How to deal with anxiety on your own. Anxiety, fear, worry... How to get rid of them? Anxiety: what is it like?

People tend to worry about what is happening or might happen in their lives. There is nothing strange in a person’s desire to protect himself and his family from the blows of fate. But often fears become intrusive, interfere with living a full life, and destroy relationships and health. Then the question of how to get rid of anxiety arises especially acutely and requires an immediate solution.

What is the danger?

Experiencing anxiety for no reason or having real reasons for fear, a person feels enormous psychological pressure. In each case, the fears seem quite real to him. For people with an unstable psyche (subtle mental organization), the feeling of a constant looming threat can become absolutely unbearable, leading to a nervous breakdown or committing rash acts.

Often, without a proper understanding of how to deal with anxiety and worry, people become dependent on bad habits. They try to relieve stress with alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs. Such actions are not a method of dealing with anxiety. This is another cause for concern. After all, now you have to fight not only fear, but also a new disease.

Who is at risk?

How to get rid of constant feelings of anxiety? This question most often torments those who are deprived of stability in everyday life, lack self-confidence, and are experiencing serious changes. For example:

• Teenagers, against the background of a hormonal surge, very often feel anxious, having no idea how to overcome their fears and what actually causes them;
• single people in adulthood are looking for a way to get rid of anxiety and worry, dreaming of starting a family and realizing themselves as parents;
• Due to age-related changes, older people become victims of their own terrible fantasies and heightened feelings of anxiety;
• those who have suffered serious financial difficulties often do not see a way to get rid of obsessive thoughts about financial collapse, especially for those who have suffered large losses.

In any of the above situations, a state of stress occurs, which can become chronic over time, and this is a direct path to prolonged depression, that is, to a severe mental disorder. For this reason, any anxiety must be overcome, and persistent panic attacks require serious treatment.

How to fight?

To understand how to get rid of anxiety, it is important to determine its nature. To this end, it is useful to ask yourself the question: “What really scares me, what do I worry about the most?” It is worth answering it as honestly as possible. Perhaps this will be the key to getting rid of anxious thoughts.

Often people are simply afraid to be honest with themselves and prefer to pretend that the problem does not exist, avoiding the need to act to eliminate it. Such tactics only aggravate an already difficult situation, increase mental tension and deplete strength.

The most common reasons for anxiety:

• suspicions of serious health problems;
• family destruction, impending divorce;
• threat of dismissal from a favorite job;
• debts, unpaid loans;
• upcoming difficult conversation;
• any significant changes.

All these fears have a basis in reality, and this, paradoxically, is the good news. They can be dealt with if you take responsibility and take action. This approach will remove the problem.

• We must admit that the problem exists and will have to be solved.
• It is important to understand what will happen if events unfold according to the worst-case scenario, and immediately decide what actions to take in this case. This way there will be certainty in the situation. This feeling can significantly reduce anxiety, because a person’s greatest fear is the unknown.
• Now it's time to act on your own. Stop waiting for initiative from other people if your anxiety is related to them. Let the unpleasant conversation take place in the near future, let the sick relationship begin to improve on your initiative. If it is a health issue, see a doctor immediately!
• It is extremely important not to “stretch out the pleasure”, but to decisively and quickly bring the situation to a resolution. To act rationally, it is wise to have a written plan where each item is well thought out and clearly outlined.

One has only to take the first step towards overcoming the problem, and a noticeable feeling of relief will come, the strength to move on will appear, and self-esteem will increase. There is a high probability that everything will be resolved much easier than expected, and you will even feel a little bewilderment, asking yourself: “Why didn’t I do this earlier?”

Groundless fear

How to get rid of anxiety if you can’t determine what caused it? Insomnia, a lump in the throat, heaviness in the chest - all this, alas, is not uncommon even for people who live a busy life and have stability in all respects.

Such obsessive fears are very painful because they are incomprehensible. In reality, this condition also has real reasons, including:

• intense work rhythm, insufficient number of days off;
• hypertrophied sense of responsibility;
• poor quality sleep;
• sedentary lifestyle;
• unhealthy diet;
• sexual dissatisfaction;
• hormonal imbalance;
• negative social circle;
• suspicious character.

