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Many of us have been struck by anxiety at some point in our lives. You might feel a heightened sense of unease before a job interview or a difficult conversation or when you’re going through a rough patch in life or work.
For some people, the anxiety is more long-term and manifests as a disorder.
Despite the fact that so many of us are dealing with stress and anxiety, many people don't have go-to strategies for coping with the effects.
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Anxiety is a natural human response to stress that involves feelings of worry, nervousness, or unease about future events or uncertain outcomes. While everyone experiences anxiety from time to time, anxiety becomes problematic when these feelings are excessive, persistent, and interfere with daily life.
When you feel anxious, your body activates the fight or flight response, a survival mechanism that prepares you to either confront or escape from perceived threats. This response triggers the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which cause many of the physical symptoms of anxiety you might experience.
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (also known as the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health conditions affecting millions of people worldwide. Unlike normal anxiety that comes and goes, an anxiety disorder involves persistent, excessive worry that significantly impacts your ability to function in daily life.
Ever felt that knot in your stomach out of the blue? Or wondered why some people seem to worry more than others? Anxiety touches us all at some point in life. From our genes to the world around us, many factors play a role in why we feel anxious, including:
Recognizing anxiety symptoms is the first step toward managing anxiety effectively. Anxiety and anxiety attack symptoms can vary significantly from person to person, but they typically fall into three main categories: psychological, physical, and behavioral. Understanding these symptoms of anxiety can help you identify when you're experiencing more than normal stress and may need support from a mental health professional.
Anxiety manifests in a variety of ways, affecting both our minds and bodies. While some people might experience occasional, mild anxiety, others wrestle with severe and persistent anxiety symptoms that disrupt daily life, from work to relationships and overall well-being. Here’s how anxiety commonly presents itself:
It's important to distinguish between normal feelings of anxiety and anxiety attack symptoms. While everyone experiences occasional worry, anxiety attacks involve intense, sudden episodes that can feel overwhelming. During an anxiety attack, you might experience:
These episodes typically peak within minutes but can leave you feeling drained and worried about when the next one might occur.
Untreated anxiety can have significant long-term effects on physical and mental health, potentially contributing to conditions like cardiovascular issues, digestive problems, weakened immune systems, depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation. For practical tips to relieve physical symptoms and promote relaxation, check out How to Relieve Physical Symptoms of Anxiety.
Each type of anxiety disorder has its unique features and triggers, but they all share significant distress and impairment in daily life. Let’s explore some of the most common types of anxiety disorders.
GAD is characterized by constant and excessive worry about different parts of life, including work, relationships, health, and everyday situations. Individuals with GAD often experience heightened anxiety and find it challenging to control their worries, leading to significant distress and difficulty functioning. Not sure if you're experiencing normal worry or if anxiety is impacting your life? Take this Anxiety Test to find out.
Panic Disorder is characterized by reoccurring unexpected panic attacks--sudden episodes of overwhelming fear or discomfort. Those with panic disorder often live with fear of experiencing another panic attack or anxiety attack, which can lead to avoidance behaviors and significant disruption to daily life.
Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder may experience significant anxiety and self-consciousness in social settings, leading to avoidance of social interactions, public speaking, or performance events.
Specific Phobias include an intense and irrational fear of a specific object, situation, or activity. Common phobias include fear of heights (acrophobia), fear of flying (aviophobia), fear of spiders (arachnophobia), and fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia).
OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) performed in response to these obsessions. Common obsession examples include fears of contamination, harm coming to oneself or others, and a need for symmetry or order. Compulsions may include excessive handwashing, checking rituals, counting, or arranging objects in a specific way.
This anxiety is characterized by excessive fear or anxiety about separation from attachment figures, like parents or caregivers It may manifest as apprehension to leave home, nightmares about separation, or physical symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches when separation is anticipated.
While the previously mentioned anxiety disorders are clinically recognized and formally diagnosed, individuals may experience several other types of anxiety:
Performance Anxiety, also known as stage fright or situational anxiety, is characterized by intense fear or nervousness about performing in front of others like public speaking, giving presentations, performing on stage, or even engaging in activities such as sports or music performances. Looking for inspiration on how to cope with performance anxiety? Check out Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin's journey of overcoming performance anxiety and depression.
Health Anxiety, also known as hypochondriasis or illness anxiety disorder, involves excessive worry and preoccupation with the possibility of having a serious medical condition. Individuals with health anxiety may constantly monitor their bodies for signs of illness, excessively research medical conditions online, or seek frequent reassurance from healthcare providers. This excessive focus on health concerns can significantly impact daily functioning and lead to unnecessary medical tests and appointments.
High-Functioning Anxiety refers to individuals who outwardly appear to have their lives together and may even be successful in various areas of life, such as work or relationships. However, internally, they experience persistent anxiety and worry and may overcompensate by striving for perfectionism, overachieving, or seeking constant validation from others.
Comparison Anxiety, also known as social comparison or envy, involves feeling inadequate or inferior compared to others. Constantly measuring oneself against others' successes or perceived strengths can lead to feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem, and dissatisfaction.
