Worried & Anxious – HELP!

Anxiety, nervousness and worrying can feel absolutely paralyzing and dreadful. It can lead you to feel as if you are “crazy.” You may worry about something that’s coming – a test, an event, a presentation or a conversation-- that leads to new worries about new things that then lead you to worry that you worry too much. It may spiral so far out of control that you become incapacitated and unable to do what you need to do at home or at work.
The worrying isn’t just in your head, you can feel it in your body. Perhaps your stomach hurts, your chest feels tight, your breathing speeds up or you feel as if you can’t breathe at all. You shake, you can’t sit still, you start to cry because you feel a complete sense of dread. When worrying reaches this point, you are likely experiencing a panic attack.

Decreasing Anxiety Short-Term

What can you do? A short-term suggestion is to engage in grounding exercises such as splashing cold water on your face, holding an ice cube, engaging in intense exercise such as running as fast as you can, doing sit-ups, pushups or naming five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell (or imagine smelling) and one thing you can taste (or imagine tasting). Slow, belly breathing where you exhale a couple seconds longer than inhale also helps slow your heart rate. The purpose of grounding exercises is to ground you in the present and pull your focus off your worries and onto something more remedial.

Decreasing Anxiety Long-Term

A long-term suggestion for keeping excessive worrying and anxiety at bay is practicing present-mindedness. Our minds are nearly always focused on the future -- what’s coming, what could be or what might happen-- when we feel worried and anxious. Whereas, when we are mindful of what is – where we are, what we are doing, whether we are safe and comfortable and not being harmed – we feel more at ease. When we focus all our attention (both physically and mentally) to the task at hand, we typically feel less anxious. But this requires practice.

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation helps you to focus on the present (such as your breathing) and when you notice yourself starting to think about the future, redirect your attention back to your breathing without judging yourself harshly. If you have a brain, your mind will wander when you attempt mindfulness meditation. You should expect this. Simply notice your mind wandering without criticizing yourself and redirect your focus back to your breathing. The more you practice, the more you can redirect your anxious future-focused thoughts back to present-mindedness and ultimately, feel less anxious and worried.