Almost everyone experiences some form of anxiety when exposed to significant stress or threat. Individuals with an anxiety disorder, however, experience anxious episodes frequently and often without realistic stimuli. People like this should learn ways to cope with anxiety. Contact Honey Lake Clinic online or call 888.428.0562 today to learn more about our anxiety treatment for adults and our faith-based approach that integrates Christian principles into clinical evidence-based treatment methods to provide a holistic healing experience. Our compassionate team can teach you how to cope with anxiety. You will develop anxiety-coping skills for adults that you can practice for the rest of your life.
How to Cope with Anxiety
Here are seven ways our anxiety treatment program for adults can help you cope with anxiety.
1. Know Your Triggers
Everyone’s experience of anxiety is unique. Recognizing triggers for anxious episodes is helpful. Everyday stressors like social anxiety, deadline pressure, or specific fears may prompt anxiety. Identifying triggers helps you strategize or recognize anxiety onset better.
2. Prepare
Knowing what triggers your anxiety will allow you to prepare to some extent. All the points that follow can fall into this category of preparation. If you know, for instance, that travel is an intense trigger, you can bring along things to distract you, put your mind in other places, on other things. You can pack a few familiar things to hold on to, to focus on, and to help ground you on the way to and in your new setting.
3. Learn to Recognize the Signs of Your Panic
Recognizing triggers is different from understanding your signs and symptoms. Identifying cues like a racing heartbeat, flushed face, or confusion can help you challenge emotional anxiety. Engage in self-talk: “I recognize this feeling—it’s anxiety, not a heart attack. I’ve faced this before.”
4. Breathe
Anyone who has ever talked about anxiety will tell you to breathe, and it seems pretty straightforward. But during an anxiety attack, you can lose sight of the obvious. Try to concentrate on your breathing. Listen to the air flowing in and out of your body. Focus on it.
Take some deep breaths. Deep breathing can calm your body and burn off some of the adrenaline that the anxiety has released in your brain. Inhale through your nose, exhale out your mouth. Slow it down. Inhale, count to five, exhale.
5. Ground Yourself
Having a physical object to touch can help during an anxiety attack. Rubbing textured items like carpet, wood, stone, or petting a pet can ease anxiety. Grounding yourself in nature or a routine like exercise may also be beneficial. Create grounding strategies to manage anxiety.
6. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 Method
When you feel overwhelmed or distressed, try this little game to bring you back to your physical senses: Spend a few moments concentrating on your immediate surroundings. Identify:
- Five things that you can see
- Four things you can touch
- Three things you can hear
- Two things you can smell
- One thing you can taste
This exercise can help ground you in the present and distract you from anxious thoughts.
7. Reach Out
Reaching out is crucial for coping with life’s challenges, including anxiety. Your chosen circle is there to support you as you support them. It’s okay to need help—anxiety is more manageable when connected to others.
Enroll in Anxiety Treatment at Honey Lake Clinic
Let us help you take back your life. At Honey Lake Clinic, our experienced doctors and staff firmly believe that faith-based treatment—encompassing spiritual, physical, and mental health—will provide you with the long-lasting tools and knowledge to find happiness and wholeness again. To learn more or get started today, contact Honey Lake Clinic online or call 888.428.0562 today.
