Anxiety can have a serious toll not only on your emotional but also on your physical health. Anxiety can impact your personal as well as professional lives and can be a real problem to deal with unless you are already aware about the symptoms of anxiety and how to deal with them in the right way.
You always need not to visit a doctor for your anxiety symptoms, if you are cautious enough you can deal with them on your own.
In this article first we will discuss on the common anxiety symptoms so that you can identify them at the right moment, and then we will proceed to how to deal with them to get away from anxiety.
Anxiety symptoms
If you are feeling an emotional fear that has no practical base in reality it can be directly marked as anxiety and you can easily recognize it even without any guide.
However, apart from it there are also other symptoms of chronic anxiety that mostly involves thoughts, physical sensations and behaviors. You have to identify these symptoms and take the right steps to deal with them.
Thought based anxiety symptoms
Thoughts are often one of the most common symptoms of anxiety. Thinking about something and then slowly starting to believe it as a fact is a common anxiety symptom and is also the major cause of anxiety.
You have to keep in mind that human brain is capable of producing several thoughts even without any logical basis and these are not the truthful expression of the present reality or what might happen in future.
The brain is always in search of complications and problems, because it is the major function of the brain and hence when you are starting to have serious thoughts with many “what ifs” know for sure that it is a serious anxiety symptom that you need to deal with caution.
Our mind also tends to connect situations with each other without any actual facts.
For example, if you see a cat crossing the road and you get flack at the office, your brain directly relates the cat with the situation at office, and the next time whenever you see a cat crossing the road you will feel like you are going to have a problem again, which works as the reason of anxiety.
How to deal with thought based anxiety symptoms
The best way of dealing with the thought based anxiety symptoms is first to understand that you just had a thought and it is nothing more than a thought. There is no need to encounter your thought with logic, as that will only take you more into the thought.
Just understand that it is a thought, and like every other thing in this world it has 50 percent probability of happening and the same probability for not happening.
If the thought seems to be really serious, write it down and check out if you had the thought before as well, but do not just do something because you had the thought.
Physical sensation based anxiety symptoms
Anxiety is not all in your brain and it affects you physically in the same way it affects your mind.
So anxiety can give rise to a thousand and one physical symptoms starting from a tingling sensation at the extremities, like at the tips of your fingers or on the toes, to feeling butterflies in your stomach, or a chill going down your spine.
These are all physical sensation based symptoms of anxiety. Physical symptoms for anxiety can be extensive, starting from changed activity of the heart to weakness, sweating, blushing, trembling, cracking of voice, feeling hyper and many more.
How to deal with these symptoms
The first step to deal with these symptoms is to recognize them and it is your doctor who can help you best in this regard.
If your doctor has previously pointed these symptoms as anxiety attacks, then the moment you are having these symptoms you automatically know what is going on.
In that case, it is most expected that you also have medications and guidelines from your doctor to deal with these symptoms. If the physical problems seem to go out of control, you can always take help from your doctor.
Behavior based anxiety symptoms
Behavior based anxiety symptoms are not commonly realized by the person himself. What you might be doing, can be an anxiety symptom.
Being scared with the mental thought or the physical sensations of anxiety people often work on instincts and this makes anxiety more severe and can turn into a chronic problem over time.
Some of the common behavior based anxiety symptoms include, avoiding the situations that are associated with anxiety in your brain, hyperventilating, gripping chairs or any surface, carrying a particular item with you even if you don’t actually need it, biting fingernails, pulling hair, ritualistic behavior, all can be behavior based anxiety symptoms.
How to deal with behavior based anxiety symptoms
The first and the most important step is to identify the behavior as an anxiety symptom and to try to understand if there is any logic behind it or you are doing it just as a reflex. If things seem to go out of control, consulting a doctor can always help.
Some general tips to get away from anxiety
Having detailed on the anxiety symptoms and how to deal with each of them, now we will move to some general tips and instructions to deal with anxiety in the most effective way.
Breathing can help in controlling anxiety
Deep breathing can be a simple and effective way to deal with anxiety symptoms. When you are able to identify a symptom as an anxiety symptom, start breathing deeply, it can do you more good than you can even realize.
Deep breathing is an effective way to relax your mind and your body which can be a quick cure to reduce anxiety and any type of anxiety symptoms.
It is said in yogic science that by controlling your breath in the right way, you can control your mind and the thought process hence deep breathing when you are feeling anxious should be your first step.
Physical exercise for anxiety
Physical exercise can be very helpful for controlling anxiety. Exercising not only takes your mind to something else, but also improves your mood by secreting the feel good hormone in your brain, which can work as a natural cure for anxiety.
So, when you are feeling anxious or if you are able to identify an anxiety symptom, even going out for a brisk walk or simply doing some cardio in your home will help.
Get sufficient sleep
Insufficient sleep is a common reason of anxiety in our lives. Sleeping regularly for sufficient hours can be very helpful to calm the mind and to relax the body which will naturally keep anxiety attacks at bay.
Take breaks from daily routine
Being in the same routine for days and days is the source of boredom which fuels anxiety thoughts. If you are suffering from anxiety, all you might need is a good week end outing to a remote place that you love. Taking breaks from your daily routine can be highly helpful to fight the different anxiety symptoms.
If you cannot go out on a trip due to some reasons, you can simply take a break of two days from your work and spend the day reading books or listening to music or doing something else that you love.
Maintain a positive attitude
Being negative about life and things of life never helps. So, be positive and think about the good sides of things instead of highlighting and exaggerating the bad sides in your mind.
Accept life
Accepting life the way it is instead of trying to mold it the way you want it, can be a good way to deal with anxiety.
You have to understand that everything is not under your control and everything cannot go according to your wish in this world and hence instead of getting anxious about things it is much wise to accept your limitations and to be happy with it.
Stay away from caffeine, nicotine and alcohol
Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are the things that relax the nerves and loosen you up a bit giving you a quick relief from anxiety symptoms.
However, even though they seem to be really effective to deal with the anxiety symptoms at first, they often work to aggravate the condition by pushing you towards negativity and depression. So, stay clear from these habits if you are suffering from anxiety.
Yoga for dealing with anxiety
Yoga can be a very effective and scientific way to deal with anxiety on a permanent basis. Yoga works on the mind as well as on the body of a person and can relax the mind completely.
Yoga can help one understand the other dimension of life as well as how to accept life as it is. So, if you are suffering from severe anxiety, yoga can be the best side effect free solution for you.
