Quick Tips to Combat Anxiety
Yesterday, it happened— my monthly bout of hormonal anxiety, typically associated with my period that comes out of nowhere, with seemingly no trigger, and wreaks havoc on my unsuspecting brain and body for hours (and sometimes days).
Though my anxiety and depression diagnoses are usually well managed by my medical care regimen, I do still fight the hormonal anxiety that comes monthly and roots itself deep in my body for about a week, annnnd— it’s the worst.
So, what did I do? I dug into my arsenal of quick, anxiety fighting tips that always help me cope, be it a triggered anxiety attack or a no-trigger-just-random-anxiety bout of shakes, shivers, and a high heart rate. Here are some of the tips I use, and though I know it isn’t easy to fight this stuff, you *can* learn to cope and make life a little easier when these unpleasant anxious episodes arise:
Quick tips to cope with an anxiety attack
1.) Root yourself back in the body. Rooting yourself back in your body, be it with breathing techniques or doing some light exercise, is a highly effective and fast way to ease anxious thoughts and feelings and root yourself back in the realm of the physical. However, if your heart is already racing, exercise may be counter productive and deep breathing and relaxation techniques may be more effective. Listen to your body and be easy on yourself, and do something physical (be it simply breathing deeply or taking a walk) that feels good right now.
2.) Drink some tea (without caffeine) and keep breathing. A warm, non-caffeinated beverage can always calm me down, and avoiding caffeine during an anxiety attack is really important. Caffeine can exacerbate anxiety symptoms, so avoid it for now, but swap for a warm, equally soothing non-caffeinated beverage instead.
3.) If you’re okay with being social, phone a friend or loved one. Sometimes calling my husband and simply voicing my racing thoughts to someone out loud is enough to somewhat “purge” my brain of them entirely. Sometimes saying things out loud puts them in perspective, and once I talk them through with a trusted confidant things don’t seem so bad after all.
What other tips do you use for coping with anxiety or stressful moments? These are just three quick tips I’ve found that work for me in a pinch, and there are many more we can discuss around longer-term or more time consuming strategies that dig a bit deeper. Let’s discuss in the future—
Xoxo, MM.