9 Ways to Calm Your Anxiety
Medically reviewed by Aleesha Grier, PsyD
Occasionally feeling anxious or worried can be considered a normal response to a stressful situation. But for the roughly 30% of U.S. adults who have experienced an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, these anxious feelings are amplified to the point of being excessive, persistent, and an interference with everyday life. That includes physical symptoms of anxiety, like sweating, rapid heartbeat, or shortness of breath.
The underlying causes of anxiety disorders are complex and likely stem from a mix of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors. So while developing an anxiety disorder isn't necessarily preventable, there are coping strategies you can implement and professional help you can seek to try to manage the anxiety in your everyday life.
Coping Skills for Anxiety
Certain lifestyle changes or mindfulness techniques can help manage anxiety. Luckily, there are a variety of research-backed tips you can integrate to help calm anxiety in your everyday life.
Be Active
Getting regular exercise not only helps support your overall health, but it's also been shown to reduce the severity and frequency of anxiety attacks. Even just one exercise session may be helpful (at least temporarily).
Data show that 15 minutes daily of an activity like walking, bicycling, or swimming can start to provide short-term anxiety symptom relief. For more substantial, longer-term benefits, make your exercise routine consistent. This could mean at least two hours per week of a moderate-intensity activity, like speed walking. It could also mean having a regular mindful movement practice like yoga, which is believed to have anti-anxiety effects.
Get Enough Sleep
Anxiety and sleep have a complicated relationship. Research suggests that anxiety can cause a lack of sleep and vice versa—that a lack of sleep can trigger anxiety. Women might be particularly impacted by the relationship.
To help stop this cycle, assess your current sleep habits. While making adjustments to your sleep routine may be easier said than done, remember that getting enough sleep is crucial for overall health, as well as mood improvement and stress reduction.
Experts suggest incorporating one or more of the following sleep tips for anxiety symptom relief:
Keep a consistent sleep schedule so your body and mind get used to a routine.
Make your phone and TV off limits before bed to curb nighttime brain activity.
Drink a warm cup of herbal tea to help put your body in a relaxed state.
Turn on some relaxing spa music to soothe the mind and potentially improve sleep quality.
Limit Alcohol and Caffeine
Substances like alcohol and caffeine can affect functions like sleep and mood, so it's no surprise that they also have the potential to trigger anxiety. That's why experts recommend limiting your intake of both to help avoid exacerbating anxiety symptoms.
When it comes to reducing your caffeine consumption, though, be mindful that you may experience some withdrawal symptoms during the process. It might help to turn your focus to staying hydrated by drinking water throughout the day. Research has found that drinking plain water is linked to a lower risk of anxiety and depression in adults.
Eat Well-Balanced Meals
What you eat can impact how you feel. And when it comes to anxiety symptoms, maintaining regular blood sugar levels can make a big positive difference.
Researchers have found that diets high in processed, fatty, and sugary foods can be more likely to prompt anxiety compared to diets rich in lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables.
Anxiety symptom improvements can take effect fairly quickly after making the dietary change. After following a well-balanced meal plan, some study participants have reported lower levels of anxiety within a month.
Practice Self-Care
Make intentional time for regular self-care, as this can help ease anxiety symptoms. Self-care can look different from person to person. For you, self-care might mean setting aside time for enjoyable activities and relaxation strategies, chatting with a friend, getting a massage, or journaling. Clearing your calendar for these purposes can help improve your well-being.
Meditate
By clearing your mind into a deep relaxation state, meditation and intentional deep breathing may help reduce anxiety symptoms for people with anxiety disorders.
One type of meditations that has been shown to reduce anxiety is guided mental imagery. This may also be referred to as guided meditation, visualization, mental rehearsal, or guided self-hypnosis. Guided mental imagery typically involves picturing a future situation, task, or event in a positive manner so that when it actually happens, you feel more prepared and at ease.
Many mental healthcare professionals can help with guided meditation. You might even be able to find online resources or apps that you find helpful.
Try Grounding Techniques
Grounding is the process of temporarily detaching yourself from your feelings of anxiety so that you can center yourself. While grounding won't stop you from feel anxious, it may help decrease the anxiety's intensity. This can help you feel safer and more in control.
There are several techniques you can use to ground yourself. One is the 333 rule, which can be used any time, any place to ground yourself in the now. To practice the 333 rule, do the following:
Scan your environment and name three objects you can see.