Individuals with sex anxiety may experience fear of rejection, performance anxiety, or concerns about sexual inadequacy. This anxiety can interfere with sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction, leading to difficulties in intimate relationships and sexual dysfunction. Here are three ways to reduce sex anxiety.
When anxiety becomes persistent, it can significantly impact your daily life in numerous ways. Many people with anxiety disorders find that their symptoms interfere with work performance, relationships, and everyday activities. You might avoid social situations due to fear of judgment, struggle to concentrate at work because of anxious thoughts, or find yourself canceling plans because anxiety feels too overwhelming.
The constant state of worry and hypervigilance that characterizes many mental health conditions can be exhausting. You may notice that you're always "on edge," expecting something bad to happen, or replaying worst-case scenarios in your mind. This chronic stress can also lead to secondary medical conditions, including headaches, digestive issues, and sleep disturbances.
Understanding how anxiety affects your daily life is crucial for recognizing when it's time to seek help from a mental health professional and begin developing strategies for managing anxiety more effectively.
One effective coping mechanism for managing anxiety that almost anyone can use is the 333 rule for anxiety (also known as the 3 3 3 rule anxiety technique). This simple grounding exercise can help you manage intense feelings of anxiety by redirecting your focus to the present moment and away from anxious thoughts.
So what is the 333 rule, how can you use it to cope with anxiety, and what other options are there if you’re dealing with stress and anxiety and need more support?
The 333 rule is basically a grounding technique, an exercise or activity that helps you manage an intense emotion by helping you get out of your head — steering your attention away from distressing thoughts, feelings, or memories and zoning in on the present moment.
MyWellbeing therapist Gianna Volkes, an expert in grounding techniques, recommends the 333 rule as a go-to grounding technique for her clients. It’s an easy technique to remember and use in the moment, it’s available to us the majority of the time, and it can be a simple strategy to help us focus and ground when anxiety overwhelms. Put simply, you name three things you can see, three you can hear, and move three different body parts.
When feelings of anxiety strike, pause, breathe, look at your surroundings, and name three things you can see. It can be anything; a cat, a lamp, your mug, a family photo—whatever catches your eye.
Next, listen to your surroundings and name three things you hear. It doesn’t matter what they are; traffic, water running, your coworker’s keys clacking, people talking, or your own breath.
Finally, pick three parts of your body and move them one by one. You could shake your head, shrug your shoulders, and roll your wrists. If you want to be more incognito, you could smile, take a deep breath and feel your chest rise and fall, and tap your foot.
One of the best things about the 333 rule is that it can be done anywhere and anytime. You can even do it right in front of someone else and they wouldn’t even realize.
You tell us! The next time you're feeling stressed out or anxious, try the 333 rule and see if it helps.
Even better, try doing the 333 rule for anxiety even when you're not feeling anxious at all. Using coping mechanisms for stress when we're not actually feeling stressed is a way to practice preventive self-care. Establishing the coping mechanism as a habit that we can go to without having to think about it will set us up for success when we’re actually feeling stressed.
You can try doing the 333 rule when you wake up in the morning, right before you walk out the door for the day, when you end your work day, or any other time of day that is consistent for you.
Grounding techniques like the 333 rule for anxiety work by interrupting the fight or flight response and helping you return to a calmer state. When you feel anxious, your sympathetic nervous system becomes activated, preparing your body to deal with perceived threats. This can trigger symptoms like shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, and racing thoughts.
By deliberately focusing on your immediate environment and engaging your senses, grounding techniques help activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation and calm. This shift helps reduce the intensity of feelings of anxiety and can prevent symptoms from escalating into full panic attacks.
Research shows that grounding techniques are particularly effective because they require active engagement with the present moment, which helps break the cycle of anxious thought patterns that often fuel anxiety disorders.
This deliberate move can ground us, stop the hamster wheel of repetitive thoughts, help us focus on our breathing and bodies, and put things in perspective. It's a small, simple tool that can have a big impact.
Sometimes, in the midst of an anxiety attack, you crave relief as soon as possible just to survive to the next moment. Sometimes, you need a tool (or two, or three), to ground enough to be able to engage in a growth process like therapy. In those instances, it’s good to have a few tools in your toolbelt. Here are some other coping mechanisms you can try.
Breathing practice, also known as “diaphragmatic breathing” or “deep breathing,” is a mind-body practice that can help you deal with stress. Diaphragmatic breathing involves contraction of the diaphragm, expansion of the belly, and deepening of inhalation and exhalation. Studies have revealed breathing practice to be effective in reducing the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Before starting this exercise, pay attention to your breathing. Slow, deep, long breaths can help you maintain a sense of calm or help you return to a calmer state. Once you find your breath, go through the following steps to help ground yourself:
Sit down and actively press your feet into the ground.
As you press your feet down, feel the muscles in your legs start to activate.
Take a deep breath while you do so.
Notice how it creates a sense of firmness and stability in your body.
Use your mind to pay attention to that firmness in order to be, quite literally, grounded.
Here are a few you could try:
Like all coping strategies, if positive affirmations make your anxiety worse, they might not be for you!
Mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment without judgment. By practicing mindfulness techniques, such as mindful breathing or body scans, individuals can learn to observe their thoughts and feelings without becoming consumed by them.
By practicing self-compassion techniques, such as self-soothing or self-encouragement, individuals can cultivate a sense of inner warmth and acceptance, which can help alleviate anxiety.
Also known as worry rings or meditation rings, anxiety rings are wearable accessories designed to provide sensory stimulation and promote relaxation. By spinning the rings or feeling their textures, individuals can engage in tactile stimulation, which may help reduce anxiety symptoms.
If you’re struggling with anxiety and aren’t finding ways to cope, it might be time to talk to a therapist who specializes in anxiety.
Coping mechanisms and grounding techniques are good ways to help us reduce anxiety on our own, but when it comes to anxiety disorders, seeking treatment is the best way to reduce anxiety.
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health condition in the United States, affecting 40 million adults aged 18 and older every year. Despite how common they are, fewer than 40% of those suffering from anxiety disorders actually receive treatment.
If your stress or anxiety does not respond to coping techniques you might try on your own, or if you feel that either stress or anxiety are affecting your day-to-day functioning or mood, consider talking to a mental health professional who can help you understand what you are experiencing and provide you additional coping tools.
They can also help determine whether you may have an anxiety disorder, which is when anxiety persists for an extended period of time and negatively affects mood and functioning. Your healthcare provider will tailor a treatment that works best for you and will most likely consist of some combination of psychotherapy and medication.
Professional treatment is often the most effective approach for managing anxiety, especially when symptoms significantly impact daily life. A mental health professional can help you understand your specific triggers, develop personalized coping strategies, and determine if you meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
While navigating anxiety can be daunting, therapy provides tailored strategies to manage it and reclaim control over your life.
One type of psychotherapy that can help with anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy, a problem-focused, action-oriented style of talk therapy that teaches clients practical ways to identify, challenge, and replace unhelpful response patterns with adaptive, healthy thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns in order to help them cope with anxiety.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety disorders. This problem-focused, action-oriented style of talk therapy teaches you practical ways to identify, challenge, and replace unhelpful response patterns with adaptive, healthy thoughts, feelings, and behavioral patterns. CBT helps you recognize the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, giving you tools to break the cycle of anxiety and reduce its impact on your daily life.
Some therapists might use a treatment option called acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) which is a type of therapy that helps people learn how to deal with their emotional experiences differently than they have in the past. Instead of pushing away negative thoughts or feelings, ACT teaches you how to accept them, so you can coexist with them without them controlling you or your life.
During neurofeedback sessions, individuals are connected to sensors that monitor their brainwave patterns in real-time. Through visual or auditory feedback, individuals learn to modulate their brain activity, promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety symptoms. This form of therapy is based on the principle that by training the brain to achieve specific patterns of activity, individuals can enhance self-regulation and improve overall mental well-being.
Regardless of which type of therapy you choose, finding the best therapist for you is actually the most important part. When it comes to finding a therapist who specializes in anxiety, asking the right questions during the phone consultation, being open and honest about what you're looking for and what you're struggling with, and staying committed to the therapeutic process can set you up for success.
While occasional anxiety is normal, you should consider seeking help from a mental health professional if:
Early intervention can prevent anxiety from worsening and help you develop effective strategies for managing anxiety throughout your life. Many mental health conditions, including Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD and other anxiety disorders, respond well to treatment when addressed promptly.
Medication can be an important part of anxiety treatment. It's essential to work with a healthcare provider who understands anxiety disorders and can monitor for potential side effects while finding the right medication for your specific needs.
Benzodiazepines are the most common anti-anxiety medications, and while antidepressants are obviously used to treat depression, some can also be helpful for treating anxiety disorders.
Before starting any anxiety medication, your healthcare provider will likely screen for underlying medical conditions that could be contributing to your symptoms. Some medical conditions, such as thyroid disorders or heart conditions, can mimic or worsen anxiety symptoms. It's also important to discuss any side effects you experience, as some medications may initially increase anxiety before providing relief.
A psychiatrist or primary care physician can prescribe medication for anxiety. Sometimes it takes a little while to find the right medication, at the right dose, and in the right combination.
Your healthcare provider will work with you to find the best treatment when it comes to medication, but it helps to be patient.
While prescription medications are commonly used to manage anxiety, over-the-counter (OTC) options for anxiety are limited. Herbal supplements and certain sleep aids may provide temporary relief from mild anxiety symptoms for some individuals.
It's important to remember that medication does not cure anxiety, but it can help relieve some of the symptoms of anxiety.
Caitlin is an organizational change strategist, advisor, writer, and the founder of Commcoterie, a change management communication consultancy. She helps leaders and the consultants who work with them communicate change for long-lasting impact. Caitlin is a frequent speaker, workshop facilitator, panelist, and podcast guest on topics such as organizational change, internal communication strategy, DEIBA, leadership and learning, management and coaching, women in the workplace, mental health and wellness at work, and company culture. Find out more, including how to work with her, at www.commcoterie.com.
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