When trying to find a way to overcome anxiety, you should look at yourself and your lifestyle from the inside, without taking into account external well-being. There are often cases when fears arise in the subconscious as a result of the body’s reaction to prolonged discomfort. This way you receive a warning about the danger and a signal about the need for change.

To deal with the problem, you will have to spend time, perhaps even take a vacation. It is important to spend at least a few days alone with yourself, analyzing and reflecting, walking alone and getting good sleep. Think about how you can improve your quality of life?

• Workout. It has been proven that during training, “happiness hormones” are produced in the human brain. Maybe there is simply not enough movement in your life? Then the problem is easy to solve. Hiking or jogging, cycling or swimming, dancing or yoga classes - the choice is huge!
• Change your diet. Do you like sweets, baked goods, or are you into fast food? These are all “fast” carbohydrates that do not bring any benefit to the body. Moreover, they cause a feeling of fatigue, apathy, contribute to excess weight gain, and develop addiction. Healthy nutrition means high tone, proper metabolism, and a blooming appearance.
• Get rid of bad habits. There is nothing to talk about here. Alcohol depresses the nervous system, destroys brain cells, and poisons the entire body. This is the reason for constant stress!

Think about what is good for you and what is harmful. Make adjustments to your lifestyle. Changing habits is possible only if you develop a new, replacement habit every day. Like-minded people will help; in sports, such a person can be a coach. A great way to keep your finger on the pulse is to keep a diary. With the help of daily reflections and notes, you can learn a lot of new things about yourself, come to unexpected conclusions and decisions, and achieve significant positive changes. Perhaps you will be able to find your own recipe for how to get rid of constant anxiety and start living calmly. The main thing is to understand: you are not fighting in vain!

This property of human nature needs to be discussed separately. Laziness, like a snowball, becomes overgrown with negative, destructive emotions, which are very difficult to cope with:

• apathy,
• despondency,
• low self-esteem,
• self-doubt,
• guilt,
• fear,
• anxiety.

Without action, a person loses control over his own life, becomes very vulnerable morally and physically weak. It is impossible to relieve the feeling of anxiety, no matter what causes it, if you do not make any effort. Often it is laziness that causes constant stress, a feeling of powerlessness and fear of an unknown threat.

How to remove this destructive factor from your life? There can be no new ideas here! Realize that laziness is just a bad habit, a brake, a barrier between you and life. No one will remove it except you. The fight against laziness is movement. Once you start taking action, you will feel inspired, energized, and see the first results. There will be no time to worry.

Pathological fear

How to deal with anxiety if, even after analyzing your life, it is impossible to find out what is wrong in it? Physical health is in perfect order, there are no addictions, mutual understanding and financial well-being reign in the family, but obsessive anxiety does not make it possible to enjoy this.

In such cases, we are usually talking about problems of a psychological nature, which should be treated by a specialist. It is better not to postpone a visit to the doctor, since a depressive state can develop into panic attacks. It's difficult to get rid of them. They appear like this:

• inexplicable, animal fear,
• pressure surges,
• profuse sweating,
• dizziness,
• nausea,
• labored breathing.

The peculiarity of panic attacks is that they usually happen suddenly, in crowded places and in ordinary surroundings that do not threaten life and health. This condition can be corrected, but it is easier to cope with it under the supervision of a treating specialist.

Today we will talk about what anxiety is and how to cope with it. If you often feel psychological discomfort, uncertainty about the future and your strengths, mood swings, and anxiety, then you are probably faced with anxiety. But without correcting the condition, it can turn into anxiety. "What is the difference?" - you ask. Read on.

Anxiety is a stable personality quality, while anxiety is a temporary state (emotion). If traumatic situations are repeated frequently, negative factors constantly influence, then uncertainty and anxiety become permanent, which significantly worsens the quality of life. Anxiety can be corrected and measured. But as always, first things first.

Description of the phenomenon

The specifics of anxiety depend on age. Its occurrence is based on dissatisfaction with the actual needs of the individual, which also differ from the age and worldview of the person.

For example, for an early age, the leading need is communication with the mother. For preschoolers – the need for independence. For primary school children - the need to be significant. For teenagers - engage in socially significant activities and, according to other experts, interpersonal communication with peers. For young men in the future – professional and personal self-realization.

