Nowadays, anxiety has become one of the most common mental health issues that a lot of individuals are dealing with. Modern life is changing faster than ever before, and most of us feel the consequences of social pressure and daily life challenges.
Anxiety is not just an occurrence of fear, but the reaction of the body that turns its fight or flight mode on. Manifestation of anxiety can be different for everyone, and not all methods for its reduction work for everyone. To find the most effective way to reduce panic attacks and get rid of that heavy feeling in your chest, it is necessary to try different methods and stick to the one that yields the desired outcome.
There is plenty of research on this topic that thoroughly describes various methods for reducing anxiety. As people who are dealing with such an issue often feel symptoms like increased heart rate, fast rhythm of breathing, and muscle tension, most methods are purely based on psychology and physiology. In this article, we will point out what research mostly suggests about effective methods for reducing anxiety and how to be sure which one of those truly works for you.
Types Of Anxiety That Exist
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- Social Anxiety manifests as an intense fear of possible inconveniences and failures in social situations. An individual who is suffering from social anxiety avoids any kind of public presentation and sometimes even basic conversations.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder manifests as a constant and excessive fear or worry in everyday situations, which is why a person often feels overwhelmed, tense, and tired.
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is considered a type of anxiety caused by traumatic events that happened in the past. Individuals experience flashbacks followed by stormy emotional reactions.
- Panic Attacks are common in people with anxiety. These attacks are followed by dizziness, increased heart rate, and fear of death or loss.
- Selective mutism is most common in children who mostly avoid speaking in social situations.
- Phobias represent an extreme fear of specific situations, objects, or activities.
The Most Successful Methods Require Consistency
The most successful methods for anxiety reduction are actually those methods that people can easily apply and stick to in the long run. Consistency is a characteristic that is necessary for any kind of transformation that you want to make in life. For example, one of the easiest methods that is becoming widely used by many is the emotional freedom technique, which is mostly applied in places like Tapping School, where people do activities like tapping according to the rhythm. Even if such a move seems way too simple, research shows that rhythmic tapping with cognitive reframing can significantly reduce physiological arousal.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is probably one of the most popular ways to reduce anxiety. The primary focus is on identifying patterns that cause negative thoughts and behavioral patterns. The goal is to find a way to replace them with healthier and more realistic responses. Much research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life, and has been shown to be the most effective therapy in the psychological field.
The Power Of Physical Activity
It is common knowledge that physical activity brings many benefits to both physical and mental well-being of every individual, but how does it actually help in anxiety reduction?
Physical activity increases the protein that supports the brain’s ability to rewire patterns, which is called brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Increased brain’s ability to rewire patterns allows fear associations to weaken and makes the possibility of forming adaptive responses easier.
Establishing a Regulated Sleeping Schedule
There are many negative consequences of an irregular sleeping schedule, and increased anxiety symptoms are one of them. People who are dealing with anxiety should work on having a regulated sleeping schedule, as it represents the base that mostly increases the results of a particular method or therapy for anxiety reduction. Therefore, a regulated sleeping schedule is not an anxiety reduction method itself, but it can significantly boost the effectiveness when another method is being applied. It is important to establish a sleep rhythm where you lie down and wake up at the same time each day. Make sure to avoid the usage of phones, computers, or TVs for at least one hour before sleeping.
Lifestyle Change As an Effective Anxiety Reduction Method
Taking care of yourself and establishing certain lifestyle changes that you’ll stay consistent with can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms. Research shows that everything, from using herbal remedies to reducing caffeine intake to participating in group therapies, can help you make a visible difference in reducing anxiety. Creating certain habits is not just a method that needs to be followed but an act of self-love. Make sure to:
- Eat nutritious food
- Do yoga or meditation
- Spend more time in nature
- Practice breathing and relaxation exercises frequently
- Keep a journal where you will write down all your emotions and track the whole anxiety reduction process, to keep up with it better.
Mindfulness as an Attention Training
Mindfulness is an effective psychological method that teaches people how to slow down, be grateful, stay present in the moment, and properly relax. For example, when anxious people drink coffee, they do not think about it at all. In their mind, there is confusion about a million other things that prevent them from enjoying their coffee break. Mindfulness has been shown as an effective method for attention training, where people practice observation of their thoughts without reacting to them, weakening automatic emotional loops. Such a consistent practice, even for 15 minutes a day, can make a significant difference and visibly reduce anxiety symptoms.
An anxiety reduction process may sometimes be quite challenging and may require a long period of time. Once you find the method that you will stick to, make sure to stay consistent in the long run. Applying those methods won’t magically wipe away the symptoms, but will teach you how to adapt and properly react, until one day you notice that you do not feel anxious anymore.
The main goal is to teach your nervous system how to feel safe and to avoid constantly being in fight mode. The good news is that anxiety reduction methods can be extremely fun and educational. All that you need is a strong will, and where there is a will, there is a way.
