How to control anxiety, in 7 useful steps

Several tips to avoid feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of everyday life.

Anxiety is behind many of the unpleasant experiences we live in day to day. Fear of speaking in public, fear of failing an exam, the desire to return home after spending a long time in an unfamiliar place... The number of contexts in which this psychological phenomenon haunts us is very large.

So, knowing how to control anxiety is something we need to do, knowing how to control anxiety is something that can prove very usefulThere are some strategies to achieve it that can be applied in practically any situation, and in a relatively simple way.

How to control anxiety? Tips and strategies

Anxiety is a state of activation of the nervous system that is oriented towards the anticipation of danger, whether real or imaginary. Because it is so general, it has a physiological and a psychological aspect: in the former, phenomena such as trembling, sweating and pulse acceleration appear, and in the latter there are phenomena such as the emotion of fear, the desire to avoid an aversive stimulus, and difficulties in controlling emotional responses to a situation..

Now then... how can we control anxiety and make its effects be dampened or even disappear? Let's look at it.

1. Eliminate anxiety binge eating

Many people fall into the trap of going to the fridge to stuff themselves with food every time they notice that anxiety is becoming excessive.

This may be a very short-term solution, but it has a very harmful effect in the medium and long term. Why? Because it enters into a dynamic of rewarding the occurrence of episodes of anxiety. The body becomes accustomed to this hectic emotional life which, of course, is anything but healthy.

So, something as simple as setting clear limits with the schedules of food can help a lot to not continue to promote the emergence of anxiety.

2. Take care of yourself and do moderate sports

We often forget that anxiety is also connected to our self-esteem and self-concept. If we believe that we are insignificant beings and whenever we think about ourselves we focus only on our imperfections, we will obviously come to the conclusion that the day to day is full of dangers for us, and therefore we must always be alert.

Something as simple as practicing sports regularly, trying to eat healthy and maintaining good personal hygiene will make us feel better about ourselves. The results of this are astonishing, and usually become noticeable in a matter of a few days. If the way we think about ourselves changes, so does the way we see the world.

3. Practice breathing techniques

In many ways, our moods and emotions depend largely on the degree of activation of the nervous system. If there is a lack of oxygen, we will experience more stress, as our body will go into alarm mode to find a solution to the situation. What happens is that part of that oxygen deficit may be due to how we breathe.

Breathing techniques help to bring out the full potential of our lungs, and this allows us to gain a significant advantage in those specific moments when we feel overly activated. In addition, providing us with a simple exercise on which to focus our attention helps us to lose sight of the following that unpleasant feeling of being overwhelmed by the need to multitask, something very typical of anxious contexts. by the need to multitask, something very typical of anxiogenic contexts.

4. Stop what you are doing and go for a walk.

Many times, anxiety is due to the fact of being surrounded by elements that remind us of something that worries us. Therefore, it is useful to disconnect, even for a few moments, and then return with renewed strength.

When we go for a walk, we have the possibility of finding new stimuli that claim our attention and that allow us to "refresh" our mind. In particular, if we go out in totally unknown places, the references that evoke memories linked to what worries us will be much less abundant. In this sense, environments in which nature prevailsThe use of the fields or large parks has been shown to be particularly effective against anxiety.

These phases in which distraction takes precedence help us to rest, and in this way we gain the power to change our worries once we have returned to our routine.This way, we gain the power to change what worries us once we have returned to the routine.

5. Avoid caffeine

If you consume caffeinated products, such as coffee or certain cola drinks, you will be cheating yourself. Remember that the distinction between body and mind is just a mirage, and many of the substances that we consume regularly affect how we feel. Caffeine makes us prone to become activated in the face of stimuli to which we would not normally give much importance. Controlling anxiety is also achieved through diet.

6. Sleep well

This condition is indispensable, since in a drowsy state it is very easy for everyday situations it is very easy that the daily situations overtake us.. Sleeping well makes us much more prepared to face the day to day. In fact, it has been shown that lack of sleep greatly increases the risk of developing anxiety disorders. In addition, the mental exhaustion of not getting enough rest makes us perform worse and we have difficulty concentrating and reasoning, and this can favor the accumulation of responsibilities.

Therefore, it is best to organize a clear schedule that details the times of the days of the week when you will go to bed, taking into account the tasks to be performed before, so as not to create unrealistic expectations.

7. Control rumination

Psychological rumination is a very frequent phenomenon in the daily life of many people who suffer from excessive anxiety. It consists of the phenomenon by which intrusive thoughts with negative emotional charge "invade" the person's consciousness. and this struggle to get rid of them, which increases the level of anxiety, because one enters in a state of alert in case one of these mental images arises again, and this favors the appearance of these by means of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The most effective way to combat rumination is not to try to totally eliminate these intrusive thoughts and to accept their presence, but without giving them more importance. In that way it is easier to direct one's attention to other sensations and stimuli.

Bibliographical references:

• Gu, R.; Huang, Y.X., Luo, Y.J. (2010). Anxiety and feedback negativity. Psychophysiology, 47(5): pp. 961 - 967.
• Kendler, K.S. (2004). Major Depression and Generalised Anxiety Disorder. FOCUS. 2(3): pp. 416 - 425.
• Rosen, J.B.; Schulkin, J. (1998). From normal fear to pathological anxiety. Psychological Review, 105(2): pp. 325 - 350.
• Waszczuk, M.A.; Zavos, H.M.S.; Gregory, A.M.; Eley, T.C. (2014). The Phenotypic and Genetic Structure of Depression and Anxiety Disorder Symptoms in Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood. JAMA Psychiatry. 71(8): pp. 905 - 916.