Listen to your environment and name three things you can hear.
Touch or move three things, such as objects near you or a body part.
Another grounding technique is the 54321 method. To do this, you should identify the following things in your environment:
One thing you can taste
Two things you can smell
Three things you can hear
Four things you can touch
Five things you can see
Professional Treatments for Anxiety
You might find that lifestyle approaches aren't enough to calm your anxiety. Fortunately, professional treatment for anxiety is available. A healthcare provider can work with you to determine what anxiety treatment plan is best for you—psychotherapy, medication, or both.
Psychotherapy
You can engage in psychotherapy (also known as talk therapy or counseling) with a trained therapist. Psychotherapy involves talking through your situation with a goal of managing and reducing your anxiety. There are several kinds of talk therapy, some of which can be especially helpful for anxiety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), helps clarify the link between your thoughts, behaviors, and reactions to situations that can cause anxiety. There are typically a set number of sessions involved so that you can learn ways to gain control over perceptions of stressors, replace panic-inducing thoughts, manage stressful symptoms, and avoid reactive thoughts about minor issues escalating out of control.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a form of talk therapy that has you focus on two things. First, acceptance is seen as the key to dealing with anxious thoughts and situations. Second, you have to maintain commitment to goals and constructive activities to help reduce uncomfortable, anxious feelings. There's currently less evidence around the effectiveness of ACT for anxiety, as it's a relatively newer form of psychotherapy.
Finding Affordable Professional Treatment Options
Mental health care can be expensive, particularly if it's not covered by insurance or if you don't have access to health insurance. In these cases, here are a few options you can try:
Check out online therapy platforms rather than an in-person office visit: In addition to eliminating the transportation cost, the actual services may be more affordable.
Look into federally funded health centers: Mental health services are often offered at these centers, which work on a sliding scale, allowing patients to pay what they can afford. Find one near you by checking for federally funded health centers here.
Consider college or university assistance: Some higher education programs offer lower-cost anxiety therapy via graduate students (under the supervision of a trained healthcare professional). Try calling the psychology or psychiatry departments to see if they allow reduced-cost visits in exchange for students' counseling experience.
Inquire about patient-assistance programs for pharmaceutical companies: Many programs exist to help pay for some (or all) of the cost of prescription medications, particularly for patients who don't have access to health insurance. Eligibility varies, so you'll need to check with the drug's parent company after getting a prescription.
Medication
Medication does not cure anxiety disorders, but it can help relieve symptoms. Your provider may prescribe one or more medications to help you manage your anxiety, including:
Antidepressants: Traditionally prescribed for depression, these may also be helpful for some people with anxiety by adjusting how your brain uses certain mood and stress-related chemicals. This class of medication can take a while to start working, so it may be better for longer-term treatment plans.
Benzodiazepines: These sedatives are faster-acting for almost immediate anxiety symptom relief. However, this type of medication can produce a tolerance and become habit-forming over time, so they're prescribed carefully.
Beta-blockers: Typically used to treat high blood pressure, these medications may also be helpful in relieving physical anxiety symptoms like rapid heartbeat and shakiness. These medications are more often taken for short periods of time or on an as-needed basis.
When to See A Healthcare Provider for Anxiety
There's a difference between anxiety that you might feel from time to time as a normal response to a particular event or situation and anxiety that doesn't go away and instead might be a sign of an anxiety disorder.
Experts recommend watching for some common flags. Consider contacting a healthcare provider if you notice that you are:
Finding it difficult to control anxiety symptoms
Finding it difficult to function in your day-to-day life
Disproportionately or frequently worrying and feeling anxious
Not sleeping well, either too little or too much
Experiencing a loss of appetite
Experiencing physical anxiety symptoms, like a fast heart rate or sweating
Feeling increasingly irritable or moody
Experiencing difficulty concentrating
Having trouble concentrating
A Quick Review
Anxiety can be an occasional, normal response to stress. Anxiety that doesn't go away or worsens may be a sign of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety can produce feelings of distress as well as physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat. Fortunately, there are ways you can try to calm your anxiety. This includes lifestyle changes like moving daily, getting enough sleep, and meditating. You can also try grounding techniques like the 333 rule to center yourself when you are feeling anxious. If these coping techniques aren't enough, a healthcare provider can recommend a treatment plan with talk therapy, medication, or both.
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