Dealing With Anxiety: Simple Self-Help Techniques for Everyone 

We experience anxiety from time to time — and that’s okay. But some people experience it constantly and excessively, which reduces their quality of life. Let’s see how to cope with anxiety through self-help techniques.

Anxiety and Anxiousness: Why They Occur and What They’re For

People sometimes confuse fear and anxiety — the experiences of these feelings do indeed seem similar. A person’s muscles tense, breathing becomes rapid, and attention focuses on a single object or phenomenon. However, there is a significant difference between the two. Let’s start by clarifying the terminology:

• Fear is a reaction to a real external threat. For example, someone walking down the street sees an aggressive pack of stray dogs and feels fear because they pose a danger.
• Anxiety is a similar reaction, but the threat exists only in the person’s mind. They walk through the city and recall a story they recently read about dog attacks. They immediately begin to feel anxious, even though they see no dogs — well, they could be around the corner! The person feels something akin to fear, even though there’s no evidence to justify this fear.
• Anxiousness is a psychological trait, a tendency toward anxiety. The person constantly imagines negative scenarios and worries about things that haven’t happened yet. On the street, they watch out for dogs, in the forest they think about bears, and on a date they imagine that their partner will soon be disappointed and leave them.

Anxiety is neither a “bad” nor a pointless emotion. It’s an adaptive mechanism that helps a person prepare for potentially stressful situations. A subjective threat doesn’t always mean a false one.

However, an anxious person often overestimates the severity and likelihood of bad events. For instance, they receive a new task at work and immediately imagine failing at it — and then being fired. In reality, this is unlikely: if something doesn’t work out, they can always ask colleagues for help. Moreover, people are rarely fired over a single mistake. But the person falls into a vicious cycle: due to their anxiety, their level of concentration decreases, and the likelihood of making a mistake increases. Asking for help might feel terrifying because of an intrusive thought: “What will colleagues think?” As a result, the anxious person truly doesn’t cope with the task, receives negative feedback, and the behavior becomes reinforced.

How to Help Yourself Manage Anxiety

It’s impossible to overcome a bout of anxiety by sheer willpower — even if you realize that your reaction is excessive and doesn’t match the real danger. There are techniques that can help stop the stream of anxious thoughts and regain composure. Here are some of them.

Talk to Someone About What’s Bothering You

Research shows that negative emotions are easier to endure when they’re put into words. When we share a situation that worries us with another person, we often have to “translate” our internal thoughts into a common language — literally explaining our automatic thoughts so the listener can see the full picture. Sometimes, just this step makes it easier, as focus shifts or it becomes clear that these automatic thoughts don’t stand up to reality.

A conversation with a calm, empathetic, and supportive person can help reduce anxiety and bring comfort. The key is that the listener shouldn’t downplay your feelings or become overly anxious themselves.

Put Anxious Thoughts on Paper

Freewriting is often used in working with depression, psychological trauma, and anxiety disorders. Set a timer for 10 minutes and write everything that comes to mind — without editing, rereading, clarifying, or worrying about typos or punctuation. 

When time is up, take a break, for example, play at https://nationalcasino.com/, chat with your colleagues, or just drink some coffee. Then, in a calm state, return to your notes. Look at them with fresh eyes — which thoughts seem important? Have any answers already appeared to some of your questions?

Restore a Calm Breathing Rhythm

During an anxiety or panic attack, a person’s breathing becomes rapid, shallow, and erratic. However, the attack can be stopped by imitating calm, steady breathing. Perform 5–8 cycles following this pattern: inhale for 4 seconds, pause for 6–7 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds. If holding your breath is uncomfortable, you can skip that part, but the exhale should be longer than the inhale.

Reconnect With the Real World and Ground Yourself

This technique involves shifting your focus from the triggering topic to something simple and tangible — such as objects in the room or physical sensations. Here are a few methods:

• Look around the room. Name five items that are red (or any other color).
• Pick up an object, study it closely, and describe it in detail. Note its temperature, texture, color, weight, and size.
• Take a shower or wash the dishes, focusing on the process. Yes, your thoughts may drift to anxious triggers, but you should gently return your attention to the flow of water, its temperature, the sponge or dishcloth in your hands.

Evaluate the Situation and Think About What You Can Do Now to Improve It

Try giving your anxious perspective a score from 1 to 100, where 1 is the minimal likelihood that your fears will come true and 100 is the maximum. If possible, it’s more effective to do this exercise in writing or out loud — justify your position and reason it out. Then move on to actions you can take here and now. For example, gather missing information, prepare documents, set money aside, or create a strategy — this will help you regain a sense of control.

Do Some Physical Exercise

Physical activity reduces the production of stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) and stimulates the release of endorphins — exactly what’s needed. This could be a simple workout, yoga, stretching, or cardio training. Intense physical activity reduces anxiety more effectively, while relaxing practices help slow down and focus on the present moment.

Schedule Your Anxiety

If you’re generally an anxious person and experience stress regularly, you can “zone” it. To minimize harm from negative thoughts, allocate a specific time in your schedule for them. For example, 15 minutes in the middle of the day to think about the worst-case scenarios and imagine how you’ll handle them. When the timer signals that time is up, mark the task as complete and return to your usual activities.