like taking a massage,
Listen to slow songs or sounds of beach waves or rainfall, these things can help you calm down and stop you from overthinking and help you relax.
8. Eat Balanced And Healthy Meals:
When leaning how to deal with stress and anxiety, your diet plays a very important role in your body and how you feel,
It’s no wonder that eating healthy organic meals make you feel so much better than when you eat fast food.
This is because the body is consuming a healthy balance of what it needs to work properly.
Try to include a balanced diet into your meals by incorporating vegetables, protein, carbohydrates and healthy snacks into your meals.
With a healthy diet, your body has enough resources to help you have a stress free day.
9. Get At Least 7 Hours Of Sound Sleep:
This is a really big one, when it comes to stress,
Studies show that more than 60% of all patients suffering from stress and anxiety sleep less than 6 hours a day…
This can have a really bad effect on your overall health as you wake up still tired and stressed out,
The body needs at least 8 hours of sleep to be able to function properly.
Make sure to get enough sleep so you can wake up with a relaxed mind.
10. Keep A Journal:
Journaling is a really good way of expressing yourself in a more private and controlled way,
It lets you write down exactly how you feel and what is bothering you at that time and speak out your mind without hurting anyone or being afraid of the consequences.
This way, you do not carry things on your mind all day long, this is a great method to use when learning how to deal with stress and anxiety.
11. Go Out And Make New Friends:
The easiest way to get your mind of things that might be bothering you is to simply go out make friends, have fun, try out new things, laugh and just let yourself be happy..
Spending time outside of your home, trying new activities you have never tried before can be a really great way to calm your nerves and relax among friends.
So next time you are feeling anxious, opt for a fun day of activities with friends.
12. Minimize Phone Usage:
Gone are the days where people actually went out and did things they wanted to do,
These days, a lot of out activities have been implemented into this one single device called a mobile phone.
From calendars to fitness apps, to movies and financial apps that mimic banks,
Everything can now be found in your phone which is great…but this has caused people to depend on this device and become addicted to it.
Use of mobile phones can negatively affect your sleep which in turn affects your stress levels,
When learning how to deal with stress and anxiety, it is important to try to reduce your screen time to make sure you have enough time for other things in your life as well.
13. Consider Taking Vitamins And Supplements:
Vitamins and supplements are great for the body, they can help improve your immune system and even improve your mood too!
Nutrients like vitamin b, and magnesium become depleted due to stress level management, and so for your body to continue to work properly and help manage stress.
You need to make sure you are providing your body with the nutrients it needs by taking magnesium and vitamin b supplements.
Studies show that a daily intake of magnesium, L-theanine, vitamin b and rhodiola can help to reduce stress levels and help establish a positive mood throughout your day.
14. Practice Self Love And Self Care:
As human beings we go through an enormous amount of stress everyday from our lives,
It is important to take out time to show yourself some extra love and care.
Things like reading a book you love, going for a stroll, taking a hot shower or a relaxing soak in a hot tub
Might be just the thing you need to help you relax and help melt away the stress of the day.
Studies show that people who take out the time to practice some self care and self love daily show lower levels of stress compared to people who do not.
Not taking out the time to practice self care can lead to burn out, exhaustion, stress and anxiety.
15. Spend Time With Friends And Family:
Families and friends are a great support system and can come in very handy especially when you are feeling very stressed out and have a lot on your mind.
Spending quality time with family can help to alleviate any feelings of loneliness or depression usually common with people who have stress and anxiety.
16. Set Boundaries For Yourself And For Others:
Getting stressed out once in a while is normal,
But if it happens too often,
Then you need to address the root cause and try to fix the problem to stop it from affecting you negatively.
Things like setting boundaries for yourself and for others,
Saying no and standing your ground are things that you might need to do if you ever want to be able to control your stress levels.
Not setting boundaries with people can lead to invasion of privacy and maybe even disagreements which in turn is stress for you.
17. Avoid Procrastinating:
If you are one of those people who get really stressed out when they think of activities or tasks that they need to do that they still haven’t done then this is for you.
Setting goals and associating a timeline to which those goals can be accomplished stop you from procrastinating and in turn stops your tasks from piling up,
Try to accomplish the tasks you set for the day,
So you don’t get burdened and stressed out when you have to move todays task to tomorrow and so on.
18. Take A Walk In The Park:
Taking a relaxing stroll in the park or at the beach just might be what you need to help calm you down if you are really stressed,
After all, mother nature is the best medicine.
Take a stroll, go for a jog or even sign up for a hiking experience and see just how you feel after.
19. Play With Your Pet:
Pets have a natural way of making us feel better and calming us down,
It’s important to take the time during your day to play with your pet, this not only makes them happy, but it makes you happy too and also helps relaxes you in the process.
20. Inhale And Exhale Deeply:
This should typically be the first thing you do the moment you sense any amount of stress whatsoever.
Take a deep breath in and hold it for sometime, then release it.
Do this for as many times as you want until you are completely calm and relaxed.
How To Deal With Anxiety and Stress | Takeaway
There you have it, my top 20 tips on how to manage anxiety and stress.
In life, there will always be things that can stress you out, that’s life in general, you will experience stress a lot in your lifetime.
Managing stress is really important to ensure that you are not letting it control your day and ultimately your life.
The tips I have provided above will help you learn how to deal with stress and anxiety.
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