Thus, the object of anxiety may differ depending on age. So, for example, if at an early age a child has a hard time with separation from his mother, then in elementary school anxiety can be triggered by academic failure, and in adolescence it can be caused by rejection by the class. However, the needs for food, safety, and sleep remain relevant for everyone.

In response to anxiety, defense and compensation mechanisms are always activated. Anxiety left to chance provokes the development of states of panic and despair. It destroys personality.

By tradition, I want to outline a few key facts that will better convey to you the essence of the phenomenon:

1. Anxiety is a reaction to fear (real or potential), a situation that is dangerous for the individual (in his understanding).
2. Anxiety is a sign of personal distress and internal discord.
3. Anxiety is accompanied by increased concentration and excessive motor activity.
4. Anxiety can be situational (emotion) and personal (quality).
5. People with mental and somatic disorders, behavioral or developmental disorders are more susceptible to anxiety; have experienced a psychologically traumatic situation.
6. If it is normal to feel anxious sometimes, then you need to fight anxiety.
7. If the object is clearly known (darkness, loneliness), then this is fear. Anxiety does not have clear boundaries, although it is closely related to the first definition.
8. Manifestations of anxiety are ambiguous, reactions are individual.
9. There is a concept of useful anxiety. This is the level necessary for personal development. We are talking, for example, about an attack on the values ​​of an individual, without which he will not be a person in his own mind. That is, to put it exaggeratedly, it will stop living and begin to exist. Normal and useful anxiety arises in response to a real threat, is not a form of suppressing internal conflict, does not cause a defensive reaction, and can be eliminated by arbitrarily changing the situation or one’s attitude towards it.

It is worth noting that anxiety can only be a motivator in adolescence and older. Before this, it can only have a destructive, disorganizing effect. At the same time, before adolescence, anxiety is more of a situational nature (for example, fear of getting a bad mark on a test), and starting from puberty it is more personal. That is, anxiety does not become a personality trait until adolescence. If we talk about what is easier to correct, then, of course, situational anxiety.

At the level of neural processes in the brain, anxiety is the simultaneous activation of the ergotropic and trophotropic systems, that is, the simultaneous operation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The body simultaneously receives opposite reactions, for example, an increase in heart rate (sympathetic) and a slowdown (parasympathetic). At the same time, the sympathetic system is still somewhat dominant. What causes the phenomena:

• hyperreactivity;
• anxiety;
• salivation and so on.

Features of the behavior of a highly anxious person

The person himself is not always aware of the problem, and it is difficult to notice anxiety from the outside. Especially if it disguises itself, compensation occurs or a defense mechanism turns on. However, we can name several characteristic differences of an anxious person:

1. Excessively emotional reactions to failures.
2. Decreased performance in stressful situations or under tight deadlines.
3. Fear of failure prevailing over the desire for success.
4. A situation of success serves as an incentive and motivation for activity, a situation of failure “kills”.
5. The perception of the entire surrounding world or many objects as dangerous, although subjectively this is not so.

Low-anxious individuals have the opposite characteristics. For example, situations of failure serve as a greater motivator for them than success. However, low anxiety is the other side of the coin; it is also dangerous for the individual.

More obvious reactions of the body are somatic signs. With a high level of anxiety the following are noted:

• skin abnormalities (itching, rash);
• changes in the functioning of the cardiovascular system (hypertension, tachycardia);
• respiratory dysfunction (shortness of breath, asphyxia);
• dyspeptic disorders (diarrhea, heartburn, flatulence, constipation, dry mouth);
• genital-urinal reactions (cycle disturbances in women, impotence in men, frequent urination, pain);
• vasomotor phenomena (sweating);
• problems of the musculoskeletal system (pain, loss of coordination, stiffness).

An anxious person is prone to professional and emotional burnout, a more pronounced awareness of traumatic factors and dangers (for example, the profession of a surgeon); not satisfied with oneself, life, profession; feels hopeless, “cornered”, “caged”; depressed

Causes of anxiety

Anxiety often begins in childhood. Possible factors provoking this phenomenon include:

• inconsistency of the positions of parents, parents and teachers, management at work, one’s own attitudes and actions (the result in each case is intrapersonal conflict);
• inflated expectations (setting the bar too high for oneself or excessively demanding parents, for example, the popular “study excellently”);
• situations of dependence and humiliation (“If you tell me who broke the window, then I will forgive you for missing school and won’t tell my parents anything”);
• deprivation, failure to meet current needs;
• awareness of the discrepancy between opportunities and abilities;
• social, financial or professional instability, instability.

