Anxiety can be crippling. It can easily creep into every aspect of your life, be it a relationship or simply going out of the house, leaving your mind racing and your heart pounding. Anxiety can take you by surprise and get in the way of doing the most ordinary of tasks. Anxiety is disruptive. There’s little else a person can think once they start feeling anxious and paranoid. And getting rid of anxiety does not happen overnight. It’s a continual process of adjusting your thinking, adopting new habits and an enduring need to get better. And here are some tips on how you can overcome the anxiety that has been holding you back for so long:
Breathe. And think
Breathing techniques are probably a cliché and an overused measure to help relieve anxiety. But they work. When anxious or paranoid, it’s always important that you take a long deep breath. While there are dozens of breathing techniques out there, it’s not quite easy to remember the exact amount of breaths you need to take for a specific technique, so forget about the number of breaths and simply inhale and exhale until you can feel yourself calming down. And once you’ve calmed down, bring yourself back to the present. Anxiety is almost always caused by overthinking or worrying about the future, therefore bringing yourself back to the present and focusing on your current surroundings can help you relax.
Visit a professional
Not all cases of anxiety can be defeated with breathing techniques or other distractions, if you’re anxiety is getting worse and is disrupting your daily life, then it’s time to schedule a visit to a licensed psychiatrist.
A psychiatrist specializes in depression health and would carry out a psychological evaluation in order to determine the underlying cause of your anxiety. He or she will also be able to find out if you’re suffering from other related mental illnesses. Once you are diagnosed, your doctor will be able to recommend the best course of treatment to combat your anxiety, which is often either medications or psychotherapy or a combination of both.
You are what you eat
Your diet can have a significant effect on your mental health and anxiety. People suffering from anxiety and panic attacks should pay special attention to their nutrition as certain foods can aggravate certain symptoms of anxiety. Food and drink high in caffeine should be avoided as caffeine can lead to heart palpitations, a common symptom of anxiety. Foods that are high in sugar can also cause palpitations as sugar acts as a stimulant. People with anxiety disorders may turn towards alcohol to calm their nerves and combat panic attacks, however excessive consumption of alcohol comes with its own host of mental and health problems, and therefore should not be used as a coping mechanism.