Mastering Anxiety: Practical Tips for Better Mental Health

Managing Overwhelming Anxiety Symptoms And Improving Mental Health

If you’re experiencing overwhelming anxiety, you’re not alone, as generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common mental illnesses in the U.S. Anxiety can have different severity levels based on genetic and environmental factors. For some, it can become a serious impediment to daily functioning.

With severe anxiety, intense behavioral symptoms — or even physical symptoms like panic attacks — may occur. Understanding why you feel anxious and working toward managing these symptoms can be crucial for reclaiming your quality of life and overall wellbeing.

What causes an anxiety disorder?

There is no single specific cause linked to the development of an anxiety disorder. Instead, there are a variety of factors connected to this common mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Environment, genetics, experiences like traumatic events, and brain chemistry can all trigger anxiety disorders. This means that therapy approaches or other treatments, like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), will depend on your unique situation.

• Stress. Stress can come from various sources: financial insecurity, loss of employment, academic pressures, relationship difficulties, and more. Long-term stress can lead to developing more serious anxiety symptoms that significantly impact daily functioning.
• Hereditary factors. Anxiety disorders often run in families, suggesting a genetic component to their development.
• Past trauma. Traumatic experiences can significantly contribute to the development of anxiety disorders, sometimes manifesting years after the original event.
• Additional mental health conditions. Anxiety often co-occurs with other mental health conditions or may develop as part of another diagnosis. Anxiety symptoms can also result from medical conditions, substance use, or medication side effects.

If you are struggling with substance use, contact the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) to receive support and resources. Support is available 24/7.

Tips for managing stress, panic, worry, fear, and other anxiety symptoms

Severe anxiety involves intense feelings of panic, worry, or fear about everyday tasks. Understanding the causes is critical to reducing anxiety symptoms in the long run. However, learning practical steps to manage stress and control symptoms is equally important, especially during periods of heightened anxiety.

Breathe deeply to reduce panic, fear, stress, or worry

Deep breathing during episodes of excessive worry may be one of the most effective relaxation techniques to address anxiety in everyday life. This management method not only grounds the person experiencing anxious feelings but can generate calmness and the ability to disengage temporarily.

Controlled breathing can reverse-engineer the body’s fight or flight response, which is often triggered during times of high stress. Even when you’re not experiencing anxiety episodes, regular deep breathing exercises can serve as a healthy form of meditation to reduce stress and prevent panic. Deep breathing can also be excellent for unwinding and decompressing after a long day.

Get to the root of your anxiety

Learning what triggers your anxiety, or even where you may have first developed it, can be beneficial. Understanding how past circumstances, experiences, and events may have shaped your development of anxiety can help you reexamine certain aspects of it in a new way. For example, recognizing that social situations trigger anxiety attacks may help you determine that you have social anxiety disorder.

Working with a licensed therapist through ReachLink can help you explore the roots of your anxiety, which can lead to developing effective coping skills for intense feelings of stress.

Redirect your focus to activities that can help your mental health

Redirecting your focus can be a helpful temporary tool to supplement traditional therapy treatment. Dwelling on recurrent thoughts of anxiety or physical symptoms may intensify them. While avoiding emotions isn’t a great long-term solution, engaging in nourishing activities can help your mind focus on something new and alleviate some immediate anxiety symptoms.

Consider listening to music, going for a walk, drawing, painting, or engaging in physical movement. Reading an interesting book or watching a movie are also great ways of redirecting your focus toward something more fulfilling. Investing time in positive social situations, appreciating significant life events, or working on preparing a more balanced diet can all help change behavioral patterns in ways that reduce anxiety.

Surround yourself with loved ones

One of the best ways to manage anxiety may be to surround yourself with people who care about you. Having a strong support system can make a tremendous difference—when people understand you and your situation, they can offer help and perhaps put you at ease.

Severe anxiety can be challenging to address, but with a caring support system, including a mental health professional who specializes in anxiety disorders, you may find that you don’t have to face anxiety on your own.

Explore therapy and medication for debilitating anxiety and depression

Therapy and medication are effective treatments for alleviating the symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression, which commonly co-occur with anxiety. These treatments may enable people with anxiety disorders to manage their symptoms and help them function in their everyday lives.

Seek help from professionals to manage your anxiety symptoms

It’s advisable to consult with professionals about your anxiety. Some anxiety disorders are deeply rooted in past traumatic events and other mental health conditions, which may require ongoing support from therapists.

Support for anxiety disorders, depression, and other mental health challenges

Severe anxiety can elevate the likelihood of developing other mental health disorders, such as depression. At ReachLink, we recognize the challenges that any type of anxiety can present. Working with a licensed online therapist through our telehealth platform can be an excellent way to explore the roots of anxiety, gain feedback, and learn skills for managing stress specifically tailored to you. Our secure virtual environment provides a safe place to explore and discuss what you’re experiencing, with therapists offering compassionate care and support for all types of anxiety disorders.

The effectiveness of online mental health support in managing anxiety symptoms

ReachLink’s counselors are licensed professionals with years of experience in therapy and research-backed methods of helping with problems like severe anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most common treatment method for anxiety in talk therapy. Clinical studies prove that online CBT is just as effective as in-person therapy — and sometimes even more so. This greater effectiveness can stem from several factors. For example, people with anxiety disorders are often more comfortable opening up over online mediums than in face-to-face settings.

Takeaway

Anxiety is a complex mental health issue that can stem from a wide range of factors and can present differently for everyone. Learning more about its origins and how to cope with symptoms in healthy, productive ways can help you live a more comfortable life. Through ReachLink’s comprehensive telehealth services, you can access the support you need from the comfort and privacy of your own home, making the journey to managing anxiety more accessible than ever before.