Types of anxiety

Each body reacts differently to constant anxiety. Based on this, several types of anxiety can be distinguished:

1. Conscious uncontrollable. Disorganizes a person's life.
2. Conscious, controlled and compensated. Serves as an incentive to perform activities. But often this only works in familiar situations.
3. Conscious cultivated anxiety. A person takes advantage of his position and seeks benefits, often talking about manipulation.
4. Unconscious hidden. Ignored or denied by the individual, it can be manifested by individual motor actions (for example, curling hair).
5. Unconscious compensatory-protective. A person tries to convince himself that everything is fine. "I'm fine! I do not need help!"
6. Avoiding situations of anxiety. If anxiety is all-encompassing, then often such withdrawal is immersion in a virtual network or addictions, subcultures, that is, withdrawal from reality.

School anxiety, ways to deal with childhood anxiety

School anxiety is common during basic education. It may occur against the background of:

• incorrectly designed or decorated educational environment (rooms, zones, objects);
• dysfunctional relationships with classmates, teachers or other participants in the educational process;
• heavy workload within the educational program, high requirements, frequent exams, rating-point system;
• arising from the previous factor of lack of energy and time;
• incorrect behavior of parents (destructive parenting style, high or low expectations and demands);
• school changes.

In adolescence (middle and high school age), failures in social interactions (peers, teachers, parents) come to the fore. Children of primary school age have problems in educational activities.

Correction of anxiety (both school and situational and personal) in children involves several directions:

1. Parent education. The goal of the work is to improve their psychological and pedagogical literacy. It is important to understand the role of the influence of parenting style on anxiety, which refers to the nature of demands and expectations. Secondly, parents need to understand the influence of their emotional state on the child’s emotions. The third component is the parents' faith in the child.
2. Education and, if necessary, correction of the teacher’s behavior (the same is true for parents when teaching at home). It is necessary to avoid public punishments, not to focus on mistakes as something terrible (one learns from mistakes, they are useful and necessary). As in the first point, do not convey your anxiety, do not “pour” garbage and problems onto the child. Interact with parents. Conduct reflection on actions.
3. Working with the children themselves. Creating situations of success, working through mistakes and situations, discussing exciting topics.

Diagnosis of anxiety

1. For diagnosing adults, I would like to recommend the Spielberger questionnaire. The technique, in my opinion, allows us to understand the nature of anxiety as accurately as possible. You answer 40 judgments (“yes” or “no”, how true it is for you), and as a result you get a clearly measured level of personal and situational anxiety. At a high level, it is recommended to work on increasing confidence in one’s own success; at a low level, it is recommended to work on activity and motivation.
2. School anxiety can be assessed using the Phillips Questionnaire. This is an extensive diagnosis that identifies factors (causes) of anxiety, which is very important for further work. The child responds to the statements of the method (how true they are in relation to him), then the results are interpreted according to the “key”. The technique allows us to determine general anxiety, the experience of social stress at the moment, worries about an unmet need for success, fear of self-expression, fear of knowledge testing situations, fear of not meeting the expectations of others, low level of physical ability to withstand stress, problems in relationships with the teacher.

Anxiety correction

In the fight against anxiety, it is important to take into account its nature (disorganizer or motivator), causes and type. At the same time, the characteristics of the individual and the capabilities of his environment play an important role.

Dealing with anxiety on your own is difficult. Even when a specialist works with a client, a wall of resistance and psychological barriers often arise. Even if the client wants to get rid of anxiety, he still often resists. The desire to help is perceived as an attack on safety and the comfort zone, which, despite the name, means “familiar zone.” In this case, familiar does not mean comfortable.

Anxiety is closely related to shyness and withdrawal. Usually the latter arise against the background of the first phenomenon. However, the opposite also happens.

