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Managing
Anxiety and Stress
By Rich Bayer, Ph.D.
We’ve all felt it. Sometimes it’s just a little
twinge and sometimes it is overwhelming. Sometimes it lasts only a few
moments and other times it seems to last an eternity. We call it anxiety.
We’ve all been anxious or stressed at times. But what’s interesting is
that each of us has our own way of experiencing it, and of dealing with
it.
It has many symptoms. It’s that nervous, jittery
feeling, that pounding heart, those racing thoughts. It’s the muscle
tension, the increased irritability, the worry. Or, it may just be a sense
of unease. It’s the difficulty concentrating or trouble getting a full
night’s sleep.
It is easier to deal with if we understand it. The
symptoms of anxiety can be grouped into three components. There’s the
emotional—how we’re feeling. There’s the cognitive—what we’re
thinking. And there’s the physical—what’s happening in the body.
Each of us is affected by anxiety in some way. Some
of us are affected by it to the point where it’s debilitating.
Anxiety can be a good thing; it is a great motivator.
A moderate amount can encourage us to change. It can motivate us to look
around for the cause of our anxiety, then either change our behavior, or
change something in our environment. If we experience too much anxiety, we
are less able to learn new things. Anxiety seems to interfere with memory.
That is when it becomes a problem.
Everyone has a problem with anxiety at least some of
the time. On the extreme however, anxiety can become disorganizing or can
interfere with our daily lives. If the problem persists, if it’s
happening all the time, then we may have a diagnosable anxiety disorder.
These include such conditions as generalized anxiety disorder (with or
without panic attacks), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social
phobia and other phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
What You Can Do about It
First, you can make an assessment of your own
behavior. How severe is your anxiety? Do you think it is forcing you to
modify your life in way that causes problems? If you find that the
symptoms (listed above) are excessive or that your anxiety is causing too
many problems, that is a sign that you need to change something.
Also, is your anxiety based on something realistic?
While it’s reasonable to have anxiety over not meeting a deadline at
work or giving your teenager the keys to the car the day he gets his
license, it’s more of a problem if you worry constantly, if you have
panic attacks, or if you fear things in situations where most people feel
safe.
If anxiety acts as a motivator to you, then it’s
helping. For example, if you’re uptight because you couldn’t get
everything done around the house this weekend and this motivates you to
ask for help from another family member or postpone a task until Monday,
that's good. Then your anxiety
is helping you to solve a problem. That’s the ideal situation.
But if your assessment tells you that your anxiety is
causing problems instead of motivating you, there are a number of coping
skills that can help. Here are some you might try:
- Exercise.
A good workout, even walking at a steady pace, produces endorphins
which calm us.
- Diet.
In particular, cut out drugs and alcohol, and cut back or cut out
caffeine and sweets.
- Deep
Breathing. This oxygenates the blood and helps to reduce anxiety
instantly. You can even do this when you’re in public without
calling attention to yourself.
- Meditation.
Take some time in restful quiet. Turn off the lights, sit comfortably,
close your eyes, and concentrate on one thing only, for instance your
breath, a few words that have meaning for you, or an image that’s
peaceful.
- Cognitive
Redirection. In other words, change your thinking. People who have
problems with “anxious thinking” often think the anxious thoughts
out of habit. It’s a pattern of thinking that develops over time,
and at one time may have been useful. You can change this by catching
yourself whenever you have an anxious thought, consciously examining
the thought to determine if it is helpful to you or just perpetuating
your anxiety, and then consciously replacing any negative thought with
a positive one. This is another way to use the power of positive
thinking.
Try these methods and see if they help. If they
don’t help or if your symptoms are too severe, then seek professional
help. Find a mental health professional such as a psychologist,
psychiatrist, licensed clinical social worker, a psychiatric nurse, or a
professional counselor. A
professional can guide you through steps that will reverse the anxiety.
Also you may need to be referred for medication, which can help in many
cases.
So, when finding your own way of dealing with anxiety
and stress, keep moving toward the positive. Use your anxiety to help you
change or find ways to change the anxiety.
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Rich Bayer, Ph.D., is the CEO of Upper Bay Counseling
and Support Services, Inc. and a practicing psychologist.
For More Information Contact:
Upper Bay Counseling and Support Services, Inc.
200 Booth Street, Elkton, MD 21921
Tel: 410-996-5104
Toll Free: 877-587-7750
FAX: 410-996-5197
Internet: info@upperbay.org
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