LET'S TALK: Beating Anxiety (+Survey)

There's a survey at the end of this post that I would love for you to fill in. I'd really appreciate your feedback.

So, this is the second post in my series about mental health. Click here to see a post explaining the cause of my anxiety and here to see my first post in this series.

So, I have been talking with a lot of people who have anxiety. I have friends both in real life and on the internet who suffer from anxiety or other mental health issues. And I've realised that the biggest problem is how alienating mental health issues can be. They can make you feel so isolated that you don't know how to beat your anxiety. So I thought I'd let you know how I deal with my anxiety.

DISCLAIMER: This is just how I personally deal with my anxiety - this doesn't mean it will work for everyone. Everyone's anxiety is different, just like every person is different. So just because I'm saying this works for me, don't get frustrated if it doesn't work for you.

1) Take deep, slow breaths.

If I'm in a full on panic attack, the first thing I'll do is take good, deep breaths, usually with a few seconds in between inhales and exhales. This prevents hyperventilation and helps you to calm down. Most of the time, anyway. This helps to get you out of the panic attack and to be able to think clearly enough to dispel the anxiety.

2) Use relaxation techniques

After I've taken my deep breaths, I'll do what is called 'progressive muscle relaxation', which is where you relax each part of your body individually. For example, first you would scrunch up your hands and toes and then let them relax. You would do this for each part of your body until your muscles are relaxed. I need to do this because when my anxiety was at its worst my back was a mess of knots because of how tense I was all of the time

3) Use logic to challenge your thoughts.

I do this technique, it is called 'putting the thought on trial'. You weigh up the evidence for and against your anxious thought (more often than not you anxieties are completely irrational) being true and then this should help you relax, as logic will help you to see how irrational your anxious thought was.

4) Write down your anxious thought

I use a sheet to record my anxious thoughts. These are easily downloaded - search for 'seven column thought records' and you should be able to find something like what I use.  This helps you if you have similar thoughts in the future and allows you to distance yourself from the thought, meaning you can feel less anxious and can challenge the thought more logically.

5) Talk to someone who understands

This might be hard, granted, if you don't know anyone else with anxiety. It's not a vital step but it definitely helps me finding people who can relate and can help me through my anxiety issues. It allows me to learn tips for dealing with anxiety from other people, too. So if you haven't found a strategy for yourself yet, the strategies of others might just work for you.

So with all that being said, if anyone ever wants to talk about anxiety, the comments are a safe space as well as my social media. I encourage all of you to follow me on social media because I'm always open to suggestions for blog posts or questions for possible Q&As. So follow me on my Twitter and Facebook and talk to me anytime.

Now, I'd love if you'd fill in the survey below - your feedback is really valuable to me.