Thus, to reduce the level of anxiety, you need to work on self-confidence, the formation of adequate self-esteem, and getting rid of shyness. If you, dear reader, are forced to struggle with anxiety yourself, then here are some general tips for you:

1. Don't worry about what didn't happen.
2. Cultivate in yourself an orientation toward compromise, cooperation, and mutual assistance.
3. Take care of your psychophysical state. For example, make it a rule to do morning exercises, not stay late at work, learn to say “no” or, on the contrary, help.
4. Love yourself. Don't be afraid to create comfortable conditions for yourself.
5. Improve your communication skills, learn how to communicate and how to resolve conflicts.
6. Learn self-regulation. A trivial example is to count to yourself to 10.
7. Never isolate yourself.
8. Find an outlet. Every person and even animal should have their own place of safety and pleasure. You need to know that no matter what you have this place (hobby, people). And even if everything “collapses” around you, there you will find peace and support.
9. Understand what your anxiety consists of. Usually this is a complex of emotions, among which fear is a constant component. Variants such as “fear, shame and guilt” or “fear, guilt and anger” may appear.

Please remember the main principle of anxiety. The more you worry, the more the quality of your activities suffers. This leads to even more anxiety. Yes, it's a vicious circle. It literally needs to be torn apart.

As part of the psychological correction of anxiety, self-regulation plays an important role. The following methods are effective:

• switching (“it will be tomorrow, but today I won’t think about it and read this book”);
• distraction (detachment from a disturbing factor through willpower);
• decrease in significance (“This is just a report. Yes, it is of a public nature, but I am confident in my abilities, I can explain every phrase and figure. This is just a story about the work done. The same as there have already been many on paper”);
• thinking through plan B (you cannot deviate from the goal, as they say, “there are 33 letters in the alphabet, which means you have 33 plans”);
• making additional inquiries (you were given an unfamiliar address - find it on the map, view street visualizations, find landmarks);
• physical warm-up (sport relieves stress and fatigue, relaxes the brain, increases its activity, promotes the development of new ideas and fresh views on the situation);
• temporary postponement of the goal with modernization of the plan for achieving it, that is, the inclusion of new stages (for example, take advanced training courses);
• replaying previous situations of success and self-pride or simply positive pleasant moments.

Well, and finally one more thing. Look at anxiety as a pointless waste of time, energy and imagination. If you want to invent, write, draw, compose. Or come up with a new activity for yourself.

Try to write down on a sheet of anxiety that you experienced at least six months ago. You probably won't remember. Or write down your current worries and read them a month later. Most likely, none of them will come true, and then you will understand that your thoughts were in vain.

There is no point in worrying, you need to solve problems or change your attitude. If your tooth hurts, treat it, remove it; if it’s snowing, put on warm shoes.

Results

Anxiety determines individual behavior. The most dangerous consequence is the phenomenon of learned helplessness. That is, a person’s clear conviction of his own inadequacy (“I won’t succeed, and there’s no point in trying,” “I won’t be able to become an announcer, because I can’t even read well”). Personal and professional life suffers from this; a person cannot fully enter society and establish an independent life.

They strive to put their lives in someone else's hands and go with the flow. Often such people live with their parents or find someone for “symbiosis”. It’s even worse when they take the role of a victim and tolerate a tyrant next to them, for example, in the form of a spouse. Neuroses often also develop against a background of anxiety.

The main weapon in the fight against anxiety is self-awareness, that is, self-concept. This is a person's idea of ​​himself. Thus, to get rid of anxiety you need to work on yourself. The self-concept includes cognitive, evaluative and behavioral components. You need to work on everything that has an element of “itself”:

• self-esteem,
• self-confidence,
• self-control
• self-regulation,
• self-leadership,
• self-acceptance,
• self-criticism,
• self-worth.

Thus, we are talking about personal growth and finding the meaning of life, identifying oneself and one’s place in society.

An uncertain and undecided person is more susceptible to anxiety. And she, in turn, destroys the “self” even more. To get rid of anxiety you need to live, not exist. Be a unique person with clear beliefs, plans, guidelines. Thus, you need to work on your worldview, write down your life plans (for a month, a year, five years, ten). Don’t think about whether it will work out or not, what will happen. Just act, being confident in your strengths and capabilities (of course, plans and goals must be realistic). Difficulties will always arise; there is no perfect moment. But by appealing to your strengths, all barriers can be overcome.

Thank you for attention! Good luck. I believe in you!

Surely, every person in this world is familiar with the feeling of anxiety.

