Managing Anxiety

You are MORE than your anxious thoughts ✨

Most people will have experienced feelings of worry at some point in their life. To sometimes feel worried is a universal human experience. It is not an abnormal reaction. It is normal to feel worried about meeting a deadline at work or successfully delivering a speech at your friend's wedding for example. However, experiencing increased feelings of anxiety or an anxiety disorder, where you can feel completely engulfed by anxiety, worry or panic is not something you need to suffer with. If abnormal levels of anxiety are something you are experiencing, you are not alone, it can be improved and help is available. These feelings don't need to define you, they can be managed. ✨ You are MORE than your anxious thoughts.✨

👉 What is a Generalised Anxiety Disorder? When someone feels excessive anxiety and worry that they find immensely difficult to control. This occurs on more days than not and impacts their life for example, at work, socialising, or studying. At least three of the following symptoms are present in anxiety disorders, becoming easily fatigued, feeling tension in muscles, experiencing problems with sleep, feeling restless, feeling irritable, or having concentration difficulties (DSM 5 2013).

👉 There are different forms of anxiety, some of these are detailed below: 🔷 Social Anxiety Disorder – This involves feeling extreme anxiety in social situations. 🔷 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder – This involves experiencing reoccurring thoughts which are not helpful and are unwanted as well as repetitive behaviours. 🔷 Panic Disorder – This involves frequent panic attacks, sometimes for no apparent reason. 🔷 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – Someone with PTSD can experience extreme anxiety due to a previous traumatic experience.

👉 It is not uncommon for people experiencing problems with anxiety to experience a panic attack. Panic attacks can be very scary for the individual experiencing them. They usually, last between five and twenty minutes, and they can look like this: 🔶 A racing heartbeat 🔶 Shortness of breath 🔶 Chest Pain 🔶 Feeling sick 🔶 Sweating/hot flushes 🔶 Feeling dizzy 🔶 Trembling/shaking (NHS 2020)

👉 Managing Anxiety Example:
John was informed by his landlord the tenancy on his property will be ending in two months due to required construction work needing to be completed. This was unexpected news for John as he was not expecting to need to relocate for a further seven months. This sudden change in circumstances left John experiencing anxiety. John would lay awake at night consumed with worry. In the morning, he would wake up tired and irritable. He struggled to concentrate on his duties at work. John also began declining invitations from his friends to hang out. John’s anxiety continued after he secured a new property and moved house. Despite him loving his new property. John didn’t know he was experiencing anxiety as he was unfamiliar with mental health disorders, he just knew he was struggling. John began experiencing panic attacks on public transport and he was beginning to feel like his anxiety was stealing his life from him. John's anxiety was taking over all areas of his life. He felt trapped and was in a constant state of worry with no clue how to manage these feelings.

Mary lived in the same apartment block as John and she also received the unexpected news that due to construction work she would need to relocate earlier than she had expected. This sudden change also led to Mary experiencing symptoms of anxiety. However, Mary recognised she did not need to live her life this way, help is available and she needed to take control of the situation. Mary sought professional help. Alongside this, Mary began learning about different strategies and techniques she can implement in her daily life that can help alleviate her symptoms. Mary wanted to have a toolbox of strategies that she could use to help ground her when she experienced excessive anxiety. Mary identified carrying a tactile stone with her to focus on when she was getting the tube, helped keep her in the present moment, and reduced the likelihood of her anxious thoughts taking over. Mary also practiced the 54321 grounding technique when she was unable to concentrate at work, to help ground her and help her return to a calmer state of being. Mary’s anxiety, fortunately, did reduce when she was able to secure a new property and move. However, she does still sometimes experience anxious thoughts and can become quite panicked. But, Mary finds comfort in knowing when these anxious thoughts/anxiety-inducing situations occur she has a toolbox of strategies she can turn to for help. 🧰

👉 Managing Anxiety Exercise: 👆 The 54321 Grounding Technique is a commonly used exercise to help with anxiety. The purpose of this exercise is to help ground you when you are experiencing anxiety or panic. The term “ground” refers to bringing your attention and focus back to the present moment and releasing you from the thoughts that are causing you to feel anxiety, panic, or excessive worry. Grounding exercises aim to help remind you that you are safe and you are in control. You are not your anxious thoughts.

✍️ First, it is important to try and regain control of your breath. You can do this by breathing in deeply through your nose, holding your breath, and then breathing out deeply through your mouth. ✍️ Now, have a look at your environment. You need to choose five things that you can see. Take a moment to think about what you have identified. For example, if you see a wall. Then consider what colour is the wall? Is it painted or wallpapered? Do you like the appearance of the wall? This helps you regain your focus on your present surroundings and brings you back into the moment. ✍️ Next, you need to identify four things you can feel. This might sound tricky. But, think about the clothes you're wearing, how do they feel on your skin? How does the chair you’re sitting on feel? Or, how does your water bottle feel? ✍️ Now, you need to name three things you can hear. This could be anything, a conversation in the background, cars passing by outside, or maybe rain on the windows. ✍️ After, you need to identify two things you can smell. This can sometimes be a little bit tricky. If you aren’t able to smell anything in your environment (e.g., air freshener, grass, etc,.) then maybe your perfume/aftershave, shampoo, or fabric softener. ✍️ Finally, name one thing you can taste. This could be a good opportunity to have a sweet! 🍬. Additionally, with your sweet, you could practice some mindfulness eating.

If you are experiencing anxiety the most important thing you can do is to seek help. In addition to this, it is also really important YOU TAKE ACTION ✅. This means that you need to take responsibility. Experiencing anxiety is NOT YOUR FAULT ❌.

But learning different techniques and strategies that you can use to help you return to a calmer state of mind and begin to feel more at ease is something you have control over. It can be really difficult when you're experiencing anxiety to remember or to want to use the strategies you’ve learned. But, if you practice the strategies on a daily basis when you're not in a heightened state of worry then it can be easier to remember how to do when you are panicked. It is also important to acknowledge different techniques work for different individuals, so you may need to try a couple of strategies before you find what works for you.

🤗 If you are experiencing difficulties with managing your anxiety, Happio is here to help you!! 🤗