A first step towards successful anxiety self help is the identification of the patterns or triggers that cause panic attacks. You should pay attention whether there are places, people, things you hear or see or just your thoughts that set the negative cycle in motion. There is a general misunderstanding about what anxiety self help means. Some people believe that by avoiding the situations and sticking to safety behaviors, they do right. Well, this approach might work on the short term, but you don't escape from anxiety on the long run.
The right thing to do would be to confront your fears even if it feels uncomfortable at the moment when it happens. Specialists recommend to write a plan and work by it. Put down all the things you normally avoid for fear of a panic attack, and then gradually do those things. In order to get through such times, you can use breathing techniques or self talk. You can thus mentally challenge the negative thoughts and repeat more realistic thoughts that actually help.
Becoming aware of what happens in your mind when you panic represents another important anxiety self help step. It is highly important to raise the consciousness level so that you don't respond automatically. Start your monologue by evaluating the situations and challenging the negative thoughts.
What is it that I think it's going to happen?
What's the worst or the best that could happen?
How would I help a person in the same situation?
Am I over-reacting?
What if the danger I suspect is not real?
These are just examples of the questions meant to bring you in control of your mind, preventing the appearance of a panic attack. Getting answers to such questions actually helps you understand your condition for what it is, and go deeper into yourself.
Should the reaction of the body be spontaneous and incredibly intense, there are still way to counteract the upsurge of adrenaline. The intensity of emotions, thoughts and physical reactions seems to lower when practicing mindful breathing, for instance. Lots of therapists teach their patients to visualize while coping with their anxiety. You can do this in parallel with breathing. For instance, you visualize blue when you breathe in and red when you breathe out.
You can read more on the various strategies for anxiety self help online. Beware that lots of the materials available are published for informative purposes only. It's much safer to talk with your therapist and get a professional opinion on anxiety self help.
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