• When an important presentation is at stake and it is vital to show yourself and your work at your best...
• When there is a serious conversation to be had “to be honest”...
• When you are late for an important meeting...
• When the situation at the moment seems so confusing that you have absolutely no idea what to expect in the future...

...in such and many other circumstances, as a rule, a feeling of tension, impending danger and uncertainty, nervousness and concern arises.

At such moments, it can be felt and experienced as fear (both on the emotional and bodily level), but in this case, anxiety and fear are pointless and generalized. After all, the threat is implicit. And nothing directly threatens our safety at the moment! But we are not calm. All these experiences are called anxiety.

Anxiety: what is it?

Exists situational anxiety, as a person’s reaction to a certain life situation, which causes a feeling of uncertainty, anxiety about its outcome, etc., and personal anxiety, as certain personal characteristics called “anxiety” (the tendency to focus one’s attention on possible troubles, difficulties, the inability to stay in the “here and now” situation, mentally living situations in the future).

Both types of anxiety can have different levels of severity (from low to high) and bring varying degrees of discomfort to a person.

How to get rid of anxiety?

Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review existing ways to cope with anxiety.

It is very important to be able to return yourself to the present, reducing the level of tension and not always justified anxiety.

As a rule, when asked how you cope with anxiety, people answer: “I take a sedative”, “I start doing something fussy to distract myself, to keep myself occupied with something”, “I switch my attention to something else”, “I drink a little alcohol. It's relaxing".

Perhaps these methods reduce anxiety, but, as a rule, their effect is short-lived and in addition to this, they also have side effects and can only aggravate the problem in the future.

Relaxation techniques are more constructive and effective ways to combat anxiety.

They help you relax, restore body awareness, which means bringing you closer to the “here and now,” letting go of the situation and feeling calm.

And now more about each of them.

• Breathing techniques

Usually, when we feel anxiety, our breathing, as with a feeling of fear, becomes uneven, sometimes quickening, sometimes interrupted.

Breathing techniques help normalize it, making it uniform and calm.

They are also good because their implementation does not require a specific place and time. They can be used both alone and in public places.

The first exercise in this category is breathing with your stomach.

To do this, you need to place one hand on your stomach and start breathing. When you inhale, the stomach should inflate, and when you exhale, it should deflate.

Focus your attention on your hand, which, along with your breathing, rises and falls. To regain a calm state, 40-50 such movements are enough.

The next exercise has a similar mechanism, but with the help of breathing you are asked to lift not a hand, but a tennis ball, although not in reality, but mentally.

With each inhalation, you should imagine how the ball rises, and when you exhale, it falls! Up down. The ball moves slowly and smoothly, sometimes gaining height, sometimes losing it.

It will also help to concentrate attention on what is happening inside and distract from the outside world. conscious breathing.

Its essence is very simple, you need to close your eyes and mentally imagine how the air you inhale is alternately inhaled through one or the other nostril, and exhaled through the opposite nostril in turn.

Finally, imagine how both nostrils are used in both inhalation and exhalation! And after just a couple of minutes you will notice how you begin to calm down and feel relaxed.

Visualization technique

This is a way to relax by conjuring up a certain image.

Try to find an image in your memory that brings you a feeling of bliss, joy, and peace.

Perhaps these will be sea waves, which, either increasing or decreasing their amplitude, hit the shore or rocks. They accelerate, break free, and then again quietly go deep into the sea, becoming part of it.

Or maybe you imagine a field that is endless. with tall green, lush grass. Soft and very pleasant. And the sun begins to hide behind it. Huge, bright red, but no longer scorching, but calm, giving its beauty as a farewell.

This can be your individual image (flower, cloud, fluff, bird). Anything, but, most importantly, close to you.

Having conjured this image in your imagination, consider it. Try to pay attention to all the details, listening to your feelings.

Call up this image as often as possible and at some point the body itself will relax as soon as you return to this image.

Muscle memory has not been canceled!

Relaxation through tension.

This technique is based on a simple physiological pattern: muscle tension is always followed by muscle relaxation.

To do this, you need to tense different parts of your body, and then release the tension.

Start with the following: clench your hand tightly into a fist and hold this tension for a while. Then let go.

