Simple Coping Strategies
There are many ways to cope with anxiety in our hectic lives but let’s give you a few simple and easy coping strategies for anxiety or worry. When faced with anxiety or worry, you can try one or all of the following strategies and if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again:
- Relax your body. To do this try Abdominal Breathing which is often effective in offsetting anxiety. Also, slowing down what your thinking and doing through Mindfulness techniques (ask our staff about their knowledge of these).
- Relax your mind. Do 15-20 minutes of daily guided visualization or meditation in a quiet, and distraction-free area.
- Face you fears. Taking active steps to face your fears, can help to alleviate them.
- Self-nurture. Take the time to nurture your inner and outer self through making time for fun activities such as hanging out with friends, eating a relaxing, healthy meal, taking a warm bubble bath or shower, getting a back massage or foot rub (if your not ticklish).
- Distract. What we worry about rarely happens so overthinking about it only makes it worse so try to distract yourself. Schedule a time to worry daily even if it’s for 10-20 mins and don’t worry any other time.
- Make a plan. Having a plan to deal with worry is helpful in coping with worry and anxiety more effectively.
Struggling, Take Action
When needing to take constructive action to cope with your anxiety or worry, there are three main types of activites that we recommend:
Coping Strategies, are effective techniques to counteract anxiety or distract yourself from it.
Coping Statements, are mental techniques that are meant to refocus your mind away from and replace fearful self-talk.
Affirmations, which are used in a similar way to coping statements but are meant to work over a prolonged period of time. These are all quick strategies for anxiety or worry that is not severe. Should you feel you require more support please contact a counsellor or mental health counsellor near you. We can provide one for you who will assist you in navigating what will work for your individual situation. Not every strategy will work for everyone. Some times it’s a matter of trial and error.
Utilizing a particular strategy or coping statements can help you to get through an episode of anxiety. Affirmations, work to assist in changing your core beliefs. Such as, using a particular coping strategy or coping statement to get though a difficult situation, and use an affirmation about letting go of fear and worry that you’ve been working on for days or months.
It can be useful to start a Coping Skills Tool Box as well.
Beyond the above mentioned coping strategies, there are other effective coping skills that you may find work well for dealing with all levels of anxiety or worry stress. Whether from mild worry to mild apprehension to panic. Some of the most used strategies for anxiety can also be used for stress too which are included below:
Extra Coping Strategies to Use In A Pinch
Connect by phone or in person a support person you trust. Talking to someone you are comfortable sharing with will help you to get your mind off your anxiety bodily symptoms and thoughts that keep plaguing your mind. Regardless of whether you’re driving a car, flying in an airplane, standing in line at the movie theatre this is something you may be able to find helps you.
Become Physically Active because moving and doing something physical can help to dissipate the excess energy or adrenaline caused by the fight-or-flight reaction that occurs during acute anxiety. Instead of trying to resist the physiological symptoms that accompany anxiety, try to move with it and embrace it instead. Even if it’s uncomfortable, and it feels counter-intuitive to do this but it can help. If you’re at work, you may want to take a walk down the hallway and back or to the bathroom, or even outdoors for about 10 minutes. If you’re at home you can clean out a junk drawer, fold some clothes, color a coloring book, or workout on your stationary bike or elliptical. Sometimes gardening can also be relaxing, if you enjoy this activity.
Stay Present
Stay in the Moment. You can’t be anxious if your living in the present. Focus on a grounding exercise such as observing objects that are not moving around you and present in your environment. If you’re standing in line at the movie theater, try focusing your attention on the different types of candies, drinks in the concession area, you might look at the different people standing in line to see what their wearing, what color is their attire, is it appropriate for the weather;etc.
Staying in the present and focusing on external items will assist in minimizing the attention you give to your annoying physical symptoms or catastrophic thinking (or the “what-if’s”). Touching objects in your immediate environment may also be helpful to reinforce staying in the present moment. This is another great way to ground yourself. Also, try to focus on squeezing your legs and feet to bring attention to these body parts which will take the focus off your spinning and unhelpful thinking. Imagine that your feet are connected to the ground by roots that keep you firmly planted on the ground and in place.
Our next blog post will include more, “Simple Distraction Techniques”.
