Dealing With Anxiety
Anxiety effects different people in different ways. In some cases people suffer from significant anxiety based disorders that require medical treatment – as many as 25 million Americans by some estimates.
But on the flip side, I don’t know many of us that aren’t faced with some sort of anxiety issues on a pretty regular basis during the normal course of a day. Anxiety can actually be a good thing in some cases as it can help motivate you to get things done and it helps protect you from dangerous situations.
For those who deal with the everyday type of anxiety, but would like to take steps to lessen it, the following 5 methods have been proven to give some relief:
1. Talk About Your Worries
Talking with someone about what’s worrying you will help you find solutions and help you realize that your concerns aren’t really as overwhelming as you may have originally thought.
2. Forget About It
For those that are chronic worriers, training to letting worries go is important. Meditation or visualization can help a great deal in this area. It may take a great deal of practice to do this, so don’t feel as if you’ve failed if you can’t do it immediately.
3. Eliminate Caffeine
Caffeine is one of the worst things for anxiety. Coffee, Tea, Colas, some medications (such as Excedrin) are things you want to avoid. Sure, you may feel great for an hour or two after drinking a cup of coffee, but in as few as two hours after that cup, the anxiety producing effects will kick in.
4. Stop Treating Yourself With Kid Gloves
If you believe that you are a fragile person, it really does become a self fulfilling prophecy. Learning to make an anxiety a stimulus instead of a hindrance. If you are about to give a speech before a large group of people, imagine it as a thrill instead of a threat.
5. Stay A Way From Alcohol
Beer, Wine and hard liquor can really push anxiety over the top. As with caffeine, alcohol reduces anxiety at first, but the effects wear off, it has the exact opposite effect. The best solution is to avoid alcohol all together, but if you must drink, limit your consumption to one or at the most, two drinks a day.
If you suffer – like most of us do – from every day normal anxiety issues, try putting these five proven tips to work for you and I’m sure you’ll see a significant improvement in your overall anxiety level.