How to Deal with Anxiety … Effectively!
By Troy Rampy, Editor, The Wellness Blog™
“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”
— Arthur Somers Roche, Author & Journalist
I’ve recently been participating in an exercise class where the subject of anxiety came up. Having had a personal history of 
asthma since childhood, I know something about anxiety and more specifically about the panic associated with loss of breath.
It probably will come as no surprise that anxiety abounds in our contemporary culture. According to the latest research, approximately 18% of Americans suffer from episodic to chronic bouts of anxiety disorder, mainly in reaction to stress. Millions more suffer from everyday, garden variety anxiety on an occasional basis.
Here’s how Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence (1995), describes chronic worry and anxiety: “A close analysis of chronic worry suggests that it has all the attributes of a low-grade emotional hijacking: the worries seem to come from nowhere, are uncontrollable, generate a steady hum of anxiety, are impervious to reason, and lock the worrier into a single, inflexible view of the worrisome topic.” (p.65) Sound familiar?
It appears that the central objectives when dealing with anxiety are to first calm the body’s extreme fight or flight reaction, then work with the mental associations that are triggering the
anxiety in the first place. Makes sense, yes?
But here’s a cautionary note before we proceed any further. It’s generally a good idea to address severe or chronic anxiety with your primary health care provider. This is important. Severe or chronic anxiety can be intense and exhausting. Left untreated, it can be dangerous.
However, if your anxiety is mild to moderate, you may find these tips helpful:
1) Stay in the present. Anxiety and panic are often accompanied by urgent thoughts of how a situation might get worse. Practice mindfulness by observing and slowing down your thoughts. Notice what is actually happening now rather than focusing on what you’re afraid might happen in the future.
Don’t resist your uncomfortable feelings or try to wish them away. Instead, simply witness them as if you were an objective outside observer. Be curious about your feelings, along with their ebb and flow. Patiently wait for the worry and anxiety to subside while you do simple, enjoyable tasks.
Sound difficult? It’s not really. It won’t take long for you to get comfortable with and proficient at doing this.
It’s also important to pay attention to your breathing by becoming aware of your breathing cycle. Gently calm your breathing and slow it down.
2) Challenge the worry cycle. Researchers have found that excessive worry is at the heart of most people’s anxiety. To reverse that process in a healthy way, be mindful of the worry cycle as it gets started. Notice what leads to worry and be aware of when your thoughts begin to spin out of control. Then challenge the worry cycle by asking questions designed to dismantle it:
- What is the probability that the catastrophes I fear will actually happen?
- Am I exaggerating the facts?
- Is it actually true that there are no alternatives to this negative outcome, or are there other possible outcomes?
- Does my continual recycling of these worrisome thoughts actually help me?
- What can I do proactively to impact this worry process in positive, healthy ways?
The bigger question we have to ask ourselves is why are so many individuals today overcome with anxiety in the first place? Is this natural? Are we meant to live lives of “quiet desperation”?
Well, in a word … nah!
I believe we have all the awareness and tools we need to live healthy, joyful lives filled with opportunity, meaning, and
satisfaction. The main reason there is so much anxiety today has much to do with the out-of-balance lifestyles we live and how out-of-balance our entire, contemporary culture is.
Anxiety, worry, and panic are emotional states that you can learn to work with effectively. Believe me, I know. You even can use them as an impetus to propel you toward improving your overall lifestyle and quality of life.
The next time you find yourself in one of these states, use the techniques described above. For a more comprehensive approach, take a look at the article entitled How To Raise Your Personal Vibration here on our home page.
If or when you again feel yourself caught in the grip of anxiety, worry, and/or panic, keep in mind the wise old axiom that this too will pass … then take appropriate, proactive steps toward upgrading the quality of your lifestyle.
