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Coping with Stress and Anxiety
Feeling stressed or being
anxious is something we are all going feel at some point in our lives.
Sometimes individuals can feel anxious and not know what is causing the
anxiety. It can be just a vague feeling of dread or feeling overwhelmed. Your
anxiety can be a mild sense of uneasiness or feel very extreme with heart
palpitations, sweating, and even feeling like you are going crazy. When you are
feeling stressed or anxiety, you may have many different types of symptoms. You
may have some of the following symptoms:
Aches and pains in your body, tense
muscles, feel shaky or lightheaded, headaches, shallow breathing, nausea or
other gastrointestinal distress, numbness, sweating, poor appetite, troubling
sleeping, irritability, anger outbursts, depression, lethargy, problems
concentrating, restlessness, and easily startled. These are not the only
symptoms that you may have. Individuals experience anxiety and stress in
different ways.
So what do you do if you are
experiencing stress and anxiety? How can you cope with it?
Some
Techniques for Coping with Stress and Anxiety
- Deep Breathing – Shallow
breathing comes with feelings of anxiety or stress. By breathing deeper,
your body will begin to relax. Here is a simple exercise to try. Sit
comfortably in a chair. Take a deep breath in to a count of five. Hold the
breath for a count of three, and then exhale for a count of five. Repeat 10
times. Try to remain focused on your breathing. You may find that as you
are doing your breathing exercises that your mind will wander to other
things and quite possibly to the things that are causing you stress. Notice
when that happens and redirect yourself back to focusing on your breathing.
Deep breathing works in two ways. It allows you to see the difference
between shallow breathing and deep breathing and deep breathing in itself
helps the body to begin to calm down. By practicing these exercises once a
day over a period of time, you can begin to feel calmer on a daily basis.
- Physical Exercise – engaging
in physical exercise when you are stressed or anxious helps you body to
discharge the chemicals in our bodies that are released when you are feeling
stressed out. Biologically, these chemicals prepare us for fight or flight
when we are faced with an anxiety provoking situation. We often do not need
these stress chemicals for many of the things that cause us stress today.
Physical exercise also releases endorphins that cause us to feel better.
They are our bodies’ natural antidepressants. Physical exercise of any
sort, even walking for 20 minutes, can reduce feelings of stress and
anxiety. Physical exercise, practiced on a regular basis (3-4 times a week
for 20 minutes) can help significantly reduce feelings of stress and anxiety
on a regular basis.
- Make An Action Plan – Is
there anything that is causing you stress and anxiety that you can do
something about right now? For example, maybe you are feeling stressed
because you have a lot of things to do. Sitting down and writing out a list
of the things that you need to do and when you can get them done can ease
your anxiety.
- Using a journal or other
creative expression – writing in a journal can help to relieve stress by
expressing your feelings, fears, concerns, worries etc. Many people find
that just writing things down helps them to feel better. You don’t have to
buy a fancy journal and can just use a spiral notebook. When journaling,
don’t be concerned with your grammar or spelling or even if it makes any
sense. Let your writing be free-flowing. Write down whatever occurs to
you. Remember no one needs to read it, unless you want them to read it.
Your journal is just for you to express yourself. Some people don’t like to
write and prefer another creative activity like painting or drawing. Choose
whatever creative activity feels comfortable for you.
- Distracting yourself away from
the anxiety or stress – Sometimes you may find that it becomes really
difficult to stop thinking about whatever may be bothering you or that it is
not a good time to do deep breathing, exercising, or journaling. Another
way is to distract yourself away from your thoughts by doing something
else. Maybe you have a project that you can work on or a fun activity to do
like watching a movie, reading, doing a crossword puzzle, or any other hobby
or interest that you find enjoyable. Concentrating on something other than
worries or things that are stressing you out, help to calm you down also.
Stress and anxiety are a part of life
and we all are going to experience it from time to time. Learning how to cope
with it effectively is the key.
Written by Jennifer Foust, M.S., LPC
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