Repeat the same with your elbow. Concentrate all your attention on this movement. Extend your arm very sharply. It should look like a thread that is hanging. Pay attention to the sensations that arise in your body.

Similar relaxation can be done with other parts of the body: for example, legs, shoulders.

To relax your legs, you need to take a sitting position and raise your legs, pointing your feet towards you. After being tense, lower it.

To relax your shoulders, pull them as high as possible towards your ears. Hold in this position for a couple of minutes and release.

The techniques described will help you “break the contact” between body and mind, release existing muscle tension, and normalize your internal state.

It is also important to remember that these are not the only relaxation techniques of their kind. You can and should look for those that will be most comfortable and effective for you.

And when you learn to apply them without much effort, and do it regularly, you will notice how much less time and energy you will spend on anxiety and worry and how much more energy you will have.

When you are relaxed, you are in the present! In the moment “here and now”! And then, you can enjoy it, and not darken this moment with thoughts and feelings, intimidating yourself, scolding and horrifying yourself from the expectation of something terrible and irreparable!

Choose the real thing!

The intense rhythm of modern life causes constant negative stress. Sometimes an anxious state comes for no reason: your family is healthy, there are no problems at work, but your nerves are on edge. The stimulus for mental discomfort is not only external motivators, but also internal experiences, physical and mental problems. You can understand how to cope with anxiety and worry if you find out the reasons. In some cases, it is reasonable to sign up for an examination and undergo a course of psychological therapy.

Sources of restlessness

Anxiety is a negatively colored emotion that causes a person to experience fear more often than normal. This behavior is the result of adaptation. Such people solve easy logical problems faster and are better inspired by the successful completion of a task than by information about the reasons for failure. But what to do when anxiety begins to interfere with joy and living a full life? It is necessary to find out the sources of anxiety, and then move on to rehabilitation of the body and psyche.

• A state of causeless nervous anxiety may arise as a result of a genetic predisposition. There is a gene called PLXNA2 that is associated with anxiety.
• Disturbances in brain function also cause obsessive anxiety. This condition is common to many mental disorders.
• Sometimes a person develops a conditioned reflex to a stimulus, and then retains a reaction that manifests itself without a motivator. A child who was attacked by classmates in one group will not feel very comfortable even with another student body. The stimulus disappears, but the person still experiences stress.
• Hard work, lack of rest and proper sleep also affect the emotional state and cause nervous tension.

The resulting disorder keeps a person in constant combat readiness to respond to the challenges of the surrounding world. On the one hand, this allows you to quickly respond to problems, on the other hand, it is physically and mentally exhausting. You can cope with this condition in the following way.

1. Address potential causes of negative stress by taking a day off from work and spending time with your family. Get ready and go to your relatives in the village: fresh air has a beneficial effect on the psyche.
2. Ventilate the room regularly. Take care of a high-quality hood in the kitchen: stuffiness while preparing dinner can cause anxiety.
3. Make it a habit to relax after a hard day. Meditation, reading a book or watching your favorite TV series will help you smoothly transition from work worries to home mode.
4. Let your hair down to normalize blood flow to your head. Choose not only beautiful, but also comfortable clothes.
5. Seek medical help. Your condition may be a signal from the body about severe fatigue, mental illness and other problems. The feeling of loneliness and insignificance is inherent in basal anxiety. Also, anxiety is one of the first signs of various neuroses.
6. Religious people are recommended to add prayers and visiting temple to the methods mentioned.
7. Review your diet and sleep patterns. Add more vitamin-rich foods to your diet. Avoid coffee and other stimulating drinks. In the morning, for vigor, it is better to eat an apple or drink mineral water. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day. Staying awake at night will negatively affect your emotional state if you are not accustomed to such a regime.
8. Learn to think positively. Remember the cheerful girl Pollyanna from the novel by Eleanor Potter. She was happy about the crutches she received as a gift instead of the expected doll, because she needed them and this was an excellent reason for happiness.

Mental anxiety cannot be ignored. Advanced neuroses lead to further mental disorders. The person suffers himself and causes concern to his loved ones. A medical examination will reveal the causes of this condition and determine the necessary medications. Relaxation and time with family will also be an important part of rehabilitation therapy. Proper nutrition and good sleep will help normalize the body’s physical performance, eliminating the root causes of the disease. Optimism and a confident look into the future will help you avoid causeless negative stress in later life. Psychological training and meditation will maintain mental balance and make it easier to perceive minor troubles and more easily endure big problems.

