Anxiety Treatment Tips from a Colorado Anxiety Therapist
Sometimes overachievers need help right now, and don’t have time to wait until they can see an anxiety specialist. If you’re struggling with anxiety today, here are some tips from a Colorado anxiety therapist:
1 - Focus on where you are right now
Where are you right now? It's not a trick question. Literally, where are you right now? Are you at home? At work? On the subway? At a friend's house? Where are you right now?
Focusing on where you are right now in this present moment gives your brain a chance to disengage from anxiety. It gives your mind space to breathe. Take a moment to notice your surroundings. Notice where you are, what you can see and feel. Notice it without making any judgments or connecting it to other things. Instead of saying, "I'm in the conference room waiting to hear if I am getting a raise or not this year and I'm terrified," just say "I am in the conference room." Then notice something in the room. A pen, some sunlight, maybe an old, forgotten set of notes. Just notice it. Distracting your mind for just a few seconds will reduce your anxiety.
2 - Take a long exhale
Learn to relax by breathing out slowly
Most of us know that deep breathing helps us manage tension and anxiety. What you may not know is that taking a longer time to exhale than inhale is the body's way of telling the flight/flight/freeze center in your brain (the amygdala) that everything is okay. Our bodies naturally relax when we breathe out slowly. It triggers the part of the brain associated with safety. One way to make sure that you are exhaling longer than you're inhaling is to do 4-5-6 breathing. Inhale for 4, hold your breath for 5, exhale for 6.
3 - Write about it
Sometimes we just need to get it out. Get what we are feeling out of our heads so that we can move on with our day. Free-writing is a way for us to process our thoughts. It also allows us to gain perspective on our thoughts and feelings. Grab paper and pen and write about your anxiety. Don't worry about where to start or what to say. Just write whatever comes to mind. No one will ever read it, so spelling and grammar aren't important. Set a timer for five or ten minutes and get it all out there - the sadness, hurt, anger, tension. Anything that is bothering you. When you're done, tear it all up and throw it away. Writing down your emotions allows you to better understand what is causing your anxiety and frees your mind to work on other things. So get writing!
4 - Challenge your thoughts
Ask yourself why this is so frightening. What are you afraid of? Will it matter in five weeks? What about five months? Will it change your life? If so, is it guaranteed to be bad? What if your life is better? Is there anything you can do to change the situation? Challenge your anxiety.
It's important to remember to challenge yourself without judging yourself. Your inner critic may want to day, "Yeah, why are you letting this bother you so much, idiot?" That isn't going to help. But gently asking yourself, "why is this bothering me so much?" and listening for the answer can often alleviate some anxiety.
5 - Remember that anxiety doesn't mean that there's a real threat
The fight/flight/freeze center of our brain (the amygdala) is designed to keep you safe. It does this by sending out signals that tell you that threats are present. Unfortunately, it's not very good at analyzing the validity of a threat before sending out a signal to act. Often the anxiety we feel is the amygdala telling us that there is a threat, but the threat is mild. Maybe it doesn't even exist. Maybe it's something you can manage. Just because you feel anxious doesn't mean that something is wrong. It just means that part of your brain wants you to stay safe.
If you’re in the Denver or Colorado Springs areas and you want to learn more about how anxiety treatment can help overachievers to thrive, contact Stacy Andrews, MA, LPCC, NCC today!