Fear of change and increased anxiety can turn even positive changes into difficult ones.

It is interesting that in very difficult times - wars, revolutions, natural disasters - people's anxiety decreases. And it's not that strange. When you are fighting for life, there is no time for mental health. The instinct of self-preservation, inherent in nature, is actively involved in the struggle for survival. But precisely in countries with a high standard of living, people are often prone to various mental disorders, including anxiety. Our natural inner defender, drawing imaginary threats, tries in this way to find at least some use for himself.

The reasons for such an excessive instinct of self-preservation can be laid down in childhood. If a child was overprotected or taught that he could not cope with anything, this caused fearfulness and anxiety. When adults have not worked through childhood fears, they manifest themselves as unmotivated anxiety. A person can independently come up with many logical explanations for his anxiety. But, if he does not understand the true reasons for its occurrence, the fight against it will be pointless.

When Anxiety Turns to Panic

If you start a state of anxiety, increased anxiety can develop into panic disorder. The person begins to experience panic attacks. Many people don't even understand what's happening to them. This makes it even more difficult. Panic attacks are sudden attacks of uncontrollable fear, sometimes in the complete absence of any external causes. The attacks are accompanied by the following symptoms:

• trembling in the body;
• fast shallow breathing;
• dizziness;
• rapid heartbeat;
• tremor of the limbs;
• fear of death;
• fever or chills.

The duration of panic attacks is not very long - from 10 minutes to half an hour. But subjectively they are experienced very hard. A person in this state is afraid of suffocating, fainting, dying or going crazy. However, all these fears are unfounded. Anxiety reinforces itself, and a person strives to find a safe place in which he will feel comfortable. Various protective rituals may appear - when panic sets in, a person should sit down or go to lie down, or hold his hands under running cold water. Some people take sedatives to help cope with anxiety. What helped once will be perceived as effective in the future. But, since removing symptoms alone is not enough, psychological work is needed to ensure that the attacks stop completely.

A negative consequence of panic disorder is avoidance behavior. Since it is impossible to cope with worry and worry, a person tries to eliminate from life all situations that may be accompanied by excessive anxiety: he is afraid of new places and acquaintances, does not travel by transport, or even stops leaving the house. This does not help cope with increased anxiety, it only increases it.

How to cope with anxiety and panic

What to do if constant anxiety begins to cause you significant discomfort? How to deal with anxiety?

Breathing exercises

To relieve the symptoms of approaching panic and calm your heartbeat and breathing, you can consciously manage your physical condition. This is achieved through breathing exercises and... When we feel anxious, our breathing quickens. You need to slow it down, thereby giving a signal to the brain that everything is okay. Practice in a calm state for at least a few days, for 5-10 minutes, slowly inhale on a count of 4, and exhale on a count of 8. When you understand which situation increases your anxiety, start breathing according to your usual pattern. You will feel how slow breathing calms you.

Progressive muscle relaxation by E. Jacobson

The essence of the technique is that anxiety is accompanied by muscle tension. Therefore, relaxing them helps to cope with anxiety. It is necessary to alternately tense and relax the muscles: first the arms, shoulders, neck, then the tongue, eyes, then the back, buttocks, stomach, and ending with the calves, feet and toes.

Visualization to a place of power

This technique should also be practiced in a calm state. The best thing to do is lie down and relax. And then imagine that you are in a place where you feel good. It will be the sea coast or a forest, or a clearing at the foot of the mountains - your choice. The main thing is to imagine in detail the peaceful atmosphere of this place and how calm you feel there. Practice visualization regularly. And when anxiety arises, mentally return to your place of power.

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Safety precautions

When it comes to the human psyche, you need to be careful. If you periodically experience anxiety and restlessness, and panic attacks occur rarely and end quickly, then you can easily cope on your own using the techniques provided. If panic becomes constant, and attacks occur more often and longer, if you no longer know how to cope with anxiety and restlessness, you should consult a specialist.

It is important to consider that treating panic disorders with medications alone does not make sense, since they help get rid of the symptoms, but do not eliminate the cause. It is very important to carry out psychological work together with a specialist, this will help to finally solve the problem.